Thanks Simon. Your facts presented and continuing , are affidavit of who is the bad guys..what we need to do is VOTE!
VOTE EVERY TIME!
We can complain all over this Substack but getting out the vote is a long term goal but neglected statistic... and the best way if not ONLY way to accomplish our goals.
In control of House, Senate, and Presidency will enable us to close the loop holes,strengthen our laws , and put back in place the voting rights/women’s self autonomy / respect for the office, and give autocracy the boot.
It’s time WE THE PEOPLE show up at the ballot box.
Thank you for the updates on how various Dems are looking across the country leading up to election day. It helps me focus on the areas where my efforts will be most useful.
Also, thanks for the research on Hamas. I think people forget or never knew how Hamas worked to create a situation where Israel's choice was risk harm to innocent civilians or allow Hamas to attempt to wipe all Jewish people out. Their goal has been stated many times—it is genocide. The Palestinians are not Hamas. President Biden said it best—"The United States remains committed to the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and to self-determination. The actions of Hamas terrorists don’t take that right away."
Thank you to the people sharing the experiences of Israelis. I think it is utter nonsense that media is reporting unverified dead in Gaza (Hamas is not a reliable source of information) and sharing very little about what is happening in terms of rocket fire into Israel. As well, the terrifying rise of anti-semitism world wide is very well documented in this USA Today report. https://apple.news/A0g2aGWSfSJ68Bz2VrV6__g
I wanted to be clear there is no both sides. Hamas attacked a sovereign nation. Israel has the right to defend itself. But Hamas is using innocent Palestinian lives to shield themselves from Israel's offensive.
If Biden's polling is not being negatively impacted by events in the Middle East, that's good. Nonetheless, I am concerned that among parts of the population, particularly young people (who Simon noted in an earlier post are not as supportive of Israel), this may not be the case. And young people are part of the effort to get to 55%. Also, I must respond to Simon's comment about Hamas being to blame for deaths in Gaza. This may be true - certainly Hamas cares nothing for human lives, including those of Palestinians. But that doesn't mean the U.S. should cooperate in those deaths. There is a considerable body of expert opinion that Hamas's strategy in executing such a bloody attack on Israelis was in fact to provoke an massive over-reaction that would result in so many Palestinian deaths that it would turn Arab public opinion against any kind of rapprochement with Israel.
I fear that the U.S. is supporting the same kind of (literally) reactionary response to an act of terror that we saw after 9/11 and that clearly made matters far worse. I strongly feel that a cease-fire would be in the long-term interests of both the U.S. and Israel. I disagree with Secretary Clinton's argument (in the video posted here yesterday) that this would only benefit Hamas. While there might be some small benefit to Hamas, it has become clear that Hamas has a very large stockpile of weapons, fuel, food, etc. and that it needs no additional preparation time to deploy the missiles it fires at Israel. On the other hand, a cease-fire would clearly be of great benefit to the civilian population of Gaza.
If we want to see a two-state solution in Israel and Palestine, as I do, the U.S. needs to start showing by actions, not just words, that it supports that kind of future for Palestinians. We can support those legitimate aspirations of Palestinian people while also being clear that Hamas is a bunch of murderous religious zealots with no interest in helping Palestinians make any progress toward a state alongside Israel. If the U.S. doesn't support such concrete actions, we can only look forward to more of the same, and Jewish people in Israel will never be secure.
I agree, David. I hope that Biden's willingness to engage with Netanyahu will put him in a position in which he can influence the Israelis to step back and begin negotiations. There are some indications that might quietly be taking place. Many Israelis are outspoken in support of Palestinians and are appalled that Netanyahu is as willing as Hamas to disregard the rights of Gazans, and are speaking out. All I know to do is hope. We are a small state with no Congressional elections coming up, so it is important for us to let our reps know that while we support Israel's right to self-defense, it is important that Israel not to back itself into an ideological corner that keeps them from conducting negotiations.
I wrote to my U.S. Rep. It's hard to know how much they're hearing from constituents. It's been disheartening how much further from a permanent solution we've gotten over the last couple of decades. I'd like to think this horrible event could be the stimulus for a re-thinking.
David, If either you or Annie is interested in the group letter (60+ Signatories) that we sent to our U.S. Rep, drop me contact info you, then, could delete as soon as I let you know I received it. I would note our Rep immediately responded, and a Zoom call is scheduled for November 8th. Meantime, we are in the process of arranging for an initial conversation with one of his staffers.
Simon, I gladly will share the letter. But, first, I must seek permission from the chief drafter, something that occurred to me after offering it up to David and Annie. Presuming permission is granted, because the letter necessarily runs more paragraphs than one might post, I will email it to you to do as you see fit.
For those advocating for a cease-fire a few questions: 1) what conditions does Hamas have to meet to get a cease-fire? do all the hostages have to be released first? Disarmament, demilitarization? What penalty does Hamas pay for starting the war, and killing innocents? 2) Who enforces the cease-fire on the Hamas side and now the Houthi side? What happens when the first Israeli is killed, a hostage dies or a missile is fired into Israel? 3) What happens during the cease fire? Supplies brought in, and then what? Just game it out for me.
I'm not a negotiator of international cease-fires, so I can't answer all your questions. I'm not sure Hamas "getting" a cease-fire is the right wording - as I stated above, I doubt Hamas particularly wants a cease-fire. Others more experienced in international relations would have to work out the details.
Nonetheless, a few thoughts:
I don't know how long a cease-fire would hold, but anything that would allow provision of supplies to the civilian residents of Gaza, under some sort of supervision, would be a big plus.
I don't know what penalty Hamas would pay, but it's not clear that what's happening now is really much of a penalty for Hamas, even if the IDF somehow manages to eliminate a number of Hamas leaders and fighters. As I pointed out, giving Hamas what it wants - huge numbers of civilian casualties and a lot of its own forces "martyred" isn't a particularly effective penalty either. That wouldn't really be a just resolution from the point of view of the victims, but maybe a little "realpolitik" is what's needed here, rather than a rush for vengeance.
As for monitoring, there's been suggestions that in the longer term, governance of Gaza by some entity including Arab states that have relations with Israel might be involved.
Nor has anyone "gamed out" what Israel is doing, at least not that I've heard. Does Israel re-occupy the Gaza Strip? That didn't work out well last time, and I see no reason to believe it'll work out better this time.
I agree ceasefire is a go to term that people use because they justifiably they want the bloodshed to stop. For me I lean much more to stopping the bombings. They seem to be devastatingly effective, at two things killing civilians, and playing into Hamas' plans of turning sentiment against Israel. I also worry they are more likely to kill hostages than disable Hamas.
One of the most frustrating things about the situation is that Hamas has largely enmeshed itself with the civilian population because they know an attack necessarily immoral and inhumane collateral damage. It is a strategic move and it is frustrating when an enemy's tactics work.
To answer Simons questions the best I have is 1) nothing, because a ceasefire especially a temporary one that I personally advocate is not about them but about getting aid to civilians. 2) What price do they pay? I would be supportive of special forces operations with the intent to assonate the leaders and organizers of Hamas, admittedly a multi year effort. But the idea that the bombings is a price they are paying I do not know if that is how the equations works. I am tentatively hopeful that the ground invasion could work but the very nature seems impossible.
I don’t know. I truly don’t. I hope Hamas is decimated. Every last one of them. I’ve no idea how. I just feel for all the civilians, for the hostages. What must their families be facing. What’s to become of them? They are not safe with the non stop bombing. And the Palestinian women and children, who make up so many of the dead. And the bombs just are non stop.
In this together. I've just received a terrifying video from a friend outside of Tel Aviv as he ventured outside of his bomb shelter to take the video. Sirens blaring, iron dome intercepting, abandoned children's toys in the yard because at least 1x a day the children and their families are rushing down to a bomb shelter in their homes in hopes of staying alive. I'm 68 yrs old. Growing up we had a bomb shelter built in our basement in our home on Long Island, filled with non perishable food. We never had to use it thankfully. As a secular Jewish woman and now a senior citizen, I never thought that my faith or my home needed to be protected from attack here in my home country of the United States. I now have to worry with credible threats and warnings from the ADL of attacks of terrorists seeking homes with a mezuzah on the door pretending to be "trick or treating." My heart is heavy and I continue to be spending every hour of every day engaged in the work of saving our Democracy. So glad for this community doing the same.
I hope everyone reads this. The missiles keep coming from Gaza, targeting Israeli population centers, using up Iron Dome munitions, wearing down Israeli defenses, making them more vulnerable to attack....now an Iranian-backed group in Yemen has started firing missiles at Israel.....why? The more the Iron Dome is worn down, the more likely that another Iranian backed group, Hizbollah, which has 150,000 missiles in Southern Lebanon, can wipe Israel off the face of the Earth.
It increasingly appears as if Russia and Iran are now working to start a broader war with Israel that will be soon an existential threat to the state of Israel itself.
Thank you for the clarity in which you write the on this topic. I am thankful we finally have an Ambassador to Israel. I can’t imagine what the Biden Administration is dealing with behind the scenes trying mightily to navigate this horrible situation. As I learn more about how Hamas shields themselves using innocent people my blood boils. Living in tunnels below civilians, hospitals, etc. Their lack of regard for human life of anyone who is not Hamas - no words to accurately describe this evil.
I totally agre with getting out the vote and I thank you for your excellent work. I am an Irish Canadian, I began following US politics after former President Donald Trump was elected. His election really shocked and concerned me. I have taken courses online mostly trying to understand our environmental crises ad then learned how these are very linked to politics and economics. The best integrated solutions to our complex problems I can find is the Earth For All project arising from the Nine Planetary Boundaries
The total wild card is the combination of both a climate code 99 and a geopolitical code 99. We simply cannot afford a Third World War.
I have read multiple articles written both by Israelis and American Jewish leaders appalled by the bombing in Gaza.
What I read is that there is a crisis in Israel because the current Government did not want a two state solution. many people say that the current government discriminates against all Palestinians, supports illegal settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem and allows them to terrorize local Palestinians. Also that the current government supported Hamas with the goal of dividing the Palestinians and in fact they wish to push the inhabitants of the GazaStrip into the Sinai desert. I find it really bizarre that this hugely unpopular Israeli government encouraged Hamas knowing their stated mission and now wants to eliminate them. Bombing and killing children is to me totally reprehensible. There are 90,000 pregnant women in the Gaza strip and there were 1.1 million children. the strip measures 25 by 5 miles, More bombs have been dropped there than in Afghanistan.
The Iranian people do not want another war. They are very unhappy with their brutal regime. The economy of Lebanon is in ruins. All these militias and terrorists thrive on terror and carpet bombing leads to terror. They also thrive in massively unequal poor societies with high unemployment rates . These are well known to cause crime.
Far from keeping Israel and Jewish people safe, this continued carpet bombing will recruit all kinds of people to Hamas, Isis. They do not care about women and children but then at this moment nor does anyone who is not screaming for a cease-fire and for the very serious negotiations. The US need to move the embassy back to Tel Aviv , call out the violent extremist settlers and help the IDF rescue Palestinian children and women and men from this hell.
In my books there is nothing worse than slaughtering children. Nothing far more children have been killed in Gaza since Oct 7 than in the past three years of wars and this includes Ukraine.
Here is a march in Toronto . I refused to march before because I am a huge fan of Judaism nothing will convince me to murder children Pushing these people into the Sinai will really provoke a regional war.
Simon, thank you for making this visible to Americans, and for providing clarity about what it is so that it is not so easily dismissed. I do believe that the Israeli government's past actions contributed to the development of the current situation. Nonetheless, the action by Hamas was calculately intentional in their disregard for the human rights of both Israelis and Gazans. As so many have stated in the last week, my heart is broken at what is going on.
Concerned that, as others have stated, by not advocating strongly for the ceasefire, we’re painting ourselves into a corner. I am not naive about Hamas (I have both studied and lived in conflict areas, and have spent almost 20 yrs steeped in IL politics), I am worried that Biden is squandering easily maintained higher moral ground, while the Israeli gov continues down a path that essentially does more for Hamas resilience than it does for IL security. I know the president has all along requested that Bibi et al adhere to intl law, and can only assume pressure is being applied behind the scenes. But what people see, is the Israeli officials making incredibly incendiary statements (to their own detriment at times) and dragging their intl partners a down along with them. A ceasefire is the humane thing to do, but also in the long term, the better political option. Hamas isn’t going to be quashed via carpet bombing -anyone who says differently is selling something.
Simon, when are we going to start calling the GOP explicitly what it is - a "party" of Treason? That's what it is and that's ALL it is. So long as we allow this false narrative that it is a normal political party that's loyal to the Constitution and to America, we will provide the space for political legitimacy to this dumpster fire of treason.
One more thing - we should bluntly tie the GOP to Hamas. Why? Putin supports Hamas and the GOP and in turn, they supports him and Russia's geopolitical goals. The power of our words to call out these anti-American fiends can be blunt and inexhaustible tools to fight for what's right. for America, for democracy, and the world at large.
I very much appreciate your sharing the videos. I am an artist and visual images stay with me longer than I would like. Having short clips helps keep things real but not suffocating or demoralizing to the point of paralysis. Perhaps the worst part of all this is having abjectly stupid MAGA zealots doing Russia, Iran, and Hama’s work at home. This is beyond pathetic and it has to end.
Tha k you for your thoughtful approach to Middle East reporting.
Thanks Simon. Your facts presented and continuing , are affidavit of who is the bad guys..what we need to do is VOTE!
VOTE EVERY TIME!
We can complain all over this Substack but getting out the vote is a long term goal but neglected statistic... and the best way if not ONLY way to accomplish our goals.
In control of House, Senate, and Presidency will enable us to close the loop holes,strengthen our laws , and put back in place the voting rights/women’s self autonomy / respect for the office, and give autocracy the boot.
It’s time WE THE PEOPLE show up at the ballot box.
💙💙VOTE ALL THE COMPLICIT OUT💙💙
Thank you thank you Simon. As ever, a wonderful salubrious writing.. 🤦♀️💯
Thank you for the updates on how various Dems are looking across the country leading up to election day. It helps me focus on the areas where my efforts will be most useful.
Also, thanks for the research on Hamas. I think people forget or never knew how Hamas worked to create a situation where Israel's choice was risk harm to innocent civilians or allow Hamas to attempt to wipe all Jewish people out. Their goal has been stated many times—it is genocide. The Palestinians are not Hamas. President Biden said it best—"The United States remains committed to the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and to self-determination. The actions of Hamas terrorists don’t take that right away."
Thank you to the people sharing the experiences of Israelis. I think it is utter nonsense that media is reporting unverified dead in Gaza (Hamas is not a reliable source of information) and sharing very little about what is happening in terms of rocket fire into Israel. As well, the terrifying rise of anti-semitism world wide is very well documented in this USA Today report. https://apple.news/A0g2aGWSfSJ68Bz2VrV6__g
I wanted to be clear there is no both sides. Hamas attacked a sovereign nation. Israel has the right to defend itself. But Hamas is using innocent Palestinian lives to shield themselves from Israel's offensive.
If Biden's polling is not being negatively impacted by events in the Middle East, that's good. Nonetheless, I am concerned that among parts of the population, particularly young people (who Simon noted in an earlier post are not as supportive of Israel), this may not be the case. And young people are part of the effort to get to 55%. Also, I must respond to Simon's comment about Hamas being to blame for deaths in Gaza. This may be true - certainly Hamas cares nothing for human lives, including those of Palestinians. But that doesn't mean the U.S. should cooperate in those deaths. There is a considerable body of expert opinion that Hamas's strategy in executing such a bloody attack on Israelis was in fact to provoke an massive over-reaction that would result in so many Palestinian deaths that it would turn Arab public opinion against any kind of rapprochement with Israel.
I fear that the U.S. is supporting the same kind of (literally) reactionary response to an act of terror that we saw after 9/11 and that clearly made matters far worse. I strongly feel that a cease-fire would be in the long-term interests of both the U.S. and Israel. I disagree with Secretary Clinton's argument (in the video posted here yesterday) that this would only benefit Hamas. While there might be some small benefit to Hamas, it has become clear that Hamas has a very large stockpile of weapons, fuel, food, etc. and that it needs no additional preparation time to deploy the missiles it fires at Israel. On the other hand, a cease-fire would clearly be of great benefit to the civilian population of Gaza.
If we want to see a two-state solution in Israel and Palestine, as I do, the U.S. needs to start showing by actions, not just words, that it supports that kind of future for Palestinians. We can support those legitimate aspirations of Palestinian people while also being clear that Hamas is a bunch of murderous religious zealots with no interest in helping Palestinians make any progress toward a state alongside Israel. If the U.S. doesn't support such concrete actions, we can only look forward to more of the same, and Jewish people in Israel will never be secure.
Thank you for this. I couldn’t have expressed my concerns better.
I agree, David. I hope that Biden's willingness to engage with Netanyahu will put him in a position in which he can influence the Israelis to step back and begin negotiations. There are some indications that might quietly be taking place. Many Israelis are outspoken in support of Palestinians and are appalled that Netanyahu is as willing as Hamas to disregard the rights of Gazans, and are speaking out. All I know to do is hope. We are a small state with no Congressional elections coming up, so it is important for us to let our reps know that while we support Israel's right to self-defense, it is important that Israel not to back itself into an ideological corner that keeps them from conducting negotiations.
I wrote to my U.S. Rep. It's hard to know how much they're hearing from constituents. It's been disheartening how much further from a permanent solution we've gotten over the last couple of decades. I'd like to think this horrible event could be the stimulus for a re-thinking.
I do too, David.
David, If either you or Annie is interested in the group letter (60+ Signatories) that we sent to our U.S. Rep, drop me contact info you, then, could delete as soon as I let you know I received it. I would note our Rep immediately responded, and a Zoom call is scheduled for November 8th. Meantime, we are in the process of arranging for an initial conversation with one of his staffers.
Barbara Jo - why dont you share the letter here with all of us?
Simon, I gladly will share the letter. But, first, I must seek permission from the chief drafter, something that occurred to me after offering it up to David and Annie. Presuming permission is granted, because the letter necessarily runs more paragraphs than one might post, I will email it to you to do as you see fit.
For those advocating for a cease-fire a few questions: 1) what conditions does Hamas have to meet to get a cease-fire? do all the hostages have to be released first? Disarmament, demilitarization? What penalty does Hamas pay for starting the war, and killing innocents? 2) Who enforces the cease-fire on the Hamas side and now the Houthi side? What happens when the first Israeli is killed, a hostage dies or a missile is fired into Israel? 3) What happens during the cease fire? Supplies brought in, and then what? Just game it out for me.
Hi Simon, thanks for this forum.
I'm not a negotiator of international cease-fires, so I can't answer all your questions. I'm not sure Hamas "getting" a cease-fire is the right wording - as I stated above, I doubt Hamas particularly wants a cease-fire. Others more experienced in international relations would have to work out the details.
Nonetheless, a few thoughts:
I don't know how long a cease-fire would hold, but anything that would allow provision of supplies to the civilian residents of Gaza, under some sort of supervision, would be a big plus.
I don't know what penalty Hamas would pay, but it's not clear that what's happening now is really much of a penalty for Hamas, even if the IDF somehow manages to eliminate a number of Hamas leaders and fighters. As I pointed out, giving Hamas what it wants - huge numbers of civilian casualties and a lot of its own forces "martyred" isn't a particularly effective penalty either. That wouldn't really be a just resolution from the point of view of the victims, but maybe a little "realpolitik" is what's needed here, rather than a rush for vengeance.
As for monitoring, there's been suggestions that in the longer term, governance of Gaza by some entity including Arab states that have relations with Israel might be involved.
Nor has anyone "gamed out" what Israel is doing, at least not that I've heard. Does Israel re-occupy the Gaza Strip? That didn't work out well last time, and I see no reason to believe it'll work out better this time.
I agree ceasefire is a go to term that people use because they justifiably they want the bloodshed to stop. For me I lean much more to stopping the bombings. They seem to be devastatingly effective, at two things killing civilians, and playing into Hamas' plans of turning sentiment against Israel. I also worry they are more likely to kill hostages than disable Hamas.
One of the most frustrating things about the situation is that Hamas has largely enmeshed itself with the civilian population because they know an attack necessarily immoral and inhumane collateral damage. It is a strategic move and it is frustrating when an enemy's tactics work.
To answer Simons questions the best I have is 1) nothing, because a ceasefire especially a temporary one that I personally advocate is not about them but about getting aid to civilians. 2) What price do they pay? I would be supportive of special forces operations with the intent to assonate the leaders and organizers of Hamas, admittedly a multi year effort. But the idea that the bombings is a price they are paying I do not know if that is how the equations works. I am tentatively hopeful that the ground invasion could work but the very nature seems impossible.
I don’t know. I truly don’t. I hope Hamas is decimated. Every last one of them. I’ve no idea how. I just feel for all the civilians, for the hostages. What must their families be facing. What’s to become of them? They are not safe with the non stop bombing. And the Palestinian women and children, who make up so many of the dead. And the bombs just are non stop.
So grateful for your hard work that helps us do ours.
In this together. I've just received a terrifying video from a friend outside of Tel Aviv as he ventured outside of his bomb shelter to take the video. Sirens blaring, iron dome intercepting, abandoned children's toys in the yard because at least 1x a day the children and their families are rushing down to a bomb shelter in their homes in hopes of staying alive. I'm 68 yrs old. Growing up we had a bomb shelter built in our basement in our home on Long Island, filled with non perishable food. We never had to use it thankfully. As a secular Jewish woman and now a senior citizen, I never thought that my faith or my home needed to be protected from attack here in my home country of the United States. I now have to worry with credible threats and warnings from the ADL of attacks of terrorists seeking homes with a mezuzah on the door pretending to be "trick or treating." My heart is heavy and I continue to be spending every hour of every day engaged in the work of saving our Democracy. So glad for this community doing the same.
I hope everyone reads this. The missiles keep coming from Gaza, targeting Israeli population centers, using up Iron Dome munitions, wearing down Israeli defenses, making them more vulnerable to attack....now an Iranian-backed group in Yemen has started firing missiles at Israel.....why? The more the Iron Dome is worn down, the more likely that another Iranian backed group, Hizbollah, which has 150,000 missiles in Southern Lebanon, can wipe Israel off the face of the Earth.
It increasingly appears as if Russia and Iran are now working to start a broader war with Israel that will be soon an existential threat to the state of Israel itself.
Thank you for the clarity in which you write the on this topic. I am thankful we finally have an Ambassador to Israel. I can’t imagine what the Biden Administration is dealing with behind the scenes trying mightily to navigate this horrible situation. As I learn more about how Hamas shields themselves using innocent people my blood boils. Living in tunnels below civilians, hospitals, etc. Their lack of regard for human life of anyone who is not Hamas - no words to accurately describe this evil.
Hi Simon,
I totally agre with getting out the vote and I thank you for your excellent work. I am an Irish Canadian, I began following US politics after former President Donald Trump was elected. His election really shocked and concerned me. I have taken courses online mostly trying to understand our environmental crises ad then learned how these are very linked to politics and economics. The best integrated solutions to our complex problems I can find is the Earth For All project arising from the Nine Planetary Boundaries
The total wild card is the combination of both a climate code 99 and a geopolitical code 99. We simply cannot afford a Third World War.
I have read multiple articles written both by Israelis and American Jewish leaders appalled by the bombing in Gaza.
What I read is that there is a crisis in Israel because the current Government did not want a two state solution. many people say that the current government discriminates against all Palestinians, supports illegal settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem and allows them to terrorize local Palestinians. Also that the current government supported Hamas with the goal of dividing the Palestinians and in fact they wish to push the inhabitants of the GazaStrip into the Sinai desert. I find it really bizarre that this hugely unpopular Israeli government encouraged Hamas knowing their stated mission and now wants to eliminate them. Bombing and killing children is to me totally reprehensible. There are 90,000 pregnant women in the Gaza strip and there were 1.1 million children. the strip measures 25 by 5 miles, More bombs have been dropped there than in Afghanistan.
The Iranian people do not want another war. They are very unhappy with their brutal regime. The economy of Lebanon is in ruins. All these militias and terrorists thrive on terror and carpet bombing leads to terror. They also thrive in massively unequal poor societies with high unemployment rates . These are well known to cause crime.
Far from keeping Israel and Jewish people safe, this continued carpet bombing will recruit all kinds of people to Hamas, Isis. They do not care about women and children but then at this moment nor does anyone who is not screaming for a cease-fire and for the very serious negotiations. The US need to move the embassy back to Tel Aviv , call out the violent extremist settlers and help the IDF rescue Palestinian children and women and men from this hell.
In my books there is nothing worse than slaughtering children. Nothing far more children have been killed in Gaza since Oct 7 than in the past three years of wars and this includes Ukraine.
Here is the Director of Unicef.
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-executive-director-catherine-russell-briefs-un-security-council-humanitarian
Save the Children
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/gaza-child-death-toll-1.7012927
Here is a march in Toronto . I refused to march before because I am a huge fan of Judaism nothing will convince me to murder children Pushing these people into the Sinai will really provoke a regional war.
https://www.google.com/search?q=jews+for+peace+on+Gaza&oq=jews+for+peace+on+Gaza&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCDcyMjFqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:b849fd65,vid:8F0hHHuGrIA,st:0
.
.
I found the onset of
Since the heinous attacks on October 7 I have subscribed to Haaretz . I have watched numerous talks on different channels.
Listen to the head of Peace Now in Israel.
https://www.peacenowcanada.org/
Listen to Dr. Gabor Maté, a Canadian Jewish Holocaust survivor.https://www.google.com/search?q=Dr.+gabor+mate+on+gaza&oq=Dr.+gabor+mate+on+gaza&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigATIHCAMQIRigATIKCAQQIRgWGB0YHtIBCDcxNzZqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:99b2c936,vid:X91PvtKDG_k,st:0
Simon, thank you for making this visible to Americans, and for providing clarity about what it is so that it is not so easily dismissed. I do believe that the Israeli government's past actions contributed to the development of the current situation. Nonetheless, the action by Hamas was calculately intentional in their disregard for the human rights of both Israelis and Gazans. As so many have stated in the last week, my heart is broken at what is going on.
Concerned that, as others have stated, by not advocating strongly for the ceasefire, we’re painting ourselves into a corner. I am not naive about Hamas (I have both studied and lived in conflict areas, and have spent almost 20 yrs steeped in IL politics), I am worried that Biden is squandering easily maintained higher moral ground, while the Israeli gov continues down a path that essentially does more for Hamas resilience than it does for IL security. I know the president has all along requested that Bibi et al adhere to intl law, and can only assume pressure is being applied behind the scenes. But what people see, is the Israeli officials making incredibly incendiary statements (to their own detriment at times) and dragging their intl partners a down along with them. A ceasefire is the humane thing to do, but also in the long term, the better political option. Hamas isn’t going to be quashed via carpet bombing -anyone who says differently is selling something.
I squeezed in 5 more Vote Forward letters to VA just under the wire this morning. Hoping to do another phone bank on Thu.
Simon, when are we going to start calling the GOP explicitly what it is - a "party" of Treason? That's what it is and that's ALL it is. So long as we allow this false narrative that it is a normal political party that's loyal to the Constitution and to America, we will provide the space for political legitimacy to this dumpster fire of treason.
One more thing - we should bluntly tie the GOP to Hamas. Why? Putin supports Hamas and the GOP and in turn, they supports him and Russia's geopolitical goals. The power of our words to call out these anti-American fiends can be blunt and inexhaustible tools to fight for what's right. for America, for democracy, and the world at large.
I very much appreciate your sharing the videos. I am an artist and visual images stay with me longer than I would like. Having short clips helps keep things real but not suffocating or demoralizing to the point of paralysis. Perhaps the worst part of all this is having abjectly stupid MAGA zealots doing Russia, Iran, and Hama’s work at home. This is beyond pathetic and it has to end.
New poll from NewsNation, again shows no erosion for Biden, strong support for Israel:
Biden job approval at 44-56, up 2 pts from September
Biden approval on handling of Israel/Hamas: 52-48
Approval of sending…
weapons/military aid to Israel: 70-30
Humanitarian aid to Gaza: 73-27
https://www.newsnationnow.com/polls/israel-hamas-poll-newsnation-ddhq/