I absolutely support Israel!! This does not mean I support the policy of Netanyahu to slaughter innocent civilians in Palestine. My son in law’s brother is fighting right now in the Israeli army. His family also hopes for a peaceful solution.
Hi Karin. My sister lives in Israel, and one of her sons is on the front lines. While I applaud Biden for pressuring Israel in private, I do not see much response on Israel's end to protect Palestinian civilians -- their stinginess on humanitarian aid I find appalling. Further, it makes Biden look to most of the world like he is a party to atrocities. I do not know the solution to this puzzle. Holding all in my heavy heart, and all best for your family
In the last two days, Israel has stated that it will allow significantly more aid to enter Gaza from Egypt. I do not know how significant that will be, but it is a positive sign. Having said that, Israel only provides 10% of Gaza’s water needs. The rest is managed by Hamas, some of which is desalinated. Since fuel is necessary for desalination, Israel understandably restricts the passage of fuel, since Hamas diverts it for its own terrorist purposes.
I am grateful to see the polling re support for Israel. My biggest worry since 10/7, has been the increase of anti semitism AND the very very vocal pro Hamas left wing of the party, especially on college campuses. This has led to a growing number of progressive Jews feeling not only terrified but watching Fox News and other such outlets due to their very strong, very vocal support of Israel. My worry has been that the loud pro Hamas terrorist support is peeling off many many many progressive Jews from the Democratic Party. I hope there is a way to show these Democratic drifters that in fact the majority of the Democratic Party is anti terror.
The right wing will jump on any plausible opportunity to divide us , it’s their forte. I liked the paragraph Simon about the pro-Jewish ( Palestine too ) and against Russia-Iran-Hamas.
Irans influence worldwide is not given its due. Heavily involved in all terroristic funding/supplying with ammo/war machinery/drones.
The affect in EVERY arena of chaos is Iran ,Russian, and their oligarchs doings.
And we have our MAGA sector holding their rear flank.
I don’t think most people have a grip how influential, how convoluted, how dangerous this whole autocratic movement is...a collective cult .
Simon - I love this phrase you wrote - "pro-Palestinian, anti-Hamas/Russia/Iran and pro-American Jew." It 100% describes my position re the conflict, although I would add pro-Palestinian "civilians" as well as pro-Israeli civilians. I have found myself being criticized by some of my friends/colleagues when struggling to properly express my deep concern for the innocent civilians in Gaza who are not aligned with Hamas. Now you have given me a way to express my views. Thank you! PS I am Jewish by ancestry although not raised as such.
Yes, this is so challenging Susan and Barbara. I am getting the same pushback from friends I was in Israel with many many decades ago. On a broader plane, seeing that AIPAC will know be funding challenges to many very progressive candidates indicates a deep split among Jews and Democrats is a big concern for me.
I’m a bit confused about your AIPAC comment in the last sentence. AIPAC has unapologetically funded a number of election denying right-wing candidates and has lost the confidence of many Jewish voters.
Adele, In my view, both yours and Rich’s statements are accurate. For instance, relative to the current Hamas-Israeli War, AIPAC, unapologetically, persistently presses for the view that viewing the conflict within its wider historical context is akin to justifying Hamas’s October 7th brutal attack on Israel.
I really appreciate your thorough approach in your articles, and the research that goes into them. Your episode on polling with Tom Bonier allows me to have confidence in the results you report here today which are very heartening. Its good to know the angry people yelling in protests and online are not the majority. It’s very sad that eliminating the Hamas threat is a difficult and sometimes brutal endeavor, but it must be accomplished. Fortunate that we have the leadership and diplomatic skills of President Biden and Secretary Blinken.
Today, Trump said when President he would round up all foreign visa holders in the US who participated in the pro-Palestinian protests here and deport them -
Americans have rallied around the flag of our longtime ally. Americans are also impatient. If nothing much happens in Ukraine and civilians are still dying in Gaza 53 weeks from now it won't be good.
the Sixth commandment tells us that we must not kill. The death of a child is tragic. The heinous attacks in southern Israel with very cruel and brutal massacring of people of all ages including tiny precious children and people of all ages is a horrible stain on humanity. Brutally murdering 260 young happy peoples enjoying a music festival focused on peace is a heinous crime. Taking over 200 people including tiny children, a young man whose arm was blown by a grenade and many people form Thailand and other countries is again horrific. There is no question that this attack by Hamas on Shabbat is reprehensible . I like many people are praying hardf that those hostages are found and returned safely home. Watching their family members advocate for them is truly heart-breaking. My heart goes out to all those grieving, all those injured. I love the courage and grit and sense of community shown by all the wonderful women coming together to volunteer and help. my heart goes out to Vivian Silver and the other wonderful peace activists abducted . Never in my wildest nightmares could I imagine any decent human being deciding to cut off ALL water, electricity , food, fule and medication to over 2.2 desperately poor people including 1.1 million children. Never in my worst moments could I imagine anyone turning their backs on 90,000 poor pregnant women and over 1.1 million children. I do not play on any team that involves murders. To each their own, However I have never murdered anyone and I very much hope that I will die without ever committing murder. I would prefer to die than to be complicit in the murder of a child. This is NOT because I believe in a vengeful and judgemental God. I believe in a God of infinite Goodness, Mercy and Love and I do not want to disappoint my Generous, Loving and Kind God by ever being complicit in murder. I think before you write about teams and who is winning, you should rethink where this very bizarre idea has come from. We are all interconnected in Space and Time. War is a human created form of hell. War feeds off inflicting terrible suffering on people and animals. Bombing is a major contributor to climate change. War is the major cause of Intergenerational trauma and may lead to a shortened life span for all involved. All one million and more children in Gaza now have sky high Adverse Childhood Experiences Scores ( ACE) . If you really care about Israel and the US, I suggest you listen to as many talks as possible by Norman Finkelstein.
For my moral compass on all this catastrophe I read the amazing words and work of the incredibly ethical, brave and thoughtful Israeli human rights and peace advocates who have had time to discuss , reflect and pray. I have not slept properly . I keep waking up and wondering what I can do to support peace since Oct 8. https://www.btselem.org/. I also look at videos and shudder.
Now we must all wage peace. We must ask President Jo Biden to send his top people to the West Bank so say that the US stands with the people of Palestine in this darkest hour and that the US backs a peace accord. The US cannot support Jewish terrorists who are murdering Palestinian children , women and men. One such miscreant just shot a Palestinian man harvesting his olives.
This is not democratic or fair and everyone watching can see this.
Common humanity is not a competitive team sport unless we turn this into a Compassion and Generosity Competition. Imagine if our pious multi-billionaires competed ton rush to Gaza to help pull Palestinian children from the rubble , sponsor trauma aware medical care for all the children of Gaza and focused on supporting a realistic ceasefire and a path to peace although this will now take decades.
Who is big hearted enough to stop pointing fingers and to say lets all move back from the brink !!!
I find Biden's comments about innocents ill-phrased to say the least, and I think his Israel supporters should warn him about the harm of such statements. While I believe he is concerned about civilians, his public posture makes him look he is a party to atrocities. Further, while there are Israel haters and deniers among the pro-Palestinian left, there is legitimate anger at long standing American tolerance of the Israeli occupation. We should beware of right wing groups like AIPAC that are already shutting down dissent, even calling out congresspeople who are calling for de-escalation and a cease-fire.
P.S. I am a Zionist with a sister in Israel. I am of course concerned about my family and Israel's safety. And what Israel is doing in Gaza is bound IMHO to make Israel less safe. This is actually a view shared by many in Israel, if one reads the Israel press.
Friends, as we all try to make sense of what's happening, I toss out a few questions for all of you:
1) Israel was attacked, civilians were targeted, hundreds of hostages remain, the missiles keep coming, and the Hamas militants have hidden inside the population of Gaza. What is Israel supposed to do? Let Hamas keep attacking them? These missiles from Hamas are going deep into Israeli population centers. Isn't the responsibility for the deaths of the innocents on the Hamas for putting their military inside civilian population centers, essentially using the entire population of Gaza as human shields? 2) Should Israel be responsible for providing water, electricity and other services to Gaza while being attacked? In that case they would be providing their enemies the tools to kill Israelis. Can any government do that? 3) What did Hamas think was going to happen? Why don't they have a relationship with Egypt that allow aid and free travel to happen? Hamas destroyed the main border crossings with Israel. Was Israel supposed to allow Gazans to come into Israel knowing that terrorists and killers would be among them? Why didn't Hamas have food and other supplies stockpiled for their people if they knew a siege was coming? 4) What responsibility does Hamas have for the death of its people, and why don't they seem more concerned about it? Have you seen the videos of Hamas leaders saying their people must die in order for the Jews to be purged from the land? Meaning that they are seeking and desire civilian deaths as a tool to achieve their political ends? That Hamas had as parts of its strategy the killing of its own people, and thus they deserve a great degree of the responsibility for what is happening? 5) Why hasn't any other Arab government offered to house refugees from Gaza? Why is there so little diplomacy happening now, so little effort to try to bring a regional peace? What steps did Hamas take to ensure that life could go on for their people if Israel retaliated, particularly after their barbaric attacks on Israeli civilians? 6) What choice did Israel have here given the Hamas kept firing missiles into Israel, and that those missiles were wearing down the Iron Dome making it far more likely Israel could be destroyed by the hundreds of thousands of missiles Hizbollah has?
We assume they care about these Palestinians? Just like the Taliban cares about theirs? And then there’s the Houthis factions I think a can of worms is general consensus.
Do we have any real knowledge of the long-standing rivalries.
I doubt it.
But I would venture to anyone asking, Simon , without a stretched supposition ...Iran’s in the middle of whatever for who has the moola to buy their war weapons plus likely Putin motivated to gain ground from the spoils.
And again ...Netanyahu ...? playing his part..an evil web long weaved.
I absolutely support Israel!! This does not mean I support the policy of Netanyahu to slaughter innocent civilians in Palestine. My son in law’s brother is fighting right now in the Israeli army. His family also hopes for a peaceful solution.
As you know I am very anti-Netanyahu here at Hopium.
Sending positive thoughts for your brother-in-law and his family. 💙
Hi Karin. My sister lives in Israel, and one of her sons is on the front lines. While I applaud Biden for pressuring Israel in private, I do not see much response on Israel's end to protect Palestinian civilians -- their stinginess on humanitarian aid I find appalling. Further, it makes Biden look to most of the world like he is a party to atrocities. I do not know the solution to this puzzle. Holding all in my heavy heart, and all best for your family
In the last two days, Israel has stated that it will allow significantly more aid to enter Gaza from Egypt. I do not know how significant that will be, but it is a positive sign. Having said that, Israel only provides 10% of Gaza’s water needs. The rest is managed by Hamas, some of which is desalinated. Since fuel is necessary for desalination, Israel understandably restricts the passage of fuel, since Hamas diverts it for its own terrorist purposes.
I am grateful to see the polling re support for Israel. My biggest worry since 10/7, has been the increase of anti semitism AND the very very vocal pro Hamas left wing of the party, especially on college campuses. This has led to a growing number of progressive Jews feeling not only terrified but watching Fox News and other such outlets due to their very strong, very vocal support of Israel. My worry has been that the loud pro Hamas terrorist support is peeling off many many many progressive Jews from the Democratic Party. I hope there is a way to show these Democratic drifters that in fact the majority of the Democratic Party is anti terror.
The right wing will jump on any plausible opportunity to divide us , it’s their forte. I liked the paragraph Simon about the pro-Jewish ( Palestine too ) and against Russia-Iran-Hamas.
Irans influence worldwide is not given its due. Heavily involved in all terroristic funding/supplying with ammo/war machinery/drones.
The affect in EVERY arena of chaos is Iran ,Russian, and their oligarchs doings.
And we have our MAGA sector holding their rear flank.
I don’t think most people have a grip how influential, how convoluted, how dangerous this whole autocratic movement is...a collective cult .
💙💙VOTE THE COMPLICIT OUT💙💙
Simon - I love this phrase you wrote - "pro-Palestinian, anti-Hamas/Russia/Iran and pro-American Jew." It 100% describes my position re the conflict, although I would add pro-Palestinian "civilians" as well as pro-Israeli civilians. I have found myself being criticized by some of my friends/colleagues when struggling to properly express my deep concern for the innocent civilians in Gaza who are not aligned with Hamas. Now you have given me a way to express my views. Thank you! PS I am Jewish by ancestry although not raised as such.
Susan, Seeing this is a challenging time for those of us who are trying to hold both people’s pain, I deeply appreciate your comment.
Yes, this is so challenging Susan and Barbara. I am getting the same pushback from friends I was in Israel with many many decades ago. On a broader plane, seeing that AIPAC will know be funding challenges to many very progressive candidates indicates a deep split among Jews and Democrats is a big concern for me.
I’m a bit confused about your AIPAC comment in the last sentence. AIPAC has unapologetically funded a number of election denying right-wing candidates and has lost the confidence of many Jewish voters.
Adele, In my view, both yours and Rich’s statements are accurate. For instance, relative to the current Hamas-Israeli War, AIPAC, unapologetically, persistently presses for the view that viewing the conflict within its wider historical context is akin to justifying Hamas’s October 7th brutal attack on Israel.
I really appreciate your thorough approach in your articles, and the research that goes into them. Your episode on polling with Tom Bonier allows me to have confidence in the results you report here today which are very heartening. Its good to know the angry people yelling in protests and online are not the majority. It’s very sad that eliminating the Hamas threat is a difficult and sometimes brutal endeavor, but it must be accomplished. Fortunate that we have the leadership and diplomatic skills of President Biden and Secretary Blinken.
Today, Trump said when President he would round up all foreign visa holders in the US who participated in the pro-Palestinian protests here and deport them -
https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1718354182124568810
Americans have rallied around the flag of our longtime ally. Americans are also impatient. If nothing much happens in Ukraine and civilians are still dying in Gaza 53 weeks from now it won't be good.
the Sixth commandment tells us that we must not kill. The death of a child is tragic. The heinous attacks in southern Israel with very cruel and brutal massacring of people of all ages including tiny precious children and people of all ages is a horrible stain on humanity. Brutally murdering 260 young happy peoples enjoying a music festival focused on peace is a heinous crime. Taking over 200 people including tiny children, a young man whose arm was blown by a grenade and many people form Thailand and other countries is again horrific. There is no question that this attack by Hamas on Shabbat is reprehensible . I like many people are praying hardf that those hostages are found and returned safely home. Watching their family members advocate for them is truly heart-breaking. My heart goes out to all those grieving, all those injured. I love the courage and grit and sense of community shown by all the wonderful women coming together to volunteer and help. my heart goes out to Vivian Silver and the other wonderful peace activists abducted . Never in my wildest nightmares could I imagine any decent human being deciding to cut off ALL water, electricity , food, fule and medication to over 2.2 desperately poor people including 1.1 million children. Never in my worst moments could I imagine anyone turning their backs on 90,000 poor pregnant women and over 1.1 million children. I do not play on any team that involves murders. To each their own, However I have never murdered anyone and I very much hope that I will die without ever committing murder. I would prefer to die than to be complicit in the murder of a child. This is NOT because I believe in a vengeful and judgemental God. I believe in a God of infinite Goodness, Mercy and Love and I do not want to disappoint my Generous, Loving and Kind God by ever being complicit in murder. I think before you write about teams and who is winning, you should rethink where this very bizarre idea has come from. We are all interconnected in Space and Time. War is a human created form of hell. War feeds off inflicting terrible suffering on people and animals. Bombing is a major contributor to climate change. War is the major cause of Intergenerational trauma and may lead to a shortened life span for all involved. All one million and more children in Gaza now have sky high Adverse Childhood Experiences Scores ( ACE) . If you really care about Israel and the US, I suggest you listen to as many talks as possible by Norman Finkelstein.
https://www.google.com/search?q=finkelstein&oq=finkelstein&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqEAgAEAAYgwEY4wIYsQMYgAQyEAgAEAAYgwEY4wIYsQMYgAQyDQgBEC4YgwEYsQMYgAQyCggCEAAYsQMYgAQyBwgDEAAYgAQyBwgEEAAYgAQyBggFEEUYPDIGCAYQRRg8MgYIBxBFGDzSAQg1Njc0ajBqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:f179ba8a,vid:7-9TuLz7tWc,st:0
I totally agree.
Here are more good resources https://truah.org/an-open-letter-from-north-american-rabbis-and-cantors-responding-to-the-crisis-in-israel-and-gaza/
https://www.peacenowcanada.org/
https://www.btselem.org/video/20230927_israeli_settlers_harass_and_assault_palestinians_in_dispute_over_suspected_theft_bani_naim_hebron_district
https://www.btselem.org/
For my moral compass on all this catastrophe I read the amazing words and work of the incredibly ethical, brave and thoughtful Israeli human rights and peace advocates who have had time to discuss , reflect and pray. I have not slept properly . I keep waking up and wondering what I can do to support peace since Oct 8. https://www.btselem.org/. I also look at videos and shudder.
https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2023/10/26/al-jazeera-journalist-family-abdelaziz-pkg.cnn
Now we must all wage peace. We must ask President Jo Biden to send his top people to the West Bank so say that the US stands with the people of Palestine in this darkest hour and that the US backs a peace accord. The US cannot support Jewish terrorists who are murdering Palestinian children , women and men. One such miscreant just shot a Palestinian man harvesting his olives.
This is not democratic or fair and everyone watching can see this.
Common humanity is not a competitive team sport unless we turn this into a Compassion and Generosity Competition. Imagine if our pious multi-billionaires competed ton rush to Gaza to help pull Palestinian children from the rubble , sponsor trauma aware medical care for all the children of Gaza and focused on supporting a realistic ceasefire and a path to peace although this will now take decades.
Who is big hearted enough to stop pointing fingers and to say lets all move back from the brink !!!
I find Biden's comments about innocents ill-phrased to say the least, and I think his Israel supporters should warn him about the harm of such statements. While I believe he is concerned about civilians, his public posture makes him look he is a party to atrocities. Further, while there are Israel haters and deniers among the pro-Palestinian left, there is legitimate anger at long standing American tolerance of the Israeli occupation. We should beware of right wing groups like AIPAC that are already shutting down dissent, even calling out congresspeople who are calling for de-escalation and a cease-fire.
P.S. I am a Zionist with a sister in Israel. I am of course concerned about my family and Israel's safety. And what Israel is doing in Gaza is bound IMHO to make Israel less safe. This is actually a view shared by many in Israel, if one reads the Israel press.
Holding all in compassion
Friends, as we all try to make sense of what's happening, I toss out a few questions for all of you:
1) Israel was attacked, civilians were targeted, hundreds of hostages remain, the missiles keep coming, and the Hamas militants have hidden inside the population of Gaza. What is Israel supposed to do? Let Hamas keep attacking them? These missiles from Hamas are going deep into Israeli population centers. Isn't the responsibility for the deaths of the innocents on the Hamas for putting their military inside civilian population centers, essentially using the entire population of Gaza as human shields? 2) Should Israel be responsible for providing water, electricity and other services to Gaza while being attacked? In that case they would be providing their enemies the tools to kill Israelis. Can any government do that? 3) What did Hamas think was going to happen? Why don't they have a relationship with Egypt that allow aid and free travel to happen? Hamas destroyed the main border crossings with Israel. Was Israel supposed to allow Gazans to come into Israel knowing that terrorists and killers would be among them? Why didn't Hamas have food and other supplies stockpiled for their people if they knew a siege was coming? 4) What responsibility does Hamas have for the death of its people, and why don't they seem more concerned about it? Have you seen the videos of Hamas leaders saying their people must die in order for the Jews to be purged from the land? Meaning that they are seeking and desire civilian deaths as a tool to achieve their political ends? That Hamas had as parts of its strategy the killing of its own people, and thus they deserve a great degree of the responsibility for what is happening? 5) Why hasn't any other Arab government offered to house refugees from Gaza? Why is there so little diplomacy happening now, so little effort to try to bring a regional peace? What steps did Hamas take to ensure that life could go on for their people if Israel retaliated, particularly after their barbaric attacks on Israeli civilians? 6) What choice did Israel have here given the Hamas kept firing missiles into Israel, and that those missiles were wearing down the Iron Dome making it far more likely Israel could be destroyed by the hundreds of thousands of missiles Hizbollah has?
We assume they care about these Palestinians? Just like the Taliban cares about theirs? And then there’s the Houthis factions I think a can of worms is general consensus.
Do we have any real knowledge of the long-standing rivalries.
I doubt it.
But I would venture to anyone asking, Simon , without a stretched supposition ...Iran’s in the middle of whatever for who has the moola to buy their war weapons plus likely Putin motivated to gain ground from the spoils.
And again ...Netanyahu ...? playing his part..an evil web long weaved.