It was an opinion by the senator, “Justice for the Palestinians and Security for Israel.”
The Fate of Hamas: The United Nations is Against the Threats of World War II: The Gaza Crisis in the Light of Israel
If we want to bring this war to an end and avoid a future one, we must be clear about the facts. A terrorist organization called Hamas launched a barbaric attack against Israel, killing more than 1200 people, including many women and children. On a per-capita basis, if Israel had the same population as the United States, that attack would have been the equivalent of nearly 40,000 deaths, more than 10 times the fatalities that we suffered on 9/11.
Israel, in response, under the leadership of its right-wing prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under indictment for corruption and whose cabinet includes outright racists, unleashed what amounts to total war against the Palestinian people. In Gaza, over 1.6 million Palestinians were forced out of their homes. Food, water, medical supplies and fuel were cut off. 45% of the housing units in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed according to the United Nations. More than 12,000 Palestinians, 50% of them children, have been killed or wounded in the conflict, according to the Gaza health ministry. And the situation becomes more dire every day.
Before and after October 7th, Hamas made it clear its goal was to destroy the state of Israel. Just last week a spokesman for Hamas told The New York Times: “I hope that the state of war with Israel will become permanent on all the borders, and that the Arab world will stand with us.”
Second, Israel has done nothing in recent years to give hope for a peaceful settlement — maintaining the blockade of Gaza, deepening the daily humiliations of occupation in the West Bank, and largely ignoring the horrendous living conditions facing Palestinians.
Over the years, people of good will around the world, including Israelis, have tried to address this conflict in a way that brings justice for Palestinians and security for Israel. We tried to do what we could. Obviously, we did not do enough. We need to recommit to this effort. The stakes are high so give up.
If Palestinians are ever going to have a chance at self-determination and a decent standard of living, there needs to be no Israeli blockade of Gaza. If Palestinians get the chance to improve their lives if Hamas is removed from power, then an occupation of Gaza by Israel would be a bad idea. Gaza must have the chance to be free of Hamas in order to have a brighter future for the Palestinians. There can’t be a long-term Israeli occupation.
Let’s be clear: this is not going to happen on its own. The current coalition agreement reinforces Mr. Netanyahu’s statement that the sole purpose of the party was to make Israeli sovereignty visible between the Jordan River and the Sea. This is not just ideology. The Israeli government has systematically pursued this goal. The United Nations and the US agree that the West Bank is an occupied area, and in the last year there has beenrecord growth in Israeli settlements there. They used violence to back up the annexation. Since Oct. 7, the United Nations reports that at least 208 Palestinians, including 53 children, have been killed by Israeli security forces and settlers. This can’t continue.
Mr. Netanyahu made it clear where he stands on these issues. So should we. We wouldn’t be in this position if we asked nicely. The only way these necessary changes will happen is if the United States uses the substantial leverage we have with Israel. And we all know what that leverage is.
That’s the thing about this neighborhood: If you only look at one group or the other under a microscope, you want to cry — the brutal massacre of Jews, the harsh treatment of Palestinians by Jewish supremacist settlers. There is so much to do. But if you look at their stories through a kaleidoscope, observing the complexity of their interactions, you can see hope. If you want to report accurately about Israelis and Palestinians, always bring a kaleidoscope.
They aren’t thinking about the Jewish mother in Jerusalem who told me in one breath how she just got a gun license to protect her kids from Hamas, and in the next about how much she trusted her kids’ Palestinian Arab teacher, who rushed her children to the school bomb shelter during a recent Hamas air raid. The Jewish kids who were given 50 bicycles by the Israeli Arab shop owner are not being considered because his shop was torched.
Thomas Hobbes and Walter Mondale: A Cross Between Thomas-Robertson-Mondale and the Hamas Attack of September 7, 2001
Those on both sides know that I am not someone who wants to keep score. My main concern is to get out of this show before everyone is blind and toothless.
I would like you to spare some time with me so that I can reflect on some of the amazing acts that they undertook on October 7. They will give you more faith in humanity than the headlines around this story would ever suggest.
A friend once said that I was a cross between Thomas Hobbes and Walter Mondale. I let out my inner Mondale for a few days on my trip and tried to chase a glimpse of hope through the darkness.
Abbas said that no one could accept what happened on that day. And we cannot condemn it and say ‘but’ — that word ‘but’ has become immoral.” (Recent polls show overwhelming Israeli Arab condemnation of the Hamas attack.)
“One of the hardest things today is to be an Israeli Arab,” Abbas said to me. “The Arab Israeli feels the pain twice — once as an Arab and once as an Israeli.”
