A pro-Palestinian rally Sunday in Times Square endorsed by the city chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America ensnared prominent party members amid widespread condemnation of the event.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and other leading Democrats blasted the rally as “abhorrent and morally repugnant” and drew a dividing line with far-left members of the party — including New York Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman, who denounced the attacks and called for a ceasefire but didn’t take a stand on the rally.
“I condemn Hamas’ attack in the strongest possible terms,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement. “No child and family should ever endure this kind of violence and fear, and this violence will not solve the ongoing oppression and occupation in the region. An immediate ceasefire and de-escalation is urgently needed to save lives.”
Indeed. Israel is also in the position of power here. They can choose to start towards a lasting peace but they want all the land instead. Hamas is a symptom of this
Israel tried for a lasting peace a few decades ago. They were rebuffed at the last minute by the PLO. Since then, the PLO has been replaced by Hamas. Hamas’ goal, which they’ve outright stated, is to drive all the Jews into the sea. How do you negotiate with people who want to murder you?
I’m an American Jew and have seen Nazis marching with the swastika flag flying. I’ve had a person tell me (to my face, knowing that I’m Jewish) that “the only thing Hitler did wrong was not finishing the job.” How would you have me negotiate with someone like that?
I’m not claiming that Israel is blameless. Far from it. However, trying to justify attacks like this with “but Israel did X” is minimizing the horror of what was done. Had Hamas attacked military or governmental targets, I’d agree that it was a valid reply to actions Israel has taken. Killing random civilians (many, but not all of whom were Israeli), though, is nowhere near justified by “but Israel did X.”
I also won’t claim to know the solution to this situation. If I did, I’d be a Nobel Prize winning diplomat and not a small time web developer. I can only describe the situation as I see it. Palestinian groups attack due to (partly) the treatment they’re receiving. In return, Israelis, in fear for their safety, elect firebrand politicians who clamp down hard on the Palestinians to prevent future attacks. Mix in some Palestinians who want to kill all Jews and some Israelis (like the settlers) who think all Palestinian land should just be seized for Israel (and who do so) and the pressure/temperature ramps up more and more. Repeat over and over again.
In the short term, Israel is going to retaliate and I can’t say that I blame them. I hope they restrict their retaliation to Hamas targets and not civilian ones. Any high ground Israel has from this attack would be instantly lost if they responded exactly in kind. In the long term, we need some diplomats of serious skill to unwind this mess, turn the temperature down, and get both sides talking instead of attacking.
Israel replaced the PLO by supporting hamas
Exactly.
Palestinians have rejected peace deal after peace deal for the better part of a century, and have never ONCE offered a solution to this situation that didn’t spell the death of Israel.
The idea that Israel had the power to end this is just demonstrably false.