On Feb. 1, a large crowd urged the Boulder City Council to pass a resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. The Boulder Reporting Lab described a raucous and chaotic scene with five recesses and lots of chanting and shouted insults.
A majority of the council declined to take a stand, citing a city code provision. Councilwoman Lauren Folkerts sensibly suggested that the city’s Human Relations Commission advise the council on “how we can help our community engage in productive dialogue and healing given the trauma associated with this topic.”
It’s almost impossible to have a reasonable conversation about the conflict. People are afraid of being called anti-Semites or Islamophobes. But we need more than polite talks. Many Arab and Muslim Americans are saying they won’t vote for Biden because he is funding mass murder.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a roundtable discussion with Palestinian Americans about the situation in Gaza. A number of invitees refused to meet with him.
Dr. Tariq Haddad, a Virginia cardiologist, had initially intended to go to the meeting. Instead, he wrote a 12-page letter to Blinken saying “I cannot in good conscience meet with you today knowing this administration’s policies have been responsible for the death of over 80 of my family members including dozens of children, the suffering of hundreds of my remaining family, the famine my family is currently subjected to and the destruction of all my family’s homes.”
This war started with a killing spree of spectacular depravity on last Oct. 7 by Hamas and allied groups. The Center for Strategic and International Studies says it was the “third-deadliest terrorist attack since data collection began in 1970.” It was the most traumatic event in Israeli history.
Under the cover of rocket barrages fired from Gaza, they killed indiscriminately in the streets, houses, kibbutz communities and at a rave music festival. According to Israeli social security data, the final death toll is thought to be 695 Israeli civilians, including 36 children, as well as 373 security forces and 71 foreigners, giving a total of 1,139. More than 240 hostages were taken.
President Biden warned Israel not to make the same mistakes the U.S. made after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Various analysts of terrorism said Hamas was deliberately provoking Israel into an emotional and horrific excessive retaliation.
It worked. In a recent speech at the Center for International Policy, Sen. Bernie Sanders said that in just four months of war, 27,000 Palestinians have been killed and 67,000 have been wounded. He noted that two-thirds of the dead and wounded are women and children and that 1.7 million — 80% of the population — have been driven from their homes. Many hundreds of thousands are facing starvation.
Sanders introduced a resolution to compel the State Department, within 30 days, to determine if Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank. He was invoking a rarely-used provision of a decades-old law that prohibits security assistance to any country where the government engages in a “consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.”
The resolution was voted down 72 votes to 11. Progressives in Congress have also introduced a resolution urging Biden to call for an immediate ceasefire.
On Feb. 11, The Washington Post reported that “President Biden and his top aides are closer to a breach” with Netanyahu than at any time since the war began. The article was based on interviews with 19 anonymous senior administration officials and outside advisers.
The president has known Netanyahu for more than 40 years and “has been largely reluctant to take his private frustrations public so far. … But he is slowly warming to the idea. … As Netanyahu continues to infuriate Biden officials with public humiliations and prompt rejections of basic U.S. demands.”
However, many of Biden’s allies say that “even a sharp rhetorical shift will have little effect unless the United States starts imposing conditions on its support for Israel.”
Biden has issued a national security memorandum aimed at ensuring that countries receiving U.S. weapons abide by certain guidelines. He also issued an executive order sanctioning four West Bank settlers for violence against Palestinians.
In February, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, told The Wall Street Journal that Biden was hampering Israel’s war effort.
“Instead of giving us his full backing, Biden is busy with giving humanitarian aid and fuel (to Gaza), which goes to Hamas,” he said. “If Trump was in power, the U.S. conduct would be completely different.”
For God’s sake, Joe! Just say no to Netanyahu.