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Sunday, October 29, 2023

Blowback for inexcusable comments. "Above all, Arab Americans and Muslims interviewed by The Washington Post expressed a sense of isolation, of feeling adrift in a party they had viewed as a haven from the open hostility toward them expressed by Republicans and their de facto leader, Donald Trump. “You can’t reduce this to a political calculation that, by 2024, these communities won’t remember this, and I am talking about communities, plural: Arab American, Palestinian American, young voters, I’m talking about people who spent their lives working on peace in the region,” said Maya Berry, a longtime civil rights activist and executive director of the Arab American Institute. “These are all voters who won’t forget.”

 The headline runs together two paragaphs from an Oct. 27, 2023, WaPo item carried by SeattleTimes:

The open disdain toward Biden from many in a reliably Democratic bloc is among the many signs the conflict is quickly remaking U.S. domestic politics, with public fury over a Hamas attack that killed 1,400 Israelis colliding with the horror of entire families in the Gaza Strip being wiped out in Israel’s retaliatory strikes.

The events of the week were described in detail in interviews with several Arab American and Muslim advocates inside and outside the administration, nearly all of them speaking on the condition of anonymity to candidly describe their dealings with the White House.

One organizer said community concerns could be boiled down to a critical question: “Are we dealing with warmongers or are we dealing with peacemakers? Who are we dealing with?”

For many Muslims and Arab Americans, the answer came Wednesday when Biden cast doubt on the number of Palestinian casualties because the figures come from health officials who report to Hamas, which controls the territory. Historically, such figures have been accurate, according to Middle East researchers. On Thursday, Hamas released names, national ID numbers and other information for the 6,747 people included in the Gaza Health Ministry’s tally. The group said 281 bodies had not yet been identified, bringing the total to 7,028.

If Biden dismisses or questions fails to question the grotesque killing rampage the Israelis are in the midst of, he is rightly rejected by not only Arab and Muslim Amerians, but by thinking and caring Americans, who hate the ethnic cleansing being done by the Netanyahu government, grossly disproportionate already, and growing day by day.

Seven thousand killed, more to come. An initial Hamas mayhem and death incursion into Israel killing 1400, and over and done suggests ethnic cleansing and not proportionate Hamas losses. 

In both instances citizen - civilian death happened. Neither the initial incursion, nor the ongoing grossly disproportionate butchery are excusable in any civilized sense.

Biden's and his administration's response, including wanting to further arm the Israelis with more taxpayer money spent than the annual unjustified amounts shows choosing sides in a way many should find offensive. Israel drops bombs because they have them and state of the art airplanes, as well as armor shown again and again by images online. Residents of Gaza have their homes, their children, and no escape.

Go figure.

And going to whitehouse.gov, Biden and  crew lack the spine to put their favoritism into online posting which history would preserve. It is reported, with many outlets of mass media simply ignoring further coverage in favor of sporting event score coverage. Bless WaPo and AJ and Guardian and other outlets keeping "hot" coverage of the ethnic cleansing genocide in front of the world to see.

Apartheid sucks. Ongoing mass murder beyond any sane proportionate measure, same judgment. What ending death total in Gaza will we see, once Israeli entry and slaughter are ended, with ground forces having done "enough" and ultimately withdrawn? We can guess and it staggers the mind.

___________UPDATE___________

Images from Gaza and elsewhere, showing Gaza destruction and death shrouds, as well as protests elsewhere. To choose a single online image? Yes. This one,

https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/2023-10-29T130819Z_2131388451_RC2D24AHVEM3_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-PROTESTS-SPAIN-1698586197.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80
https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/2023-10-29T130819Z_2131388451_RC2D24AHVEM3_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-PROTESTS-SPAIN-1698586197.jpg 

In Spain, indeed, but a crucial sign, in English. Sooner or later, effective pressure can be employed to lead to a more ideal resolution than full ultimate de facto annexation of the West Bank.

____________FURTHER UPDATE_______________

These are not blanket massive bomb drops as in Vietnam and Laos, these are precision guided munitions. Or prove me wrong!

FURTHER: Hospital bombing? The building appears to remain standing. News of any change would be reported. We shall see.

FURTHER: PiPress carries an Oct. 29 AP report on current status quo within Gaza.