Thank you for the link to this incredible speech. It speaks volumes about President Eisenhower‘s ability to see into the future and give guidance to governance in the future. It is too bad that politicians after him did not follow his wise advice. His cautions about the military industrial complex are about five minutes into the video.
I have utmost respect for Eisenhower’s work in sustaining the New Deal, and for his domestic affairs’ legacy, especially as regards Social Security, minimum wage and the interstate highway system. As to foreign affairs, I DON’T like Ike! In that regard, he spoke from both sides of his mouth: “While he warned about the military industrial complex, he was less restrained when it came to covert interventions, some which reverberate today.”
Right. Both sides have trauma going back at least three generations, or more. Just look at how difficult it is to heal from trauma, even when you honestly want to! If they want revenge, and think peace is a not even a goal, then how can there be a peaceful future? They cannot do it. Maybe humans just cannot do it. Most of us don't even want to try.
Yeah. Check out the map of natural gas reserves claims in the Mediterranean staked out by Cyprus-Greece-Israel. They definitely don't wanna have to divvy up with a Palestinian legal entity.
It is hard for me to believe that a majority of Israeli citizens would accept a two-state solution in return for living in peace. I suspect that’s true of most Palestinians as well. What is lacking is the mutual trust to bring this about and the zealots in both societies fan this fear because it keeps them in power.
what is happening in Palestine and Israel is a colossal failure of American diplomacy. As Israel's horrific war against the people of Gaza continues to escalate, the US refuses to condemn Israel's breaches of international and humanitarian law, Biden has closely aligned himself with Israel's most right wing extremist forces, and Netanyahu, the kind of leader the US should be condemning for its extremismist rhetoric, its attack on the independence of the Israeli judiciary, the substantial criminal charges he is facing; the closest thing Israel has to Donald Trump, et Biden publicly embraces him and ignores Palestinian oppression and suffering. The US has completely eviscerated any role it might as an honest broker, and will not be able to speak out against other countries who breach international law. Biden's questioning of Palestinian deaths is appalling - inevitable given the bombing of a trapped population where nowhere is safe. Biden's call for restraint rings hollow when his main action - apart from crossing the Atlantic to hug Netanyahu - has been to request $14 billion in military aid for Israel. The US has never made its substantial aid to Israel (most of which goes to the Israeli military) conditional on the seeking of a just, permanent and legal settlement with the Palestinians.
The US is out of step with the majority of the world's countries on this - for example yesterday's UNGA Resolution on a humanitarian pause was approved by 120 countries, but opposed by the US and Israel.
":what is happening in Palestine and Israel is a colossal failure of American diplomacy."
BS. Iran/Russia want to divide us. Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton have been the only ones who directly addressed the problem. Hamas reacted to stop Israel/Saudi negotiations. We were not even involved.
Sorry Mr. Solomon, I beg to differ. I assume you are right about Iran and Russia. And I know that Carter and Clinton tried. But this has been an issue for 75 years. And I think Dorrido is basically correct. And I don't like you saying "BS".
@Dorrido. There is something in engineering called root cause analysis. Applied in international relations, this approach would counsel against starting any analysis in the middle. American diplomacy (alone) is not responsible for the Hamas attack across the border into Israel. They did that for reasons that appear to be specifically aimed at disturbing Biden Administration progress in Saudi Arabia. Israeli oppression of Gaza Strip is bad, this should be stopped, but it is not a justification for, nor is it the reason for the Hamas action slaughtering civilians. Taking a one-state view of the situation without understanding the funding sources for Hamas, the role of Iran and Arab states in the region, and Hamas' logic for existence makes your analysis puerile.
Biden and Bibi are not exactly bosom buddies and Joe's been quite clear that retaliation against Hamas must NOT mean the destruction of innocent lives in Gaza. So no, he has NOT "closely aligned himself with Israel's most right wing extremist forces."
One can support Israel's right to defend itself while also supporting Palestine's right to exist. You and I have no idea what goes on behind the scenes (aka diplomacy), especially when there are still hundreds of hostages being held prisoner.
Like so many Americans, you are absolutely deluded.
From the incomparable Chris Hedges:
On Friday the Gaza Strip had all its communications severed. No Internet. No phone service. No electricity. Israel’s goal is the murder of tens, probably hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and the ethnic cleansing of those who survive into refugee camps in Egypt. It is an attempt by Israel to erase not only a people, but the idea of Palestine. It is a carbon copy of the massive campaigns of racialized slaughter by other settler colonial projects who believed that indiscriminate and wholesale violence could make the aspirations of an oppressed people, whose land they stole, go away. And like other perpetrators of genocide, Israel intends to keep it hidden.
I don't believe I'm deluded (but of course I'd say that, right?). I know about the communications cut-off. The goal is the eradication of Hamas. Hamas is not Palestine. I do NOT approve of the invasion of Gaza, but I understand Israel's desire to survive. Palestine deserves a homeland as well. Nobody's been serious about working on the two-state solution instead of wholesale slaughter from both sides of the issue. And all because of stupid religion. Once upon a time Jews and Arabs lived peacefully side by side.
PRCS (Palestine Red Crescent Society) "has just received a new threat by the Israeli Authorities this morning, ordering the team to immediately evacuate Al Quds Hospital," reads a statement from the organization.
"Two phone calls were received, with a clear and direct threat, that the hospital must be evacuated at once, otherwise PRCS holds full responsibility for the lives of everyone inside the hospital," PRCS said.
Premeditated murder, but it's someone else's fault. And bombing a hospital. I don't use the word often, but it's just evil. And again, US taxpayers are funding this barbary, and I'm an anti-semite if I protest! Clearly none of this is about eliminating Hamas, but the exterminating the Palestinian people (or killing many and pushing the surviving into Sinai or somewhere else) and taking Gaza (the land) for Israel.
Hamas has what's been described as an entire city in tunnels underneath Gaza City. They concentrate in areas like under hospitals and other civilian locations and use innocent Palestinians as human shields. Tunnel warfare is difficult and deadly for both sides. (I'm old enough to remember the tunnel rats in Vietnam.)
Nothing is "clear" about any of this, other than a lot of people have already died and a lot more will die, on BOTH sides of the conflict (are we calling it a war yet?).
Remember, that earlier hospital bombing wasn't Israel, btw. Just don't be quick to assign blame when you don't have all the facts.
The problem is not religion, but bad faith on the part of several key actors and impunity for Israel. The internationally agreed template is the Oslo accords, for a two state solution, signed by both parties in 1993 and 1995. Since Netanyahu's election in 1996, he has done all in his power to subvert and undermine these agreements. Expansion of illegal settlements and settler violence has continued unchecked, reducing the area available to Palestine. Gaza has been under blocade by sea, air, land borders, barely surviving, and is right now suffering massive bombing and what many describe as genocide. The US continues with massive unconditional military aid to Israel, also undermining and subverting the Oslo accords. Israel acts with impunity, no sanctions, no expelling of ambassadors, no seizing of assets. This is out of kilt with the majority of the world - just a few days ago 120 countries voted in the UNGA for a humanitarian pause and to allow aid to enter Gaza - the US and Israel voted against.
Of course it's about religion; that's the basis for the whole fight over the entire territory. Three major religions claim the land as THEIRS because they all started there. Christians appear willing to share, but the other two refuse.
Nobody is all right or all wrong. Hamas slaughtered 1400 innocents - men, women, elderly, babies. They took 200+ hostages and have released only 4, largely due to the efforts of the US (with assists from Qatar). Israel is retaliating by slaughtering innocent Palestinians in their hunt for Hamas. NONE of that is okay. NONE of that is acceptable.
Israel has been our strong ally with regards to the Arabian countries who seek to eradicate both Israel AND the West. Netanyahu is a criminal and a bully (sounds like a certain orange guy and a few other guys I can name - MBS, Putin, Xi, etc.) - I will never defend him. I will defend Israel's right to defend itself, and I will defend Palestine's right to survive and to have a homeland of its own.
There's no simple solution. If there were, somebody would have done something about it long before this. Everyone has to start from the same page and those folks aren't even using the same book.
The US does not have a free and independent mainstream media. The coverage of Israel's actions in Gaza the past few weeks alone are ample evidence. Most Americans, including some on this thread, are in a kind of stupor. And it's still unbelievable to me that Professor Reich continues to be so tepid on the subject of Israel and yet still so robust in his support of President Biden who has ALLOWED all of this and FUNDED it. The US taxpayer is literally paying for Israel to commit genocide.
From Chris Hedges, former journalist for the NY TImes (he's too plain-spoken for their tastes):
Israel’s bombing campaign, one of the heaviest of the 21st century, has killed more than 7,300 Palestinians, nearly half of them children, along with 26 journalists, medical workers, teachers and United Nations staff. Some 1.4 million Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced and an estimated 600,000 are homeless. Mosques, 120 health facilities, ambulances, schools, apartment blocks, supermarkets, water and sewage treatment plants and power plants have been blasted into rubble. Hospitals and clinics, lacking fuel, medicine and electricity, have been bombed or are shutting down. Clean water is running out. Gaza, by the end of Israel’s scorched earth campaign, will be uninhabitable, a tactic the Nazis regularly employed when facing armed resistance, including in the Warsaw Ghetto and later Warsaw itself. By the time Israel is done, Gaza, or at least Gaza as we knew it, will not exist.
Not only are the tactics the same, but so is the rhetoric. Palestinians are referred to as animals, beasts and Nazis. They have no right to exist. Their children have no right to exist. They must be cleansed from the earth.
With Israel having all the military power, backed up relentlessly by the USA, the Israelis feel no need to compromise and until they do we can just look forward to more of the same. Israelis kill Palestinians and steal their land, Palestinian children quickly learn to hate their oppressors and the cycle goes on.
Many Israelis are furious with their government for their treatment of their Arab citizens, as well as the cruel manner they have treated their Arab neighbors in the West Bank and Gaza. Unfortunately, just as we find in the United States, the right wing is behaving in such a way as to create maximum antagonism and in this case, death. Our own right wing leaders also created antagonism and death in the invasion of Iraq.
Thank you Heather & Professor Reich for speaking about what’s on many minds today in these dangerous times.
Aside from when he came down the escalator bashing Mexicans, I vividly recall getting a knot in my stomach back in 2015, the early days of the Trump campaign, when he had Journalist Jorge Ramos of Univision literally dragged out of his press conference for asking questions Trump found offensive.
Trump could always rely on his bodyguards to rough up anyone who annoyed him and that was found acceptable to many in the early days of his campaign. Recall the folks attacked or thrown out of his rallies???
Over the past 8 years, he’s evolved into radicalizing more people to do harm to other Americans & immigrants, on his behalf, just as a mob boss and demagogue does.
We saw how he got Bill Barr to punish Michael Cohen for testifying to Congress and how they exacted revenge on Cohen, including solitary confinement. Read both of Cohen’s book.
We saw how Trump’s administration put kids in cages and treated migrants. We saw how protestors were treated under his administration.
We heard him encourage his audiences & police officers to be physically violent with others.
We saw him send his followers on January 6th to storm The Capitol and Hang Mike Pence because he can’t emotionally accept that he lost the election.
We saw how he used and encouraged police and military to do harm to protestors.
The other harm done are the death threats and intimidation to politicians, public servants and journalists.
Consider how many politicians have quietly left office because of the threats.
Consider how many politicians have had to increase their personal security spending. See Liz Cheney & Mitt Romney’s personal stories.
This past week we saw death threats to those in his party to ensure that everyone falls in line with the vote for Mike Johnson and the key test is that they are ALL election deniers.
The GOP all LIE TO THE PUBLIC for #TraitorTrump about a stolen election to avoid death threats & being primaried.
Our media personalities, judges and prosecutors, including election and state officials nationwide are all facing death threats thanks to #TraitorTrump.
Those convicted from his attempted coup on January 6th are sitting in jail now because they didn’t figure out that they’ve been lied to, indoctrinated and radicalized for years by a New York conman and rapist who was not the successful businessman sold to them by The Apprentice and mainstream media.
Strongly recommend checking out the court case brought by the New York Attorney General which shows what a fraud he is on the business front. Most New Yorkers have known this for years.
Trump’s only way to stay out of jail for his countless crimes committed in plain sight, which includes stealing national security secrets and an attempted coup, is to get his cult followers to harm their fellow Americans.
Think about how far America has fallen since 2015, under the influence of this person, protected by Secret Service protection paid for by taxpayers, who does harm to others by sending out daily threats & messages.
From Jorge Ramos to Politicians, Judges & Prosecutors now in harm’s way 24/7!
Shame on Americans for allowing this country to slip into Fascism by allowing this most corrupt criminal, #TraitorTrump back into the White House.
No one can say they weren’t warned in 2023 given that he’s fully taken over one of America’s political parties through fear and intimidation and his conduct is well documented daily.
The violence he champions is NOT normal in a civilized society.
More attention needs to be paid to who Mike Johnson actually is. To use an old phrase, he is a wolf in sheep's clothing. This man is more to the right than most MAGA people and has views that are so unAmerican and deeply divisive. He really is lost in the 17th century and has never come to terms with modern America. Look at how he reacted to the mass shooting in Maine? The cause----teaching evolution? He's scary because he looks innocuous, but he's against the views of at least 80% of Americans on abortion, LBGTQ, climate change, teaching evolution and science. Scary guy.
Yes. His views on Social Security, Medicare, the ACA, and "forced birth" ( his words) to grow the work force should stop every citizen cold. I was very disturbed to hear David on PBS last night say he felt "encouraged" by Johnson's acceptance speech. Did the national IQ drop over the past few years?
The west has emboldened Isreal for so long they now feel that they can destroy the Palestinians without consequence. If the French resistance were not terrorists why are Palestinians labelled as terrorists.
😊 Good to see you both, wish there was more encouraging news to report on. Sending lots of good vibes to Robert, Heather, their support team and subscribers. 💗🌞💗
I know that the Palestinians can recover if they are not completely wiped out. Then what?
The perpetrators of 1948 should come up with a solution and rebuild Gaza for the people.
Every Colonial power leaves country's in a fearful mess. Why? Because they never taught the enslaved people how to rule.
I was born in Sri Lanka in 1949 just after Independence the horrors I saw growing up have never left me. My parents were British Colonials and they disgusted me from a very young age. Many of the elite Sri Lankan's became just like the British.
America has the leverage to make Israel back off by not sending any more money to Israel until they learn tolerance.
I know that a huge number of Israeli people protested for many weeks against Netanyahu's Govt. and they have a vote. Get Netanyahu OUT and form a new Govt. of compassion.
The conflict is complicated, involving rejection, discrimination, and hatred--all of which combined and led to hatred and mistrust. I mean that the conflict has been going on for over 2000 years. For those familiar with the Bible, Abraham rejected Hagar and his own son Ishmael when his formerly barren wife Sarah gave birth to Isaac. Hagar and Ishmael were thrown out of the community, with little or no resources to help them. It's my opinion that this is when the conflict began. There needs to be healing on both sides which will only happen when each honestly searches themselves and becomes accountable--much like healing between races here in this country needs truth telling and owning up to the fact that white supremacists cruelly enslaved people and decimated the indigenous tribes.
Irishcoda: I truly do not think we need to go back to the Bible as a historical reference source for the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Historically, Muslims and Jews have gotten along much better than Christians and Jews. In 1492 when the Jews were expelled from Spain and other countries, it was the Ottoman Empire that offered them refuge. It is only since the formation of the state of Israel that these conflicts have arisen.
I love seeing your beautiful faces! This adds to your presentation! Please keep it up! Robert, your eyes tell the story of a deeply loving and compassionate man with superior intelligence. Heather is really photogenic.
Great Coffee Klatch! Thank you Heather and Robert. Wonderful way to start my birthday despite all the chaos nationally and internationally.
I have been shaking my head for years regarding our involvement in the Middle East as the US seems to get it wrong most of the times.
Why doesn’t the DoD hire cultural anthropologist when they enter a country that is vastly different than ours when they engage in war? Why did we invade Iraq? I often wonder if the outcome of invading Iraq helped create new terrorist organizations. It feels like we added to the destabilization of that part of the world. Arabs always look at American invasions as politically and economically motivated.
While I’m a San Francisco born American, I spent my formative years in Baghdad and Tehran. At that time, they were amazing countries to live in and learn about the cultures. We ruined Iraq. We stole national and historic treasures, that ended up in the hands of republican party donors. How does that happen?
What Hamas did was horrific, Isreal doubling down on innocent Palestinians isn’t the answer. Is Isreal trying take out the underground tunnels in Gaza? Innocent Palestinian woman and children will become collateral damage. It simply inflames the tension in that part of the world. I didn’t realize that the Gaza strip is a Ghetto with 2 million people who don’t have many opportunities and have substandard living conditions. Half of the population is under 18. The conditions that the families live in doesn’t foster peace.
How do we eliminate hate when we allow conditions to exist that fosters it? Not unlike our own crime ridden neighborhoods that have high rates of gun violence. What happens to those children that live in an insecure environment day after day. PTSD that is probably diagnosed as ADD or ADHD. Forgive my random thinking.
Do you think the aftermath of Covid has caused the political flair-ups internationally?
Mass shooting are becoming normalized. Where is the outrage?
Israel’s approach is like bombing blue states to get rid of Donald Trump. The Palestinians are not Hamas Hamas is horrific, but the retaliation against the Palestinian civilians under the guise of solving a problem becomes just as horrific. They have people in the box and they’re starving them and bombing them, in the name of solving a problem, and the media (and some previously sane politicians) seems to be most often behind Israel’s revenge, starvation and torture. If it proves anything, it proves that you don’t solve problems with violence, particularly against innocent people. Our country, and even the rest of the world seems to be choosing might over right. There is some fascination with power that is destroying all of us. Even Joe Biden seems to be getting it wrong half the time when he tries to distinguish Hamas from the Palestinians And Might and revenge from right.
Israeli political leaders have decided that Palestinian civilians, including children, are collateral damage. (Heard one of them use exactly those words on the BBC) They will not stop until they turn Gaza into a wasteland, push the remaining Palestinians out of the West Bank, and become a pariah state. All with the aid and comfort of the USA on their side.
Where exactly is Egypt in this discussion? Where is the criticism of Egypt? As Gazans are killed, Egypt has refused to permit at least some level of evacuation to the the Sinai Peninsula. Temporary tent shelters with the assistance of the UN and the US would be set up. Is that too nuanced for you?
Great point. The same can be said of Jordan. But if I remember my history correctly, at the time of the partition of Palestine, the UN (USA & UK) believed that Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon would welcome Palestinian Arabs as brothers and take them in. In typical Western fashion, they failed to grasp that Egyptians, Syrians, Jordanians and Lebanese are proud of their heritage and ask rightly - Palestinians are not Egyptians (et.al.) so why should we give them part of our country. They have their own. Seems like nothing has changed in 75 odd years.
Blame everyone but the culprit for the violence in Gaza...
Egypt is not bombing Palestinians, that is Israel.
No doubt Egypt fears this may be another 'nakba' - expulsion of Palestinians from their land, never to be allowed to return, while their land is taken by Israel
Could we start with one basic foundational principle: Israel has a right to exist!
One could rightly argue that its modern coming into existence left a lot to be desired and gave scant thought to the welfare and feelings of the extant inhabitants. Very few nations can boast of a pristine birth and modern Israel is no exception.
The state of Israel is going nowhere.
So let us start from that premise and work forward from there.
By the way, I have scant tolerance for the, mostly American, aggressive "settlers" on the West Bank who portray a sort of Jewish, Baptist Presbyterianism complete with a "my way or the highway"conviction of their own righteousness.
Fine,,,but if you continue in that vein Israel will still succeed militarily and probably end up with even more territory after the upcoming war. Is that what you want?
Doing the same thing and expecting a different result is hardly clever.
Look at the size of Israel after 1948 and again after three major wars as proof of my thesis.
Isn't that a little harsh? Do you think all citizens or residents of Israel are terrorists? You might as well say that all Americans are guilty of what the US did to Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, etcetera,,,
The traumatised inflict trauma on the traumatised. No one wins, except the global military industrial complex.
Trauma is emotional, not logical. It will go on for generations, unless the two sides are permanently separated in their own sovereign states.
If I recall correctly, Dwight D Eisenhower‘s parting words were “Beware the military industrial complex!”
Here's the speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyBNmecVtdU
Here is some info about the speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg-jvHynP9Y
I have heard that he considered saying "Beware the military industrial congressional complex!"
Thank you for the link to this incredible speech. It speaks volumes about President Eisenhower‘s ability to see into the future and give guidance to governance in the future. It is too bad that politicians after him did not follow his wise advice. His cautions about the military industrial complex are about five minutes into the video.
“I LIKE IKE!”
I have utmost respect for Eisenhower’s work in sustaining the New Deal, and for his domestic affairs’ legacy, especially as regards Social Security, minimum wage and the interstate highway system. As to foreign affairs, I DON’T like Ike! In that regard, he spoke from both sides of his mouth: “While he warned about the military industrial complex, he was less restrained when it came to covert interventions, some which reverberate today.”
See:
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2021/08/12/the-dark-side-of-eisenhowers-foreign-policy/
And:
https://millercenter.org/president/eisenhower/foreign-affairs
Interesting articles!
his biggest mistake was picking Dulles. Vietnam, Israel, a whole bunch of horrors perpetrated by the US were Dulles' doing.
Dulles was often the mastermind, indeed, but Ike approved the interventions. He could have done better.
Right. Both sides have trauma going back at least three generations, or more. Just look at how difficult it is to heal from trauma, even when you honestly want to! If they want revenge, and think peace is a not even a goal, then how can there be a peaceful future? They cannot do it. Maybe humans just cannot do it. Most of us don't even want to try.
Trauma changes DNA and is passed on -- and on and on.
Actually, it changes the expression of genes, not the genes themselves.
Those who thrive on instability have an ulterior motive. Oil?
Yeah. Check out the map of natural gas reserves claims in the Mediterranean staked out by Cyprus-Greece-Israel. They definitely don't wanna have to divvy up with a Palestinian legal entity.
It is hard for me to believe that a majority of Israeli citizens would accept a two-state solution in return for living in peace. I suspect that’s true of most Palestinians as well. What is lacking is the mutual trust to bring this about and the zealots in both societies fan this fear because it keeps them in power.
what is happening in Palestine and Israel is a colossal failure of American diplomacy. As Israel's horrific war against the people of Gaza continues to escalate, the US refuses to condemn Israel's breaches of international and humanitarian law, Biden has closely aligned himself with Israel's most right wing extremist forces, and Netanyahu, the kind of leader the US should be condemning for its extremismist rhetoric, its attack on the independence of the Israeli judiciary, the substantial criminal charges he is facing; the closest thing Israel has to Donald Trump, et Biden publicly embraces him and ignores Palestinian oppression and suffering. The US has completely eviscerated any role it might as an honest broker, and will not be able to speak out against other countries who breach international law. Biden's questioning of Palestinian deaths is appalling - inevitable given the bombing of a trapped population where nowhere is safe. Biden's call for restraint rings hollow when his main action - apart from crossing the Atlantic to hug Netanyahu - has been to request $14 billion in military aid for Israel. The US has never made its substantial aid to Israel (most of which goes to the Israeli military) conditional on the seeking of a just, permanent and legal settlement with the Palestinians.
The US is out of step with the majority of the world's countries on this - for example yesterday's UNGA Resolution on a humanitarian pause was approved by 120 countries, but opposed by the US and Israel.
":what is happening in Palestine and Israel is a colossal failure of American diplomacy."
BS. Iran/Russia want to divide us. Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton have been the only ones who directly addressed the problem. Hamas reacted to stop Israel/Saudi negotiations. We were not even involved.
Sorry Mr. Solomon, I beg to differ. I assume you are right about Iran and Russia. And I know that Carter and Clinton tried. But this has been an issue for 75 years. And I think Dorrido is basically correct. And I don't like you saying "BS".
BS We don't rule the world. Paranoia. If we did, would be a Trump Gaza.
Excuse me? I have no idea where this is coming from. Should I consider you to be a troll.
Yes it seems Mr Solomon is here to counter any criticism of Israel or the US role in unconditionally supporting this violent ethnoreligious state
read this for some truth on the story of the daily humiliations, blocade, oppression of Gazans BEFORE Oct 7
https://scheerpost.com/2023/10/21/the-chris-hedges-report-no-sanctuary-israels-long-war-on-gaza/
https://scheerpost.com/2023/10/21/the-chris-hedges-report-no-sanctuary-israels-long-war-on-gaza/
read the above for a reality check on what was happening in Gaza before Oct 7
Entitled to your illusion
@Dorrido. There is something in engineering called root cause analysis. Applied in international relations, this approach would counsel against starting any analysis in the middle. American diplomacy (alone) is not responsible for the Hamas attack across the border into Israel. They did that for reasons that appear to be specifically aimed at disturbing Biden Administration progress in Saudi Arabia. Israeli oppression of Gaza Strip is bad, this should be stopped, but it is not a justification for, nor is it the reason for the Hamas action slaughtering civilians. Taking a one-state view of the situation without understanding the funding sources for Hamas, the role of Iran and Arab states in the region, and Hamas' logic for existence makes your analysis puerile.
Biden and Bibi are not exactly bosom buddies and Joe's been quite clear that retaliation against Hamas must NOT mean the destruction of innocent lives in Gaza. So no, he has NOT "closely aligned himself with Israel's most right wing extremist forces."
One can support Israel's right to defend itself while also supporting Palestine's right to exist. You and I have no idea what goes on behind the scenes (aka diplomacy), especially when there are still hundreds of hostages being held prisoner.
Like so many Americans, you are absolutely deluded.
From the incomparable Chris Hedges:
On Friday the Gaza Strip had all its communications severed. No Internet. No phone service. No electricity. Israel’s goal is the murder of tens, probably hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and the ethnic cleansing of those who survive into refugee camps in Egypt. It is an attempt by Israel to erase not only a people, but the idea of Palestine. It is a carbon copy of the massive campaigns of racialized slaughter by other settler colonial projects who believed that indiscriminate and wholesale violence could make the aspirations of an oppressed people, whose land they stole, go away. And like other perpetrators of genocide, Israel intends to keep it hidden.
I don't believe I'm deluded (but of course I'd say that, right?). I know about the communications cut-off. The goal is the eradication of Hamas. Hamas is not Palestine. I do NOT approve of the invasion of Gaza, but I understand Israel's desire to survive. Palestine deserves a homeland as well. Nobody's been serious about working on the two-state solution instead of wholesale slaughter from both sides of the issue. And all because of stupid religion. Once upon a time Jews and Arabs lived peacefully side by side.
From CNN this morning (Sunday):
PRCS (Palestine Red Crescent Society) "has just received a new threat by the Israeli Authorities this morning, ordering the team to immediately evacuate Al Quds Hospital," reads a statement from the organization.
"Two phone calls were received, with a clear and direct threat, that the hospital must be evacuated at once, otherwise PRCS holds full responsibility for the lives of everyone inside the hospital," PRCS said.
Premeditated murder, but it's someone else's fault. And bombing a hospital. I don't use the word often, but it's just evil. And again, US taxpayers are funding this barbary, and I'm an anti-semite if I protest! Clearly none of this is about eliminating Hamas, but the exterminating the Palestinian people (or killing many and pushing the surviving into Sinai or somewhere else) and taking Gaza (the land) for Israel.
Hamas has what's been described as an entire city in tunnels underneath Gaza City. They concentrate in areas like under hospitals and other civilian locations and use innocent Palestinians as human shields. Tunnel warfare is difficult and deadly for both sides. (I'm old enough to remember the tunnel rats in Vietnam.)
Nothing is "clear" about any of this, other than a lot of people have already died and a lot more will die, on BOTH sides of the conflict (are we calling it a war yet?).
Remember, that earlier hospital bombing wasn't Israel, btw. Just don't be quick to assign blame when you don't have all the facts.
The problem is not religion, but bad faith on the part of several key actors and impunity for Israel. The internationally agreed template is the Oslo accords, for a two state solution, signed by both parties in 1993 and 1995. Since Netanyahu's election in 1996, he has done all in his power to subvert and undermine these agreements. Expansion of illegal settlements and settler violence has continued unchecked, reducing the area available to Palestine. Gaza has been under blocade by sea, air, land borders, barely surviving, and is right now suffering massive bombing and what many describe as genocide. The US continues with massive unconditional military aid to Israel, also undermining and subverting the Oslo accords. Israel acts with impunity, no sanctions, no expelling of ambassadors, no seizing of assets. This is out of kilt with the majority of the world - just a few days ago 120 countries voted in the UNGA for a humanitarian pause and to allow aid to enter Gaza - the US and Israel voted against.
Of course it's about religion; that's the basis for the whole fight over the entire territory. Three major religions claim the land as THEIRS because they all started there. Christians appear willing to share, but the other two refuse.
Nobody is all right or all wrong. Hamas slaughtered 1400 innocents - men, women, elderly, babies. They took 200+ hostages and have released only 4, largely due to the efforts of the US (with assists from Qatar). Israel is retaliating by slaughtering innocent Palestinians in their hunt for Hamas. NONE of that is okay. NONE of that is acceptable.
Israel has been our strong ally with regards to the Arabian countries who seek to eradicate both Israel AND the West. Netanyahu is a criminal and a bully (sounds like a certain orange guy and a few other guys I can name - MBS, Putin, Xi, etc.) - I will never defend him. I will defend Israel's right to defend itself, and I will defend Palestine's right to survive and to have a homeland of its own.
There's no simple solution. If there were, somebody would have done something about it long before this. Everyone has to start from the same page and those folks aren't even using the same book.
It is settler colonia
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/how-netanyahus-hamas-policy-came-back-to-haunt-him-and-israel/ar-AA1iZi4t
The US does not have a free and independent mainstream media. The coverage of Israel's actions in Gaza the past few weeks alone are ample evidence. Most Americans, including some on this thread, are in a kind of stupor. And it's still unbelievable to me that Professor Reich continues to be so tepid on the subject of Israel and yet still so robust in his support of President Biden who has ALLOWED all of this and FUNDED it. The US taxpayer is literally paying for Israel to commit genocide.
From Chris Hedges, former journalist for the NY TImes (he's too plain-spoken for their tastes):
Israel’s bombing campaign, one of the heaviest of the 21st century, has killed more than 7,300 Palestinians, nearly half of them children, along with 26 journalists, medical workers, teachers and United Nations staff. Some 1.4 million Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced and an estimated 600,000 are homeless. Mosques, 120 health facilities, ambulances, schools, apartment blocks, supermarkets, water and sewage treatment plants and power plants have been blasted into rubble. Hospitals and clinics, lacking fuel, medicine and electricity, have been bombed or are shutting down. Clean water is running out. Gaza, by the end of Israel’s scorched earth campaign, will be uninhabitable, a tactic the Nazis regularly employed when facing armed resistance, including in the Warsaw Ghetto and later Warsaw itself. By the time Israel is done, Gaza, or at least Gaza as we knew it, will not exist.
Not only are the tactics the same, but so is the rhetoric. Palestinians are referred to as animals, beasts and Nazis. They have no right to exist. Their children have no right to exist. They must be cleansed from the earth.
With Israel having all the military power, backed up relentlessly by the USA, the Israelis feel no need to compromise and until they do we can just look forward to more of the same. Israelis kill Palestinians and steal their land, Palestinian children quickly learn to hate their oppressors and the cycle goes on.
Many Israelis are furious with their government for their treatment of their Arab citizens, as well as the cruel manner they have treated their Arab neighbors in the West Bank and Gaza. Unfortunately, just as we find in the United States, the right wing is behaving in such a way as to create maximum antagonism and in this case, death. Our own right wing leaders also created antagonism and death in the invasion of Iraq.
Most want peace. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/israeli-polls-regarding-peace-with-the-palestinians
and yet many others successfully voted to give Netanyahu and his right wing allies the majority. As in the US with the House.
Thank you Heather & Professor Reich for speaking about what’s on many minds today in these dangerous times.
Aside from when he came down the escalator bashing Mexicans, I vividly recall getting a knot in my stomach back in 2015, the early days of the Trump campaign, when he had Journalist Jorge Ramos of Univision literally dragged out of his press conference for asking questions Trump found offensive.
Trump could always rely on his bodyguards to rough up anyone who annoyed him and that was found acceptable to many in the early days of his campaign. Recall the folks attacked or thrown out of his rallies???
Over the past 8 years, he’s evolved into radicalizing more people to do harm to other Americans & immigrants, on his behalf, just as a mob boss and demagogue does.
We saw how he got Bill Barr to punish Michael Cohen for testifying to Congress and how they exacted revenge on Cohen, including solitary confinement. Read both of Cohen’s book.
We saw how Trump’s administration put kids in cages and treated migrants. We saw how protestors were treated under his administration.
We heard him encourage his audiences & police officers to be physically violent with others.
We saw him send his followers on January 6th to storm The Capitol and Hang Mike Pence because he can’t emotionally accept that he lost the election.
We saw how he used and encouraged police and military to do harm to protestors.
The other harm done are the death threats and intimidation to politicians, public servants and journalists.
Consider how many politicians have quietly left office because of the threats.
Consider how many politicians have had to increase their personal security spending. See Liz Cheney & Mitt Romney’s personal stories.
This past week we saw death threats to those in his party to ensure that everyone falls in line with the vote for Mike Johnson and the key test is that they are ALL election deniers.
The GOP all LIE TO THE PUBLIC for #TraitorTrump about a stolen election to avoid death threats & being primaried.
Our media personalities, judges and prosecutors, including election and state officials nationwide are all facing death threats thanks to #TraitorTrump.
Those convicted from his attempted coup on January 6th are sitting in jail now because they didn’t figure out that they’ve been lied to, indoctrinated and radicalized for years by a New York conman and rapist who was not the successful businessman sold to them by The Apprentice and mainstream media.
Strongly recommend checking out the court case brought by the New York Attorney General which shows what a fraud he is on the business front. Most New Yorkers have known this for years.
Trump’s only way to stay out of jail for his countless crimes committed in plain sight, which includes stealing national security secrets and an attempted coup, is to get his cult followers to harm their fellow Americans.
Think about how far America has fallen since 2015, under the influence of this person, protected by Secret Service protection paid for by taxpayers, who does harm to others by sending out daily threats & messages.
From Jorge Ramos to Politicians, Judges & Prosecutors now in harm’s way 24/7!
Shame on Americans for allowing this country to slip into Fascism by allowing this most corrupt criminal, #TraitorTrump back into the White House.
No one can say they weren’t warned in 2023 given that he’s fully taken over one of America’s political parties through fear and intimidation and his conduct is well documented daily.
The violence he champions is NOT normal in a civilized society.
Wake up, Get involved and Cast your votes wisely.
More attention needs to be paid to who Mike Johnson actually is. To use an old phrase, he is a wolf in sheep's clothing. This man is more to the right than most MAGA people and has views that are so unAmerican and deeply divisive. He really is lost in the 17th century and has never come to terms with modern America. Look at how he reacted to the mass shooting in Maine? The cause----teaching evolution? He's scary because he looks innocuous, but he's against the views of at least 80% of Americans on abortion, LBGTQ, climate change, teaching evolution and science. Scary guy.
Terri Quint
Yes. His views on Social Security, Medicare, the ACA, and "forced birth" ( his words) to grow the work force should stop every citizen cold. I was very disturbed to hear David on PBS last night say he felt "encouraged" by Johnson's acceptance speech. Did the national IQ drop over the past few years?
When you hear him say Izrul, you know the man's interest in that nation has nothing to do with its current occupants.
The west has emboldened Isreal for so long they now feel that they can destroy the Palestinians without consequence. If the French resistance were not terrorists why are Palestinians labelled as terrorists.
One persons terrorist is another person's freedom fighters.
and none of that discussion gets us any closer to a way forward. All this historical moral ledger stuff is counterproductive.
Only those who intentionally murder civilians as a political tactic are terrorists. The French resistance killed Nazis.
This means that Netanyahu's government is a terrorist entity, deliberately and indiscriminately targeting civilians, killing 1000 children a week
Thank you.
And you don’t think that Isreal murdering children is not the same? By the way not all Israelis support what Netanyahu is doing.
That's a lie.
Only Hamas and groups like Islamic Jihad have a WRITTEN policy to kill all Jews. Filmed it. Sent it to inflame jihadists.
😊 Good to see you both, wish there was more encouraging news to report on. Sending lots of good vibes to Robert, Heather, their support team and subscribers. 💗🌞💗
I know that the Palestinians can recover if they are not completely wiped out. Then what?
The perpetrators of 1948 should come up with a solution and rebuild Gaza for the people.
Every Colonial power leaves country's in a fearful mess. Why? Because they never taught the enslaved people how to rule.
I was born in Sri Lanka in 1949 just after Independence the horrors I saw growing up have never left me. My parents were British Colonials and they disgusted me from a very young age. Many of the elite Sri Lankan's became just like the British.
America has the leverage to make Israel back off by not sending any more money to Israel until they learn tolerance.
I know that a huge number of Israeli people protested for many weeks against Netanyahu's Govt. and they have a vote. Get Netanyahu OUT and form a new Govt. of compassion.
There is no reason that by now Arab investors could not have turned Gaza into another Abu Dhabi. Dohar. A stop on the LIV golf tour.
Yuk
The conflict is complicated, involving rejection, discrimination, and hatred--all of which combined and led to hatred and mistrust. I mean that the conflict has been going on for over 2000 years. For those familiar with the Bible, Abraham rejected Hagar and his own son Ishmael when his formerly barren wife Sarah gave birth to Isaac. Hagar and Ishmael were thrown out of the community, with little or no resources to help them. It's my opinion that this is when the conflict began. There needs to be healing on both sides which will only happen when each honestly searches themselves and becomes accountable--much like healing between races here in this country needs truth telling and owning up to the fact that white supremacists cruelly enslaved people and decimated the indigenous tribes.
Irishcoda: I truly do not think we need to go back to the Bible as a historical reference source for the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Historically, Muslims and Jews have gotten along much better than Christians and Jews. In 1492 when the Jews were expelled from Spain and other countries, it was the Ottoman Empire that offered them refuge. It is only since the formation of the state of Israel that these conflicts have arisen.
I love seeing your beautiful faces! This adds to your presentation! Please keep it up! Robert, your eyes tell the story of a deeply loving and compassionate man with superior intelligence. Heather is really photogenic.
The audio and video was great today. Well done. Oh, and I dislike Halloween too now that my kids are grown.
I loved seeing both of you!! Felt like I was right in the room!! Take it easy this week and try to stay internally peaceful!! 🙏
Great Coffee Klatch! Thank you Heather and Robert. Wonderful way to start my birthday despite all the chaos nationally and internationally.
I have been shaking my head for years regarding our involvement in the Middle East as the US seems to get it wrong most of the times.
Why doesn’t the DoD hire cultural anthropologist when they enter a country that is vastly different than ours when they engage in war? Why did we invade Iraq? I often wonder if the outcome of invading Iraq helped create new terrorist organizations. It feels like we added to the destabilization of that part of the world. Arabs always look at American invasions as politically and economically motivated.
While I’m a San Francisco born American, I spent my formative years in Baghdad and Tehran. At that time, they were amazing countries to live in and learn about the cultures. We ruined Iraq. We stole national and historic treasures, that ended up in the hands of republican party donors. How does that happen?
What Hamas did was horrific, Isreal doubling down on innocent Palestinians isn’t the answer. Is Isreal trying take out the underground tunnels in Gaza? Innocent Palestinian woman and children will become collateral damage. It simply inflames the tension in that part of the world. I didn’t realize that the Gaza strip is a Ghetto with 2 million people who don’t have many opportunities and have substandard living conditions. Half of the population is under 18. The conditions that the families live in doesn’t foster peace.
How do we eliminate hate when we allow conditions to exist that fosters it? Not unlike our own crime ridden neighborhoods that have high rates of gun violence. What happens to those children that live in an insecure environment day after day. PTSD that is probably diagnosed as ADD or ADHD. Forgive my random thinking.
Do you think the aftermath of Covid has caused the political flair-ups internationally?
Mass shooting are becoming normalized. Where is the outrage?
Thank you for this note, Mimi. Happy birthday (despite it all)!
Israel’s approach is like bombing blue states to get rid of Donald Trump. The Palestinians are not Hamas Hamas is horrific, but the retaliation against the Palestinian civilians under the guise of solving a problem becomes just as horrific. They have people in the box and they’re starving them and bombing them, in the name of solving a problem, and the media (and some previously sane politicians) seems to be most often behind Israel’s revenge, starvation and torture. If it proves anything, it proves that you don’t solve problems with violence, particularly against innocent people. Our country, and even the rest of the world seems to be choosing might over right. There is some fascination with power that is destroying all of us. Even Joe Biden seems to be getting it wrong half the time when he tries to distinguish Hamas from the Palestinians And Might and revenge from right.
Yes... also note this poll of Palestinians in Gaza taken just before October 7th. Even under blockade they wanted a peaceful solution.
https://theworld.org/media/2023-10-27/opinions-hamas-palestinians-gaza
Wow! This is a very important story!! Thank you, thank you. I hope a lot of people see/hear this.
Israeli political leaders have decided that Palestinian civilians, including children, are collateral damage. (Heard one of them use exactly those words on the BBC) They will not stop until they turn Gaza into a wasteland, push the remaining Palestinians out of the West Bank, and become a pariah state. All with the aid and comfort of the USA on their side.
Where exactly is Egypt in this discussion? Where is the criticism of Egypt? As Gazans are killed, Egypt has refused to permit at least some level of evacuation to the the Sinai Peninsula. Temporary tent shelters with the assistance of the UN and the US would be set up. Is that too nuanced for you?
Great point. The same can be said of Jordan. But if I remember my history correctly, at the time of the partition of Palestine, the UN (USA & UK) believed that Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon would welcome Palestinian Arabs as brothers and take them in. In typical Western fashion, they failed to grasp that Egyptians, Syrians, Jordanians and Lebanese are proud of their heritage and ask rightly - Palestinians are not Egyptians (et.al.) so why should we give them part of our country. They have their own. Seems like nothing has changed in 75 odd years.
Blame everyone but the culprit for the violence in Gaza...
Egypt is not bombing Palestinians, that is Israel.
No doubt Egypt fears this may be another 'nakba' - expulsion of Palestinians from their land, never to be allowed to return, while their land is taken by Israel
Could we start with one basic foundational principle: Israel has a right to exist!
One could rightly argue that its modern coming into existence left a lot to be desired and gave scant thought to the welfare and feelings of the extant inhabitants. Very few nations can boast of a pristine birth and modern Israel is no exception.
The state of Israel is going nowhere.
So let us start from that premise and work forward from there.
By the way, I have scant tolerance for the, mostly American, aggressive "settlers" on the West Bank who portray a sort of Jewish, Baptist Presbyterianism complete with a "my way or the highway"conviction of their own righteousness.
Fine,,,but if you continue in that vein Israel will still succeed militarily and probably end up with even more territory after the upcoming war. Is that what you want?
Doing the same thing and expecting a different result is hardly clever.
Look at the size of Israel after 1948 and again after three major wars as proof of my thesis.
Isn't that a little harsh? Do you think all citizens or residents of Israel are terrorists? You might as well say that all Americans are guilty of what the US did to Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, etcetera,,,