Good for you, Mr. Ben-Ami, for finally addressing the horrors perpetrated by Israelis (civilian and government) on West Bank Palestinians. That, in addition that Netanyahoo continues to order killings of Palestinian civilians, including children in Gaza, even though there has been a supposed cease fire in effect.
While Ms. Rubin can speak for herself in saying that J Street is "the most effective political organization representing the interests of Jewish Americans" I would be interested in hearing who are the Jewish Americans who think the same about J Street. Furthermore, if J Street was so aghast [as was I] about the awful ads against Mr. Malinowski, did it help him counter those ads?
This article leaves out some important aspects regarding the NJ special election.
Neither Rubin nor Ben-Ami even mention the winner, Analilia Mejia. One obvious reason this relatively unknown candidate beat the very well known former Congressman is her position on Israel has been clear - she has stated that Israel's slaughter in Gaza is genocide, a truth now understood by most Democratic voters, which has been affirmed by human rights organizations and scholars around the world. Malinowski, who has previously enjoyed AIPAC’s support, has not done this, and has instead only supported tepid criticism of Israel and mild reforms to US policy.
Last August, Ben-Ami himself said that “I have...been persuaded rationally by legal and scholarly arguments that international courts will one day find that Israel has broken the international genocide convention.”
There is barely a mention in this interview that the strongly pro-Israel candidate came in a distant third, and that the toughest critic of Israel's policies (and of AIPAC) won. This was not a win for AIPAC by any stretch of the imagination. Malinowski's loss to a more progressive candidate says as much about Democratic voter's disappointment with establishment Democrats as it does about AIPAC's influence, if not more.
There is also no mention of what is still happening in Gaza, and little said about the massive, and still very current, escalation of violence by Israel in the rest of the Occupied Territories, and how this has impacted recent Democratic elections. They both refer to the 'war' in Gaza in the past tense, as if it's over now, despite the fact that the IDF continues to kill men, women and children in Gaza every single day in Gaza since the supposed 'ceasefire' took effect, while virtually annexing half of the entire region and continuing to deny supplies from entering the region.
Both Rubin and Ben-Ami seem more upset about the fact that AIPAC is now more openly siding with the GOP, rather than what AIPAC has been supporting all along, including when it positioned itself as a 'bipartisan' lobbying group.
This was published in Zeteo today by Haifa-based lawyer Diana Buttu.
Tom Malinowski's silence on everything Buttu mentions here is a better explanation for his loss to a more progressive candidate that the reasons given here.
The Contrarian, who has also been deafeningly silent about Gaza post-"ceasefire' should take note as well.
"So too have much of the mainstream media and the so-called international community fallen silent. Can it be that Palestinian lives are just not worth as much as Israeli ones? What else can explain the silence surrounding Israel’s continued imprisonment, torture, and starvation of more than 9,300 Palestinians from the West Bank, including 350 children and 3,300 who are imprisoned without any charges whatsoever (i.e., hostages)?
What else can explain the silence surrounding the continued imprisonment of more than 1,000 Palestinian hostages from Gaza (the true number is unknown as Israel has refused to provide this information), including 80 medical professionals, such as Dr. Husam Abu Safiya, who are being held in horrific conditions, some held underground and without access to lawyers. Video-recorded abuse sessions (shown to the Israeli public on TV) show these gaunt Palestinians subjected to regular beatings, assaults by dogs with muzzles, and being stepped on by prison guards.
What else can explain the silence as Israel continues to hold 776 Palestinian dead bodies, including the bodies of Palestinian citizens of Israel? (Incidentally, Israel is the only country in the world that uses dead bodies of its own citizens as bargaining chips.) Why aren’t we hearing politicians endlessly demand that Israel release Palestinian hostages?"
While I have to look deeper into your claims, I been appalled at how this whole conflict is an either/or situation for so many. Can we not all agree that what happened to Israelis on Oct. 7 was horrible and shocking AND the resulting genocide of Gazans also inhumane and abhorrent? Can we not all just be pro-humans and anti mean people? Can we not agree that either side slaughtering the other is BAD?
The Contrarian is founded by Jewish people, a noticeably high percentage of the guests and contributors are Jewish people so It is unclear whether the silence is purposeful on this subject or if this has been an organization in its first year trying not get on the wrong side of so many of their connections/supporters/founders. Or perhaps the firehose of domestic news (intended to overwhelm) has been nearly impossible for a small independent outfit to stay on top of without throwing international stories into the mix. Being so brave in many political areas, however, does make the silence on this topic more noticeable.
There is a lot in your comment I would like to respond to. My first comment will focus on Israel and the Occupied Territories specifically.
To start, while your statement that 'what happened to Israelis on Oct. 7 was horrible and shocking AND the resulting genocide of Gazans (is) also inhumane and abhorrent' is certainly true, this 'two-sides' view is simply a misrepresentation.
There are not two equal sides here.
One is an extremely well armed, wealthy country, where the people mostly live normal lives and enjoy the freedom and benefits of citizenship and autonomy. This country has been the single biggest recipient of US funds over the past several decades, and has enjoyed near total protection by the world's biggest superpower in international governing bodies. Its current leader, an ICC-indicted war criminal, has addressed the US Congress more often than any other single world leader in history.
The other is a region under military occupation by the wealthy country (and yes, Gaza as well as the West Bank and East Jerusalem is occupied territory). The people who live there have no rights under the military regime that has absolute control over the oppressed peoples' movement, trade, telecommunications, utilities, borders, and every other aspect of their lives. The people there have no means to defend themselves, and their own government is little more than a local administrator with no true power. Israel's strangling sanctions has kept everything from building materials to medicine to toys to livestock from entering Gaza for two decades.
This was all true for years before October 2023.
Since then, Israel's genocide (as you correctly label it) has utterly destroyed society in the entire region. Israel's reign of terror in Gaza is one of the worst atrocities anywhere in the world this century. The horror unleashed by Israel, and its proxy partner, the US, cannot be overstated.
This exhaustive research by Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a critical care surgeon who volunteered in Gaza as well as in many other conflict zones, shows that the likely number of Palestinians killed in Gaza by Israel since October 2023 is at least 120,000 people, and possibly far more (and again, the killing has not stopped). This amounts to a minimum of 1 out of 18 people in Gaza. You can see his first of this three-part series on this topic at https://zeteo.com/p/real-gaza-death-toll-what-we-know
The point here is - there is simply no comparison whatsoever to the horrible killings of October 7th with the massive, barely imaginable devastation wrought by Israel in Gaza in the past 2.5 years. This doesn't even account for the thousands of Palestinians from Gaza killed, tortured, absucted, raped, maimed and abused by Israel in the dacdes before October 2023.
This second comment will address the US's fundamental role in Israel, and its relation to US media, including the Contrarian.
The events in Israel and the Occupied Territories and the US role in those events, is not just 'international news'. The catastrophe in Gaza was and continues to be effectively a joint US/Israel operation. Trump's Orwellian 'Board of Peace' is in the midst of being established, while Pro-Palestinian activists such as Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk are still fighting deportation in court. Netanyahu was just in the US visiting Trump, again, despite his ICC indictment. Critics of Israel continue to be fired and censored in the US regularly. Palestinian US citizens continue to be killed and abducted by Israel in the Occupied Territories, while at least 70,000 US citizens are among the Israeli illegal 'settlers' who continue to brutalize Palestinian residents with total impunity.
The US has consistently supported Israel with funds and massive military aid, as well as constantly vetoing UN resolutions against Israel and sanctioning anyone who criticizes Israel, including ICC judges and UN officials. AIPAC remains one of the most powerful lobbying groups in Washington. The US/Israel relationship has no comparison in national politics.
The Contrarian has actually given a lot of coverage to the 'war' in Gaza at specific times. Last August, when pictures of starving children in Gaza became international news, The Contrarian published a number of (conditioned) critical pieces, including a few by Rubin herself. This outlet published a few more pieces when the 'ceasefire' went into effect last October. After that, The Contrarian completely stopped all coverage. I could not find one single article about the US and Israel in the past several months here.
Israel is a state, not a religion. There are many Jewish critics of Israel's policies within Israel (incuding many writers at Haaretz, reserachers from B'TSelem and several Israeli genocide scholars ) as well as outside Israel (incuding too many academics and activists to list, as well as organiztions such as Jewish Voices for Peace and IfNotNow, and orthodox groups such as Neturei Karta and the Satmar). On the other side, many of Israel loudest supporters in the US government are not Jewish, and many in the GOP are openly antisemitic while still claiming to support Israel (like Trump himself).
All Americans share responsibility for the horrors in Gaza and the continuing apartheid in the West Bank. Support for Israel's ongoing oppression has been bipartisan. Israel simply would not be able to do what it has done without the US.
I was surprised and saddened that Tom Malinowski lost his primary race. I appreciated the insights into the largest AIPAC donors being GOP oriented ... and I surmise essentially trying to get their perceived weakest democrat into the general election. Given the GOP war chest of cash, Democrat better have a collective strategy to combat that tactic.
Good for you, Mr. Ben-Ami, for finally addressing the horrors perpetrated by Israelis (civilian and government) on West Bank Palestinians. That, in addition that Netanyahoo continues to order killings of Palestinian civilians, including children in Gaza, even though there has been a supposed cease fire in effect.
While Ms. Rubin can speak for herself in saying that J Street is "the most effective political organization representing the interests of Jewish Americans" I would be interested in hearing who are the Jewish Americans who think the same about J Street. Furthermore, if J Street was so aghast [as was I] about the awful ads against Mr. Malinowski, did it help him counter those ads?
This article leaves out some important aspects regarding the NJ special election.
Neither Rubin nor Ben-Ami even mention the winner, Analilia Mejia. One obvious reason this relatively unknown candidate beat the very well known former Congressman is her position on Israel has been clear - she has stated that Israel's slaughter in Gaza is genocide, a truth now understood by most Democratic voters, which has been affirmed by human rights organizations and scholars around the world. Malinowski, who has previously enjoyed AIPAC’s support, has not done this, and has instead only supported tepid criticism of Israel and mild reforms to US policy.
Last August, Ben-Ami himself said that “I have...been persuaded rationally by legal and scholarly arguments that international courts will one day find that Israel has broken the international genocide convention.”
There is barely a mention in this interview that the strongly pro-Israel candidate came in a distant third, and that the toughest critic of Israel's policies (and of AIPAC) won. This was not a win for AIPAC by any stretch of the imagination. Malinowski's loss to a more progressive candidate says as much about Democratic voter's disappointment with establishment Democrats as it does about AIPAC's influence, if not more.
There is also no mention of what is still happening in Gaza, and little said about the massive, and still very current, escalation of violence by Israel in the rest of the Occupied Territories, and how this has impacted recent Democratic elections. They both refer to the 'war' in Gaza in the past tense, as if it's over now, despite the fact that the IDF continues to kill men, women and children in Gaza every single day in Gaza since the supposed 'ceasefire' took effect, while virtually annexing half of the entire region and continuing to deny supplies from entering the region.
Both Rubin and Ben-Ami seem more upset about the fact that AIPAC is now more openly siding with the GOP, rather than what AIPAC has been supporting all along, including when it positioned itself as a 'bipartisan' lobbying group.
That’s an insightful dialogue. Thanks for sharing with us!
Netanyahu has to stay in a state of "war" or else he will lose power and be facing charges.
This was published in Zeteo today by Haifa-based lawyer Diana Buttu.
Tom Malinowski's silence on everything Buttu mentions here is a better explanation for his loss to a more progressive candidate that the reasons given here.
The Contrarian, who has also been deafeningly silent about Gaza post-"ceasefire' should take note as well.
"So too have much of the mainstream media and the so-called international community fallen silent. Can it be that Palestinian lives are just not worth as much as Israeli ones? What else can explain the silence surrounding Israel’s continued imprisonment, torture, and starvation of more than 9,300 Palestinians from the West Bank, including 350 children and 3,300 who are imprisoned without any charges whatsoever (i.e., hostages)?
What else can explain the silence surrounding the continued imprisonment of more than 1,000 Palestinian hostages from Gaza (the true number is unknown as Israel has refused to provide this information), including 80 medical professionals, such as Dr. Husam Abu Safiya, who are being held in horrific conditions, some held underground and without access to lawyers. Video-recorded abuse sessions (shown to the Israeli public on TV) show these gaunt Palestinians subjected to regular beatings, assaults by dogs with muzzles, and being stepped on by prison guards.
What else can explain the silence as Israel continues to hold 776 Palestinian dead bodies, including the bodies of Palestinian citizens of Israel? (Incidentally, Israel is the only country in the world that uses dead bodies of its own citizens as bargaining chips.) Why aren’t we hearing politicians endlessly demand that Israel release Palestinian hostages?"
While I have to look deeper into your claims, I been appalled at how this whole conflict is an either/or situation for so many. Can we not all agree that what happened to Israelis on Oct. 7 was horrible and shocking AND the resulting genocide of Gazans also inhumane and abhorrent? Can we not all just be pro-humans and anti mean people? Can we not agree that either side slaughtering the other is BAD?
The Contrarian is founded by Jewish people, a noticeably high percentage of the guests and contributors are Jewish people so It is unclear whether the silence is purposeful on this subject or if this has been an organization in its first year trying not get on the wrong side of so many of their connections/supporters/founders. Or perhaps the firehose of domestic news (intended to overwhelm) has been nearly impossible for a small independent outfit to stay on top of without throwing international stories into the mix. Being so brave in many political areas, however, does make the silence on this topic more noticeable.
There is a lot in your comment I would like to respond to. My first comment will focus on Israel and the Occupied Territories specifically.
To start, while your statement that 'what happened to Israelis on Oct. 7 was horrible and shocking AND the resulting genocide of Gazans (is) also inhumane and abhorrent' is certainly true, this 'two-sides' view is simply a misrepresentation.
There are not two equal sides here.
One is an extremely well armed, wealthy country, where the people mostly live normal lives and enjoy the freedom and benefits of citizenship and autonomy. This country has been the single biggest recipient of US funds over the past several decades, and has enjoyed near total protection by the world's biggest superpower in international governing bodies. Its current leader, an ICC-indicted war criminal, has addressed the US Congress more often than any other single world leader in history.
The other is a region under military occupation by the wealthy country (and yes, Gaza as well as the West Bank and East Jerusalem is occupied territory). The people who live there have no rights under the military regime that has absolute control over the oppressed peoples' movement, trade, telecommunications, utilities, borders, and every other aspect of their lives. The people there have no means to defend themselves, and their own government is little more than a local administrator with no true power. Israel's strangling sanctions has kept everything from building materials to medicine to toys to livestock from entering Gaza for two decades.
This was all true for years before October 2023.
Since then, Israel's genocide (as you correctly label it) has utterly destroyed society in the entire region. Israel's reign of terror in Gaza is one of the worst atrocities anywhere in the world this century. The horror unleashed by Israel, and its proxy partner, the US, cannot be overstated.
This exhaustive research by Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a critical care surgeon who volunteered in Gaza as well as in many other conflict zones, shows that the likely number of Palestinians killed in Gaza by Israel since October 2023 is at least 120,000 people, and possibly far more (and again, the killing has not stopped). This amounts to a minimum of 1 out of 18 people in Gaza. You can see his first of this three-part series on this topic at https://zeteo.com/p/real-gaza-death-toll-what-we-know
The point here is - there is simply no comparison whatsoever to the horrible killings of October 7th with the massive, barely imaginable devastation wrought by Israel in Gaza in the past 2.5 years. This doesn't even account for the thousands of Palestinians from Gaza killed, tortured, absucted, raped, maimed and abused by Israel in the dacdes before October 2023.
This second comment will address the US's fundamental role in Israel, and its relation to US media, including the Contrarian.
The events in Israel and the Occupied Territories and the US role in those events, is not just 'international news'. The catastrophe in Gaza was and continues to be effectively a joint US/Israel operation. Trump's Orwellian 'Board of Peace' is in the midst of being established, while Pro-Palestinian activists such as Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk are still fighting deportation in court. Netanyahu was just in the US visiting Trump, again, despite his ICC indictment. Critics of Israel continue to be fired and censored in the US regularly. Palestinian US citizens continue to be killed and abducted by Israel in the Occupied Territories, while at least 70,000 US citizens are among the Israeli illegal 'settlers' who continue to brutalize Palestinian residents with total impunity.
The US has consistently supported Israel with funds and massive military aid, as well as constantly vetoing UN resolutions against Israel and sanctioning anyone who criticizes Israel, including ICC judges and UN officials. AIPAC remains one of the most powerful lobbying groups in Washington. The US/Israel relationship has no comparison in national politics.
The Contrarian has actually given a lot of coverage to the 'war' in Gaza at specific times. Last August, when pictures of starving children in Gaza became international news, The Contrarian published a number of (conditioned) critical pieces, including a few by Rubin herself. This outlet published a few more pieces when the 'ceasefire' went into effect last October. After that, The Contrarian completely stopped all coverage. I could not find one single article about the US and Israel in the past several months here.
Israel is a state, not a religion. There are many Jewish critics of Israel's policies within Israel (incuding many writers at Haaretz, reserachers from B'TSelem and several Israeli genocide scholars ) as well as outside Israel (incuding too many academics and activists to list, as well as organiztions such as Jewish Voices for Peace and IfNotNow, and orthodox groups such as Neturei Karta and the Satmar). On the other side, many of Israel loudest supporters in the US government are not Jewish, and many in the GOP are openly antisemitic while still claiming to support Israel (like Trump himself).
All Americans share responsibility for the horrors in Gaza and the continuing apartheid in the West Bank. Support for Israel's ongoing oppression has been bipartisan. Israel simply would not be able to do what it has done without the US.
I was surprised and saddened that Tom Malinowski lost his primary race. I appreciated the insights into the largest AIPAC donors being GOP oriented ... and I surmise essentially trying to get their perceived weakest democrat into the general election. Given the GOP war chest of cash, Democrat better have a collective strategy to combat that tactic.