What might help is that two major Israeli rights groups have labeled this genocide. B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights on Monday published a report accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, becoming the first major Israeli human rights organizations to join a list of international groups making the charge.
“An examination of Israel’s policy in the Gaza Strip and its horrific outcomes, together with statements by senior Israeli politicians and military commanders about the goals of the attack, leads to the conclusion that Israel is taking coordinated, deliberate action to destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip,” reads a statement presenting the report. “In other words: Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. ”
Dr. Guy Shalev, the grandson of a Holocauset survivor and director of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, said it was significant that Israeli groups were now leveling the accusation, noting that the Jewish-Israeli public often dismisses accusations of genocide as antisemitic or biased against Israel. Perhaps human rights groups based in Israel, and coming to this conclusion, is a way to confront that accusation and get people to acknowledge the reality,” he said.
It is true that Democrats (and Republicans, and everyone else), must condemn genocide..but they as a group have been actively supporting this genocide for a long time now, with a few notable exceptions.
I am dismayed that there is so little mention of the fact that this nightmare began while Biden was president, and he spent his last 15 months in office sending billions of dollars worth of military and financial aid to Israel, with the full support of Democrats in Congress. South Africa filed charges of genocide against Israel at the ICJ over a year ago, and the ICC charged Netanyahu and his defense minister with war crimes, and the response from both Democrats and Republicans has been to condemn the courts themselves, while vetoing every resolution the UN has tried to pass to condemn Israel's actions and release all Palestinian and Israeli hostages.
You are correct to mention AIPACs influence, but that is only a part of it.
Just see this chummy photo several Dem and GOP Senators took with Netanyahu just weeks ago:
You might want to read my newsletter from today, which is "Having lunch with Netanyahu while people starve in Gaza." I just saw that Jason mentions the photo that I found last night, when I was researching how much money John Thune and others got from the Israeli American PAC. It's truly sickening!
"The U.S., its allies, and established American Jewish organizations (many of which were mute or equivocal for far too long) must do more. " Jen has become a highting hero of America against cruelty imposed on Gaza people, undocumented immigrants, homeless people. What we, the American voters can do to force Trump to stop this? That is the question.
There is something else I have seen little mention of in this thread and in The Contrarian.
Israel's war on Gaza did not start two years ago, including its policy of using food and water access as a weapon. It has been ongoing for many years.
Israel has had a harsh and illegal blockade of Gaza for nearly two decades now. This has included everything from many food items (pasta, flour, yeast, rice, salt, sugar, spices, cooking oil, tea, instant coffee, chick peas, lentils, beans, olives, cookies, canned tuna, powdered milk ) as well as livestock, and tools needed to grow or procure food (fishing equipment, rope, heaters for chicken farms, dairies for cowsheds, irrigation pipes).
Israel also imposed an arbitrary "buffer zone' inside Gaza itself which took away 35% of the best agricultural land, where anyone entering that 'buffer' can be and often are killed on the spot. Israel has also denied fishermen their right as given in the Oslo Agreement to fish up to 20 nautical miles from the Gaza coast. Instead, Israel has imposed its own ever-changing limit, and has frequently killed fishermen who breached that limit. Israel has also banned anything from medicines to toys to cement to paper to music instruments from entering Gaza for decades before 2023.
Israel has also limited electrical power supply in Gaza, often to as little as 2-4 hours a day, for many years, and has bombed Gaza's own power plants and water desalination plants repeatedly. Due to Israel's blockade of construction equipment, much of Gaza's water is undrinkable. Israel regularly cuts off telecommunications in Gaza, since long before 2023, and has completely controlled all land, sea and air access to the region, save one border crossing to Egypt, and even that location is largely controlled by Israel. Gaza has no control whatsoever over its own imports, exports, or travel.
And, of course, Israel has invaded Gaza several times before 2023, killing thousands and maiming thousands more. Those invasions, along with many more bombing and smaller incursions, have destroyed thousands of homes, schools, hospitals, UN facilities, mosques and churches, and much of Gaza's infrastructure.
Gaza has been known as the world's largest open-air prison for nearly 20 years now. Dov Weisglass, then a senior advisor to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, famously said that Israel’s policy towards Gaza was designed “to put the Palestinians on a diet".
I will go along with Jennifer on this. There is no question that Israel is committing war crimes. I agree that these war crimes can be considered genocide. The point is that we now have a true humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Quibling over semantics at this juncture is a total waste of time. First, solve the crisis. There will be plenty of time to discuss semantics *after* this mess is resolved.
It is not "quibbling over semantics" to call it genocide.
Genocide has a specific legal meaning and allows for specific legal responses.
Understanding that this is genocide means that punishment for those responsible is an obligation under international law.
This will include not just so many in Israeli leadership and its military, but US leaders as well, since the US has been a bipartisan accomplice to this horror.
This has already happened to an extent, but the US has done al it can to stop international courts from taking action.
The ICC charged Netanyahu and his defense minister (as well as 3 Hamas officials, who are all now dead) with war crimes some time ago. Biden's reaction was to call the decision 'outrageous', and since then, this indicted war criminal has been welcomed into the US several times. ICC judges have been sanctioned by the US.
The ICJ has an open case charging Israel with genocide, that was filed by South Africa and supported by other countries over a year ago. The US has also loudly criticized this move, and has continued to veto sanctions against UN rulings to stop the 'war' and return the hostages repeatedly.
Israel faced no penalty from the US for unilaterally ending the ceasefire this past spring. The US also cut off all funding the UNRWA , the primary organization to give aid to Palestinians.
It's pretty ridiculous really that Rubin doesn't mention any of this. Like a lot of centrist journalists lately, she writes as if Israel's war crimes just started a few weeks ago.
Quibbling over semantics? Starvation or famine, war crimes or genocide, how we characterize the crisis can determine what steps we take to address it. If we're going to label the crises at all, the labels should be accurate.
Jennifer Rubin and Norm Eisen won't say 'genocide' - here's a small sample of some that do:
Human Rights Organizations:
Amnesty International
Human Rights Watch
University Network for Human Rights
B’Tselem
Physicians for Human Rights - Israel
Genocide Scholars and Experts:
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories
Omer Bartov, Israeli-American professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University
Amos Goldberg, Israeli professor in the Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a fellow of the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute
Raz Segal, Israeli historian and associate professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies and endowed professor in the Study of Modern Genocide at Stockton University
Shmuel Lederman, professor specializing in political theory and genocide studies at the Open University of Israel
Martin Shaw, emeritus professor of International Relations and Politics at the University of Sussex, research professor at the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals, and author of War and Genocide, What is Genocide, Genocide in International Relations
William Schabas, professor of international law at Middlesex University in the United Kingdom, professor of international human law and human rights at Leiden University in the Netherlands, and author of several books on international law, including Genocide in International Law: The Crimes of Crimes
Dirk Moses, international relations professor at the City College of New York and author of The Problems of Genocide
Daniel Blatman, Israeli historian specializing in the history of the Holocaust and head of the Institute for Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Lee Mordechai, Israeli historian and associate professor at Hebrew University
Melanie O'Brien, president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars
Uğur Ümit Üngör, professor of Genocide Studies at the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies and the University of Amsterdam
Excellent. Thanks for sending this, Jason. It is just APPALLING that so many Dems and NeverTrumpers have turned a blind eye to the genocide in Gaza. It was awful to see my senator (Schiff) and Klobuchar and Schumer smiling in a photo with Netanyahu last week. They're all complicit in this horror.
Ugh yea, I have mentioned that here several times, so revolting…. And still never referenced The Contrarian. It’s important to note support for Israel’s genocide has been bipartisan all along.
Absolutely. It was Biden's greatest failing, I think. We still can only get 16 or 17 Dems to vote against continued arms. Let's see if we do better this week, with Bernie's latest amendments.
Irrelevant. An eye for an eye makes both parties blind. Bullets have no party or cause, they are indiscriminate killers. It is the intent of those who use these deadly weapons, not of the victims of their aim. Starvation is intentional when food is readily available, but made a commodity of control.
Of course hamas bears responsibility for attacking israel and one must wonder what their motive was, to have all their people slaughtered or starved in response? Was it to derail some negotiations with saudi arabia? It was bold and suicidal.
What is the rationale for israel to continue the non-military actions (starving, decimating civilian housing, etc.)? I have had supporters of idf's action consistently claim that it could all be stopped by hamas surrendering and giving up the hostages. That they have to restrict food because hamas steals it---yet also claim that somehow the Palestinians are collectively responsible for not turning in hamas fighters. It is like local law enforcement holding grandma responsible for allowing her grandson to deal drugs from their house and not turning him in.
Why not follow the money? How about going after the leaders who apparently live in Qatar and elsewhere and have billions in bank accounts. What keeps israel and the US from sanctioning these host nations and banks?
The ultimate concern for US taxpayers is how do we want our money to be used? We are paying for all of this. Just like we paid for the 20 year invasion of Afghanistan because terrorists attacked us.
From what I understand, Netanyahu did something (don't know exactly what) that enabled Hamas to do the October 7 attack. Maybe Netanyahu was looking for an excuse for war, so he could avoid being tried and convicted for other crimes. I have seen multiple places over the time this has been going on, to that effect.
Several other Arab groups, including the UAE have been involved in delivering food. They recently started air drops.
According to many sources, Hamas volunteered the population for suicide. Media is not reporting there is Arab vs Arab conflict in Gaza, clan vs clan. Hamas vs P. A.
A militia led by Yasser Abu Shabab, connected to the Hamashah clan, has emerged in Rafah, claiming to be protecting food distribution centers. This group, which has been accused of looting, is viewed by some as evolving into a Salafi-jihadist group and has been denounced by other clans for allegedly cooperating with the Israeli army.
Clans in Gaza are not monolithic entities. Some have historical ties to the Palestinian Authority, others have formed armed militias, and some have been accused of engaging in illicit activities.
I accept that after the American hostages were released, we should have not supported Netanyahu.
But in terms of causation, Hamas should not benefit, should not participate as long as they continue to hold hostages and kill their own people, use them as human shields or use death counts for PR.
Thank you for finally acknowledging what most of the entire world has been shouting for many months now.
Even though you still won't call it 'genocide', even if every scholar and human rights org everywhere has said so ... even though you still haven't acknowledged that the steadfast bipartisan support from the US has made this possible from the start and both Democrats and Republicans are complicit in these crimes against humanity ... even though you have never acknowledged the apartheid and oppression and violence and terror that Israel has inflicted on the Palestinian people for most of living memory - thank you!
Thank you for finally stating what has been obvious to anyone paying attention for a long time now...you're a superhero!"
"Just yesterday, dozens of rabbis were arrested after protesting in front of Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s office, calling for aid in Gaza."
Do we realize that not one American TV Network reported this protest? It was reported by the Israeli Times, The Jerusalem Post, and many other foreign media. But only MSN seems to have covered it in the US! WHY? This is one of the main issues demonstrating our lack of a free press!
It is an issue that allows Trump and the Republicans to lie to voters. Yet, the Democrats remain silent about this! Is there a committee in the DNC that records this anti democracy and pro-Israel disinformation? Do we have a way established by the Democratic Party to counter such an atrocity, one that could sway the American public away from allowing our country to support the Zionist movement (with the help of our Government) to exterminate the families of Gaza?
We need some from the Democratic Party to organize an opposition to the American TV Networks being taken over by Trump! There needs to be far more concern for this issue that we are seeing!
I agree, and I wrote a comment above where I provided information about the two Israeli rights groups that have labeled it a genocide. That should make a difference. But, it won't matter to Jeffries and Schumer, who received $1.2 M and $1.7 M in 2024 from the American Israeli PAC. ASPAC spent $100 million in the 2024 election buying the votes of Democratic and Republican congresspeople. https://www.aipacpac.org/
Yes. All part of the issue. Who would have thought that the State of Israel could have been taken over by authoritarians? Who would have thought that the Democrats, in addition to the Republicans, would have supported that coup? And in the end, we too, the world's democracy, are a part of the same Coup. But it is not over yet! Schumer, Trump, and Netanyahu all report to the same people. At some point, whether it be Musk, or someone else with that much power, will be rubbed, and when that happens, things can change fast! Hopefully, for the world, that does not take another 40 years!
There IS a purpose to Israeli policy in Gaza and the West Bank: to make them Palestinian-free. Donald Trump and other supporters and enablers of Israeli policy in the United States, as well as those who remain silent, are complicit in the war crimes.
Maybe start with the 7 Senate Democrats that took a smiling fun photo with the indicted war criminal Netanyahu just weeks ago...then look at the many in both the House and Senate who get massive donations from AIPAC.
Then look at the years worth of public statements and actions from Jeffries, Schumer, Booker, so many others, too many to list...
And of course, there was the full support given to Israel as it committed open and obvious war crimes by the Biden administration for 15 months... not to mention its military and financial support well before then, even when Israel assassinated an American journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, even when Israel bombed and invaded Gaza numerous times before 2023, and continued its apartheid in the West Bank.
There is no controversy about it, it's an objective fact that most, nearly all , elected Democrats have supported Israel's terror for a long time.
Part of the rightwing/authoritarian personality is the need to exact vengeance for real and perceived injuries. What brings them down is that they cannot perceive when enough vengeance has been inflicted... Netanyahu needs to go. The healing can only begin when the hateful autocrat is removed from office.
The US and Israel have repeatedly elected fascist regimes. The hallmark of fascism is perpetrating mass murder without a qualm. Netanyahu and his nazh-gul have no compunction about starving children in their thousands. Indeed, they are obviously gleeful about it. Trump wilfully murdered about 300,000 people during covid and ending USAID will send his kill rate well into the millions. These are not the kind of people who have second thoughts about their atrocities.
Thank you for calling out loud the truth of the horror . It is the worst human to human arrogance by people who know history and yet act as though historic actions give some authority to today’s behavior. Obscene.
It appears that tRump's evangelical base is aligned with the far right in the Israeli government. That would be consistent with a drive to ethnically cleanse all of Gaza and install Israeli settlers. In tRump's rantings there were comments about creating an Eastern Mediterranean resort there.
yes, and "christians" need all Jews back in the holy land for the rapture to occur... what's his face is the ambassador to isrile....his fat daughter was the press sec 1st term of the orange menace. hate being oldish, can't remember shit !
Famine, disease, starvation and death at your doorstep is not an acceptable situation. Unless this situation is remedied then why should the U.S. continue to support Israel? A strong leader would put their foot down. Trump is not that leader. Hoping this ends soon and peacefully.
No, it shouldn't be a linguistic debate. But from Tom Malinowski's July 29th Evening Roundup: "Americans must speak out on the catastrophe in Gaza."
No! Americans must speak out on the GENOCIDE in Gaza. So must The Contrarian. If you won't acknowledge this for what it is, please make that official and tell us subscribers what stance The Contrarian will take.
The starving children are not Hamas, but should they somehow survive, they might be, in the future, or something even worse than Hamas. Bibi is not concerned about those suffering children now, nor is he worrying about any possible future at all, because he intends to wipe the Palestinians from the face of the earth. Genocide is fine with some people, depending on who the victims are.
I find the Israeli to be lacking in compassion!! This kind of Elimination by Starvation is too reminiscent of Nazi Germany!!!??? What is the point? Gaza has already been destroyed. Let the food aid in and bring your soldiers back to the original border!
One thing we have learned about the long memory of human history is there is always a reckoning. The hand that wielded the sword can become the hand raised seeking mercy.
Excellent article. The starvation is appalling. Bibi needs to go. All countries need to step up and stop this outrage.
What might help is that two major Israeli rights groups have labeled this genocide. B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights on Monday published a report accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, becoming the first major Israeli human rights organizations to join a list of international groups making the charge.
“An examination of Israel’s policy in the Gaza Strip and its horrific outcomes, together with statements by senior Israeli politicians and military commanders about the goals of the attack, leads to the conclusion that Israel is taking coordinated, deliberate action to destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip,” reads a statement presenting the report. “In other words: Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. ”
Dr. Guy Shalev, the grandson of a Holocauset survivor and director of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, said it was significant that Israeli groups were now leveling the accusation, noting that the Jewish-Israeli public often dismisses accusations of genocide as antisemitic or biased against Israel. Perhaps human rights groups based in Israel, and coming to this conclusion, is a way to confront that accusation and get people to acknowledge the reality,” he said.
All I know is that it helped me. I have written comments that I don't condone genocide. But, after reading this, I wrote a post about why Democrats must condemn genocide, and possibly why they haven't, which may be due to the AIPAC. https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-first-two-major-israeli-human-rights-groups-accuse-israel-of-genocide-in-gaza/
It is true that Democrats (and Republicans, and everyone else), must condemn genocide..but they as a group have been actively supporting this genocide for a long time now, with a few notable exceptions.
I am dismayed that there is so little mention of the fact that this nightmare began while Biden was president, and he spent his last 15 months in office sending billions of dollars worth of military and financial aid to Israel, with the full support of Democrats in Congress. South Africa filed charges of genocide against Israel at the ICJ over a year ago, and the ICC charged Netanyahu and his defense minister with war crimes, and the response from both Democrats and Republicans has been to condemn the courts themselves, while vetoing every resolution the UN has tried to pass to condemn Israel's actions and release all Palestinian and Israeli hostages.
You are correct to mention AIPACs influence, but that is only a part of it.
Just see this chummy photo several Dem and GOP Senators took with Netanyahu just weeks ago:
https://zeteo.com/p/14-senators-posed-with-netanyahu
You might want to read my newsletter from today, which is "Having lunch with Netanyahu while people starve in Gaza." I just saw that Jason mentions the photo that I found last night, when I was researching how much money John Thune and others got from the Israeli American PAC. It's truly sickening!
"The U.S., its allies, and established American Jewish organizations (many of which were mute or equivocal for far too long) must do more. " Jen has become a highting hero of America against cruelty imposed on Gaza people, undocumented immigrants, homeless people. What we, the American voters can do to force Trump to stop this? That is the question.
There is something else I have seen little mention of in this thread and in The Contrarian.
Israel's war on Gaza did not start two years ago, including its policy of using food and water access as a weapon. It has been ongoing for many years.
Israel has had a harsh and illegal blockade of Gaza for nearly two decades now. This has included everything from many food items (pasta, flour, yeast, rice, salt, sugar, spices, cooking oil, tea, instant coffee, chick peas, lentils, beans, olives, cookies, canned tuna, powdered milk ) as well as livestock, and tools needed to grow or procure food (fishing equipment, rope, heaters for chicken farms, dairies for cowsheds, irrigation pipes).
Israel also imposed an arbitrary "buffer zone' inside Gaza itself which took away 35% of the best agricultural land, where anyone entering that 'buffer' can be and often are killed on the spot. Israel has also denied fishermen their right as given in the Oslo Agreement to fish up to 20 nautical miles from the Gaza coast. Instead, Israel has imposed its own ever-changing limit, and has frequently killed fishermen who breached that limit. Israel has also banned anything from medicines to toys to cement to paper to music instruments from entering Gaza for decades before 2023.
Israel has also limited electrical power supply in Gaza, often to as little as 2-4 hours a day, for many years, and has bombed Gaza's own power plants and water desalination plants repeatedly. Due to Israel's blockade of construction equipment, much of Gaza's water is undrinkable. Israel regularly cuts off telecommunications in Gaza, since long before 2023, and has completely controlled all land, sea and air access to the region, save one border crossing to Egypt, and even that location is largely controlled by Israel. Gaza has no control whatsoever over its own imports, exports, or travel.
And, of course, Israel has invaded Gaza several times before 2023, killing thousands and maiming thousands more. Those invasions, along with many more bombing and smaller incursions, have destroyed thousands of homes, schools, hospitals, UN facilities, mosques and churches, and much of Gaza's infrastructure.
Gaza has been known as the world's largest open-air prison for nearly 20 years now. Dov Weisglass, then a senior advisor to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, famously said that Israel’s policy towards Gaza was designed “to put the Palestinians on a diet".
Thank you for speaking the truth. This IS a deliberate attack to eliminate the Palestinian people.
Yes. That's called "genocide."
I will go along with Jennifer on this. There is no question that Israel is committing war crimes. I agree that these war crimes can be considered genocide. The point is that we now have a true humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Quibling over semantics at this juncture is a total waste of time. First, solve the crisis. There will be plenty of time to discuss semantics *after* this mess is resolved.
It is not "quibbling over semantics" to call it genocide.
Genocide has a specific legal meaning and allows for specific legal responses.
Understanding that this is genocide means that punishment for those responsible is an obligation under international law.
This will include not just so many in Israeli leadership and its military, but US leaders as well, since the US has been a bipartisan accomplice to this horror.
We will have to agree to disagree.
This might change your mind. https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-first-two-major-israeli-human-rights-groups-accuse-israel-of-genocide-in-gaza/
I think I understand what you mean here: just take immediate action to alleviate the suffering. The rest is up to the courts.
This has already happened to an extent, but the US has done al it can to stop international courts from taking action.
The ICC charged Netanyahu and his defense minister (as well as 3 Hamas officials, who are all now dead) with war crimes some time ago. Biden's reaction was to call the decision 'outrageous', and since then, this indicted war criminal has been welcomed into the US several times. ICC judges have been sanctioned by the US.
The ICJ has an open case charging Israel with genocide, that was filed by South Africa and supported by other countries over a year ago. The US has also loudly criticized this move, and has continued to veto sanctions against UN rulings to stop the 'war' and return the hostages repeatedly.
Israel faced no penalty from the US for unilaterally ending the ceasefire this past spring. The US also cut off all funding the UNRWA , the primary organization to give aid to Palestinians.
It's pretty ridiculous really that Rubin doesn't mention any of this. Like a lot of centrist journalists lately, she writes as if Israel's war crimes just started a few weeks ago.
Quibbling over semantics? Starvation or famine, war crimes or genocide, how we characterize the crisis can determine what steps we take to address it. If we're going to label the crises at all, the labels should be accurate.
Donna, a humanitarian crisis should take priority over semantics. My response is the same as my reply to Jason: " We'll have agree to disagree".
Sometimes we do need to talk and chew gum at the same time.
It’s not just a “humanitarian crisis”, although it is certainly that.
Israel is committing genocide, with the bipartisan support of the US.
Say the word, Jennifer Rubin.
Say the word that virtually every human rights organization and genocide scholar has already said.
Genocide.
It’s past time to say it.
Jennifer Rubin and Norm Eisen won't say 'genocide' - here's a small sample of some that do:
Human Rights Organizations:
Amnesty International
Human Rights Watch
University Network for Human Rights
B’Tselem
Physicians for Human Rights - Israel
Genocide Scholars and Experts:
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories
Omer Bartov, Israeli-American professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University
Amos Goldberg, Israeli professor in the Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a fellow of the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute
Raz Segal, Israeli historian and associate professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies and endowed professor in the Study of Modern Genocide at Stockton University
Shmuel Lederman, professor specializing in political theory and genocide studies at the Open University of Israel
Martin Shaw, emeritus professor of International Relations and Politics at the University of Sussex, research professor at the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals, and author of War and Genocide, What is Genocide, Genocide in International Relations
William Schabas, professor of international law at Middlesex University in the United Kingdom, professor of international human law and human rights at Leiden University in the Netherlands, and author of several books on international law, including Genocide in International Law: The Crimes of Crimes
Dirk Moses, international relations professor at the City College of New York and author of The Problems of Genocide
Daniel Blatman, Israeli historian specializing in the history of the Holocaust and head of the Institute for Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Lee Mordechai, Israeli historian and associate professor at Hebrew University
Melanie O'Brien, president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars
Uğur Ümit Üngör, professor of Genocide Studies at the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies and the University of Amsterdam
Excellent. Thanks for sending this, Jason. It is just APPALLING that so many Dems and NeverTrumpers have turned a blind eye to the genocide in Gaza. It was awful to see my senator (Schiff) and Klobuchar and Schumer smiling in a photo with Netanyahu last week. They're all complicit in this horror.
Add Marianne Hirsch at Columbia to your list. She is an expert on the Holocaust and was featured in the LA Times yesterday.
Thanks / there are many more as well.
Ugh yea, I have mentioned that here several times, so revolting…. And still never referenced The Contrarian. It’s important to note support for Israel’s genocide has been bipartisan all along.
Absolutely. It was Biden's greatest failing, I think. We still can only get 16 or 17 Dems to vote against continued arms. Let's see if we do better this week, with Bernie's latest amendments.
Yikes, I missed that photo. Klobuchar is my senator, and I am ashamed.
Yes, a group photo of about ten senators with Netanyahu. Schiff standing next to Ted Cruz and smiling. Awful. Definitely was Klobuchar.
Schiff and Klobuchar. Yuck. What were they thinking?
I've always liked Schiff, too. Bummer.
State whether or not Hamas bears some responsibility.
Irrelevant. An eye for an eye makes both parties blind. Bullets have no party or cause, they are indiscriminate killers. It is the intent of those who use these deadly weapons, not of the victims of their aim. Starvation is intentional when food is readily available, but made a commodity of control.
Of course hamas bears responsibility for attacking israel and one must wonder what their motive was, to have all their people slaughtered or starved in response? Was it to derail some negotiations with saudi arabia? It was bold and suicidal.
What is the rationale for israel to continue the non-military actions (starving, decimating civilian housing, etc.)? I have had supporters of idf's action consistently claim that it could all be stopped by hamas surrendering and giving up the hostages. That they have to restrict food because hamas steals it---yet also claim that somehow the Palestinians are collectively responsible for not turning in hamas fighters. It is like local law enforcement holding grandma responsible for allowing her grandson to deal drugs from their house and not turning him in.
Why not follow the money? How about going after the leaders who apparently live in Qatar and elsewhere and have billions in bank accounts. What keeps israel and the US from sanctioning these host nations and banks?
The ultimate concern for US taxpayers is how do we want our money to be used? We are paying for all of this. Just like we paid for the 20 year invasion of Afghanistan because terrorists attacked us.
From what I understand, Netanyahu did something (don't know exactly what) that enabled Hamas to do the October 7 attack. Maybe Netanyahu was looking for an excuse for war, so he could avoid being tried and convicted for other crimes. I have seen multiple places over the time this has been going on, to that effect.
Good grief!!!!
We danced with joy then hid among the dead – Nova survivors recall Hamas massacre.
https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/c0qznj3l5ypo
Of course, they do! Of course! No one is questioning that.
Not true.
You're right, and I should have been more exact. I meant people of an open mind.
There are those who are still blind to the horror of what Hamas did and what it preaches.
I get very frustrated with many on the left who will criticize Israel but not Russia, China, Venezuela, Nicaragua.
Note the date. https://www.arabnews.com/node/2607511/middle-east
Several other Arab groups, including the UAE have been involved in delivering food. They recently started air drops.
According to many sources, Hamas volunteered the population for suicide. Media is not reporting there is Arab vs Arab conflict in Gaza, clan vs clan. Hamas vs P. A.
A militia led by Yasser Abu Shabab, connected to the Hamashah clan, has emerged in Rafah, claiming to be protecting food distribution centers. This group, which has been accused of looting, is viewed by some as evolving into a Salafi-jihadist group and has been denounced by other clans for allegedly cooperating with the Israeli army.
Clans in Gaza are not monolithic entities. Some have historical ties to the Palestinian Authority, others have formed armed militias, and some have been accused of engaging in illicit activities.
I accept that after the American hostages were released, we should have not supported Netanyahu.
But in terms of causation, Hamas should not benefit, should not participate as long as they continue to hold hostages and kill their own people, use them as human shields or use death counts for PR.
I stand with you, Jason.
Jason, here is your article you have wanted and still...at least recognize it
"Thank you so much, Jennifer Rubin!
Thank you for finally acknowledging what most of the entire world has been shouting for many months now.
Even though you still won't call it 'genocide', even if every scholar and human rights org everywhere has said so ... even though you still haven't acknowledged that the steadfast bipartisan support from the US has made this possible from the start and both Democrats and Republicans are complicit in these crimes against humanity ... even though you have never acknowledged the apartheid and oppression and violence and terror that Israel has inflicted on the Palestinian people for most of living memory - thank you!
Thank you for finally stating what has been obvious to anyone paying attention for a long time now...you're a superhero!"
How's that?
good very good
"Just yesterday, dozens of rabbis were arrested after protesting in front of Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s office, calling for aid in Gaza."
Do we realize that not one American TV Network reported this protest? It was reported by the Israeli Times, The Jerusalem Post, and many other foreign media. But only MSN seems to have covered it in the US! WHY? This is one of the main issues demonstrating our lack of a free press!
It is an issue that allows Trump and the Republicans to lie to voters. Yet, the Democrats remain silent about this! Is there a committee in the DNC that records this anti democracy and pro-Israel disinformation? Do we have a way established by the Democratic Party to counter such an atrocity, one that could sway the American public away from allowing our country to support the Zionist movement (with the help of our Government) to exterminate the families of Gaza?
We need some from the Democratic Party to organize an opposition to the American TV Networks being taken over by Trump! There needs to be far more concern for this issue that we are seeing!
Democrats aren't in power. The Quad are Dems. Pick on the Trump administration.
I agree, and I wrote a comment above where I provided information about the two Israeli rights groups that have labeled it a genocide. That should make a difference. But, it won't matter to Jeffries and Schumer, who received $1.2 M and $1.7 M in 2024 from the American Israeli PAC. ASPAC spent $100 million in the 2024 election buying the votes of Democratic and Republican congresspeople. https://www.aipacpac.org/
Yes. All part of the issue. Who would have thought that the State of Israel could have been taken over by authoritarians? Who would have thought that the Democrats, in addition to the Republicans, would have supported that coup? And in the end, we too, the world's democracy, are a part of the same Coup. But it is not over yet! Schumer, Trump, and Netanyahu all report to the same people. At some point, whether it be Musk, or someone else with that much power, will be rubbed, and when that happens, things can change fast! Hopefully, for the world, that does not take another 40 years!
I won’t be here in 40 years, and I’m not waiting. I want to get rid of Jeffries and Schumer, and I’m thinking about ways to do that!
LOL! Me too!
Glad to hear it! Take care!
There IS a purpose to Israeli policy in Gaza and the West Bank: to make them Palestinian-free. Donald Trump and other supporters and enablers of Israeli policy in the United States, as well as those who remain silent, are complicit in the war crimes.
Those “other supporters” include most Democrats in Congress, with a few notable exceptions.
I call bullshit on that statement.
Are you serious?
Maybe start with the 7 Senate Democrats that took a smiling fun photo with the indicted war criminal Netanyahu just weeks ago...then look at the many in both the House and Senate who get massive donations from AIPAC.
Then look at the years worth of public statements and actions from Jeffries, Schumer, Booker, so many others, too many to list...
And of course, there was the full support given to Israel as it committed open and obvious war crimes by the Biden administration for 15 months... not to mention its military and financial support well before then, even when Israel assassinated an American journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, even when Israel bombed and invaded Gaza numerous times before 2023, and continued its apartheid in the West Bank.
There is no controversy about it, it's an objective fact that most, nearly all , elected Democrats have supported Israel's terror for a long time.
Where is the link of the picture. Please provide that.
Gimme a break . Find it yourself, it’s everywhere and not hidden at all.
You don’t have a link otherwise you wouldn’t be so dang nasty.
It is absolutely a genocide. I don’t see how Israel comes back from this.
Part of the rightwing/authoritarian personality is the need to exact vengeance for real and perceived injuries. What brings them down is that they cannot perceive when enough vengeance has been inflicted... Netanyahu needs to go. The healing can only begin when the hateful autocrat is removed from office.
As well as his enablers.
Same with tRump.
The US and Israel have repeatedly elected fascist regimes. The hallmark of fascism is perpetrating mass murder without a qualm. Netanyahu and his nazh-gul have no compunction about starving children in their thousands. Indeed, they are obviously gleeful about it. Trump wilfully murdered about 300,000 people during covid and ending USAID will send his kill rate well into the millions. These are not the kind of people who have second thoughts about their atrocities.
Thank you for calling out loud the truth of the horror . It is the worst human to human arrogance by people who know history and yet act as though historic actions give some authority to today’s behavior. Obscene.
It appears that tRump's evangelical base is aligned with the far right in the Israeli government. That would be consistent with a drive to ethnically cleanse all of Gaza and install Israeli settlers. In tRump's rantings there were comments about creating an Eastern Mediterranean resort there.
Yes, the far-right evangelicals are hoping to speed up the "Second Coming©" by precipitating Armageddon....They don't give a sh*t about either the Israelis or the Palestinians (of whatever religion). They just want a big enough conflagration.
yes, and "christians" need all Jews back in the holy land for the rapture to occur... what's his face is the ambassador to isrile....his fat daughter was the press sec 1st term of the orange menace. hate being oldish, can't remember shit !
Important point. israel's actions over the last 80 years keep creating new generations of Palestinian rebels
Very unfortunate that these journalists who are very perceptive and courageous don’t call this what it is: genocide
Famine, disease, starvation and death at your doorstep is not an acceptable situation. Unless this situation is remedied then why should the U.S. continue to support Israel? A strong leader would put their foot down. Trump is not that leader. Hoping this ends soon and peacefully.
Trump will not act unless it benefits him personally. His dealmaking is only when it puts money in his pockets.
"This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper."
t.s. eliot, The Hollow Men
No, it shouldn't be a linguistic debate. But from Tom Malinowski's July 29th Evening Roundup: "Americans must speak out on the catastrophe in Gaza."
No! Americans must speak out on the GENOCIDE in Gaza. So must The Contrarian. If you won't acknowledge this for what it is, please make that official and tell us subscribers what stance The Contrarian will take.
The starving children are not Hamas, but should they somehow survive, they might be, in the future, or something even worse than Hamas. Bibi is not concerned about those suffering children now, nor is he worrying about any possible future at all, because he intends to wipe the Palestinians from the face of the earth. Genocide is fine with some people, depending on who the victims are.
I find the Israeli to be lacking in compassion!! This kind of Elimination by Starvation is too reminiscent of Nazi Germany!!!??? What is the point? Gaza has already been destroyed. Let the food aid in and bring your soldiers back to the original border!
One thing we have learned about the long memory of human history is there is always a reckoning. The hand that wielded the sword can become the hand raised seeking mercy.