Thank you, Jessica, for the actions and for the answer about call tallying. And for Resisbot - I've started using it, and after some initial confusion, it is really easy, just like you said.
The Republicans have no sense of irony, only blatant hypocrisy. If they really felt that Israel needed more big bombs they could have passed the bill approving the bomb shipments six months ago. But that was when Biden wanted them to do it. Biden has explained why he has changed his mind, the Republicans are suddenly all for Israel, while most of them remain antisemitic.
Polls, even much closer to election dates, have been misguided and very wrong. Hillary's 2016 optimistic polls were obviously off because pollsters couldn't accurately include Trump's base. The polls in 2022 midterms predicted a big RED wave that didn't happen.
Today's polls and polls of polls are off for a wide variety of reasons. Probably, most probably because pollsters simply can't get a representative group of participants to answer
Telephone polls.
In the world of real voters and electoral participants, Joe Biden had been an outstanding president a decent human being and admirable role model for America. Trump has been the opposite on every leadership metric.
Joe Biden has six months to continue improving the economy, beat back the fascist right wing in Israel, get good grades for the decline in illegal immigration.
Go Joe. You're going to win by more in 2024 than you did in 2020. The GOP will collapse and start to reconstruct itself as a reasonable co-governing party. The Times will sell newspapers.
Thanks for the article which I just finished reading. It is very helpful and I hope my daughter reads it. The term genocide is relatively new and yet it has been practiced by many groups over time for millennia . A clear understanding of what it means is imperative. In my day some students cheered for Chairman Mao who was one of the biggest thugs going. I have no tolerance for either terrorists or autocrats. Thanks again for increasing my understanding of this complex and heartbreaking situation.
I voted in the primaries yesterday and as the election worker was explaining the process cheers erupted across the noisy gymnasium. "First time voter," the man explained. First time voter...!!! Thanks, Jessica. Trying to remember how to take deep breaths. This helps.
This post couldn’t have come at a better time. My 42 year old daughter has been reading us the riot act about America’s complicity in genocide in Gaza. No mention about the Biden Administration’s attempts to curtail arms. Biden gets all the blame and no credit while Republicans do their ugly bit. Some days I feel like I’m shouting in the wind.
Have followed Palestine/Israel closely since writing a "position paper" in1955 including the invasion by and recognition of the state of Israel in 1948 and understand why Bibi Netanyahu should be in an Israeli jail. Only recently began to understand the role of Yahya Sinwar, not born until 1962 in Gaza. Unlike Hitler in his bunker, Sinwar does not seem a likely suicide. Love, Doc
No, I don't think we all agree. You continue to not do enough (really, you do almost nothing) to hold Hamas responsible for their actions, instead giving end of the script lip service to "of course Hamas needs to be dealt with". It's like talking to Republicans after another mass school shooting who say "our prayers are with you" - they don't mean it, and neither do you. With college students pledging allegiance to a terrorist organization, its is exceedingly clear that Hamas is now your problem too. But, you continue your complicity, which adds to the progressive left's position that terrorism is okay so long as its terrorism against Jews. Israel is the only democracy that is actively fighting a terrorist organization and now having to do so with both hands tied behind their back; and the irony is that this post ends with "you helped save democracy".
Well, I can't spend a lot of time trying to convince you. If you think I support Hamas then I don't know what to tell you. I've said a million times I revile them and I absolutely support Israel's right to defend itself. What they're doing in Rafah, however, is not self defense. It is NOT making Israel safer. It will not help save the hostages. It is murderous, strategically dumb, and counterproductive. Hamas is a terrorist organization and I want them destroyed badly. This is unlikely to do that, and even if it did, the cost is astronomically too high. I understand there is a lot of awful rhetoric out there on the left, and a lot of people saying a lot of stupid and hurtful things. I disagree with a TON of it. But I don't believe I've said or done anything to make me deserve to be tarred with the same brush.
Hi, RK. I’ll start by saying that as a Jew and daughter of a Holocaust survivor, I have a complicated relationship with Israel. It pains me how slanted much of the mainstream media coverage is against Israel. I’m distraught by the antisemitic, anti-Israel slogans and dogma adopted by many college students who don’t understand the history, let alone have an accurate understanding of the current Hamas (Hezbollah/IHouthis/Iran/etc.) - Israeli war. However, I don’t see Jessica as slanted against Israel in her coverage. She has put time and effort into understanding the history and complexity of the ongoing Middle East conflicts. She is responding to the humanitarian disaster in the various Palestinian settlements, Rafah being the latest example.
I trust the Biden administration, and I do not trust the Netanyahu administration. Biden has been a staunch defender of Israel, yet he has been warning against a Rafah incursion for some time now, because it would be an unfathomable humanitarian disaster to bomb an area where everyone was told to evacuate to when Israel initially responded to the Hamas terrorist attack. With other areas in Gaza having been decimated, and surrounding Arab countries refusing to take refugees, people in Rafah have nowhere to go. It does not change the fact that Hamas is a terrorist organization that wants to obliterate Jews and is willing to use women and children as human shields. Yes, they are horrible and should be conquered. And yes, when it comes to civilian casualties, we are holding Israel to a higher standard than terrorists, as we should. Does that mean that Israel can’t defend itself? No. But it does mean that they must do it in a way that advances the goal of rooting out Hamas and bringing home hostages while minimizing civilian suffering. I would suggest that we *are* supporting democracy when we insist on standards of morality.
Biden, a longtime staunch supporter of Israel, is not convinced, based on U.S. intelligence, that Netanyahu is taking the necessary steps to mitigate civilian suffering. I agree with Jessica that “holding back offensive weapons from Netanyahu to discourage him from using them in Rafah is a good move on Biden’s part, both morally and politically.” I also agree that the latest house bill is just more performative sh*t by Republicans. The drivers of this bill don’t care about Jews, Israelis, and Palestinians. They only care about power. With these dynamics in mind, I will be making the recommended calls to my representatives and senators.
Thanks Fran-Michelle. I appreciate the comment. I am not a right wing or Netanyahu supporter. This is a newsletter asking people around the country to contact their representatives on issues, and the posts and suggested texts are one-sided - against Israel. There have been only one or two posts that I believe are anti-semitic. There is essentially silence in this newsletter about holding Hamas responsible, pushing Egypt to open its border with Gaza so those who want to flee the fighting can do so, quashing the financial support from Saudia Arabia and Qatar, etc. So many ways the US could engage to pressure the other side, and all of these possibilities are ignored here. In addition, this issue is a loser for Biden, on all sides, so I have to wonder why this newsletter repeatedly asks us to be anti-Israel. I have encouraged Jess to avoid this issue as much as possible (for example, see Simon Rosenberg's Hopium), but every week there is another anti-Israel post and nothing about the other side. It seems that the progressive left simply does not want to hold Arabs responsible for their actions, and this newsletter is another example. If you want to see a balanced discussion about how to hold Netanyahu accountable, how to support democrats and still be pro-Israel, look to Steve Sheffey. The people reading this newsletter have to see that there is another way.
RK Hamas is not a democratic organization. They are terrorists. There is no way to put pressure on them or demand they do anything. We have ZERO leverage with a terrorist organization. Just saying.
Of course, but silence is complicity in this context. More than 90% of your posts are anti-Israel and there are very, very few words about the other side, so your messaging is clear. Coming from a good place does not mean that your messaging does no harm, e.g., on Friday last week, I had protestors dressed as Hamas terrorists 2 blocks from my house because Biden was in my neighborhood raising money, yelling through bull horns for my destruction and Israel's. You have to take responsibility for the hate that flows from your one-sided postings. Also, I say anti-Israel because I have to support Israel no matter the administration in charge there, as protests from the left in Israel at this point are only seen as weakening it in the eyes of Arabs devoted to Israel's destruction. The left needs to get the vote as protests are not helping. Finally, the supposed position of "moral" clarity on "offensive" weapons as compared to destructive weapons is not a high ground; instead you are forcing Israelis to sit and pray in bomb shelters enduring thousands of rockets fired from Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran because they are "allowed" to defend themselves, but not take the fight to the terrorists as the US did in Afghanistan for more than 10 years and the deaths of more than 70,000 Afghan civilians. The US is not moral as compared to Israel, and should not be imposing its ideas of what Israel should be as compared to what it actually is.
This is a difficult topic to discuss in the best of circumstances, and I appreciate that we can exchange viewpoints here. Other Substack authors I admire (such as Robert Hubbell) have chosen to avoid this issue, and I understand their reasoning. But I also understand, and admire, the moral imperative Jess is following in publishing Chop Wood, Carry the World. I may not choose to take every action, but I feel that Jessica's voice on the issue is important, well-informed, and always comes from a good place.
Speaking of voices, thank you for the recommendation of Steve Sheffey. I just read one of his pieces and found it inspiring. I will check out more of his publications. Another resource I rely on for smart commentary is the weekly webinar "America at a Crossroads", put on by Jews United for Democracy and Justice. Since the Hamas attack, JUDJ also started an "Israel in Crisis" briefing series, to keep us up to date on developments.
I suspect you and I agree more than we disagree, RK. I’m glad to know I’m among so many caring travelers.
Thank you, Jessica, for the actions and for the answer about call tallying. And for Resisbot - I've started using it, and after some initial confusion, it is really easy, just like you said.
Oh good! I'm so glad!
The Republicans have no sense of irony, only blatant hypocrisy. If they really felt that Israel needed more big bombs they could have passed the bill approving the bomb shipments six months ago. But that was when Biden wanted them to do it. Biden has explained why he has changed his mind, the Republicans are suddenly all for Israel, while most of them remain antisemitic.
EXACTLY.
Polls, even much closer to election dates, have been misguided and very wrong. Hillary's 2016 optimistic polls were obviously off because pollsters couldn't accurately include Trump's base. The polls in 2022 midterms predicted a big RED wave that didn't happen.
Today's polls and polls of polls are off for a wide variety of reasons. Probably, most probably because pollsters simply can't get a representative group of participants to answer
Telephone polls.
In the world of real voters and electoral participants, Joe Biden had been an outstanding president a decent human being and admirable role model for America. Trump has been the opposite on every leadership metric.
Joe Biden has six months to continue improving the economy, beat back the fascist right wing in Israel, get good grades for the decline in illegal immigration.
Go Joe. You're going to win by more in 2024 than you did in 2020. The GOP will collapse and start to reconstruct itself as a reasonable co-governing party. The Times will sell newspapers.
But no need to believe the polls are predictive.
Thanks, Merrill.
Thanks for the article which I just finished reading. It is very helpful and I hope my daughter reads it. The term genocide is relatively new and yet it has been practiced by many groups over time for millennia . A clear understanding of what it means is imperative. In my day some students cheered for Chairman Mao who was one of the biggest thugs going. I have no tolerance for either terrorists or autocrats. Thanks again for increasing my understanding of this complex and heartbreaking situation.
Hi Fran.Thank you so much for this. I have to believe that some day we’ll figure out a way to settle disputes without blowing each other up.
I voted in the primaries yesterday and as the election worker was explaining the process cheers erupted across the noisy gymnasium. "First time voter," the man explained. First time voter...!!! Thanks, Jessica. Trying to remember how to take deep breaths. This helps.
This post couldn’t have come at a better time. My 42 year old daughter has been reading us the riot act about America’s complicity in genocide in Gaza. No mention about the Biden Administration’s attempts to curtail arms. Biden gets all the blame and no credit while Republicans do their ugly bit. Some days I feel like I’m shouting in the wind.
Have followed Palestine/Israel closely since writing a "position paper" in1955 including the invasion by and recognition of the state of Israel in 1948 and understand why Bibi Netanyahu should be in an Israeli jail. Only recently began to understand the role of Yahya Sinwar, not born until 1962 in Gaza. Unlike Hitler in his bunker, Sinwar does not seem a likely suicide. Love, Doc
I do and I did send a copy of one of your letters to all three of my representatives.😊🙏
Thank you ask always and agree on Kuo - like you, he is a must subscribe. 🩵
No, I don't think we all agree. You continue to not do enough (really, you do almost nothing) to hold Hamas responsible for their actions, instead giving end of the script lip service to "of course Hamas needs to be dealt with". It's like talking to Republicans after another mass school shooting who say "our prayers are with you" - they don't mean it, and neither do you. With college students pledging allegiance to a terrorist organization, its is exceedingly clear that Hamas is now your problem too. But, you continue your complicity, which adds to the progressive left's position that terrorism is okay so long as its terrorism against Jews. Israel is the only democracy that is actively fighting a terrorist organization and now having to do so with both hands tied behind their back; and the irony is that this post ends with "you helped save democracy".
Well, I can't spend a lot of time trying to convince you. If you think I support Hamas then I don't know what to tell you. I've said a million times I revile them and I absolutely support Israel's right to defend itself. What they're doing in Rafah, however, is not self defense. It is NOT making Israel safer. It will not help save the hostages. It is murderous, strategically dumb, and counterproductive. Hamas is a terrorist organization and I want them destroyed badly. This is unlikely to do that, and even if it did, the cost is astronomically too high. I understand there is a lot of awful rhetoric out there on the left, and a lot of people saying a lot of stupid and hurtful things. I disagree with a TON of it. But I don't believe I've said or done anything to make me deserve to be tarred with the same brush.
Hi, RK. I’ll start by saying that as a Jew and daughter of a Holocaust survivor, I have a complicated relationship with Israel. It pains me how slanted much of the mainstream media coverage is against Israel. I’m distraught by the antisemitic, anti-Israel slogans and dogma adopted by many college students who don’t understand the history, let alone have an accurate understanding of the current Hamas (Hezbollah/IHouthis/Iran/etc.) - Israeli war. However, I don’t see Jessica as slanted against Israel in her coverage. She has put time and effort into understanding the history and complexity of the ongoing Middle East conflicts. She is responding to the humanitarian disaster in the various Palestinian settlements, Rafah being the latest example.
I trust the Biden administration, and I do not trust the Netanyahu administration. Biden has been a staunch defender of Israel, yet he has been warning against a Rafah incursion for some time now, because it would be an unfathomable humanitarian disaster to bomb an area where everyone was told to evacuate to when Israel initially responded to the Hamas terrorist attack. With other areas in Gaza having been decimated, and surrounding Arab countries refusing to take refugees, people in Rafah have nowhere to go. It does not change the fact that Hamas is a terrorist organization that wants to obliterate Jews and is willing to use women and children as human shields. Yes, they are horrible and should be conquered. And yes, when it comes to civilian casualties, we are holding Israel to a higher standard than terrorists, as we should. Does that mean that Israel can’t defend itself? No. But it does mean that they must do it in a way that advances the goal of rooting out Hamas and bringing home hostages while minimizing civilian suffering. I would suggest that we *are* supporting democracy when we insist on standards of morality.
Biden, a longtime staunch supporter of Israel, is not convinced, based on U.S. intelligence, that Netanyahu is taking the necessary steps to mitigate civilian suffering. I agree with Jessica that “holding back offensive weapons from Netanyahu to discourage him from using them in Rafah is a good move on Biden’s part, both morally and politically.” I also agree that the latest house bill is just more performative sh*t by Republicans. The drivers of this bill don’t care about Jews, Israelis, and Palestinians. They only care about power. With these dynamics in mind, I will be making the recommended calls to my representatives and senators.
Beautifully said, Fran-Michelle, and thanks.
Thanks Fran-Michelle. I appreciate the comment. I am not a right wing or Netanyahu supporter. This is a newsletter asking people around the country to contact their representatives on issues, and the posts and suggested texts are one-sided - against Israel. There have been only one or two posts that I believe are anti-semitic. There is essentially silence in this newsletter about holding Hamas responsible, pushing Egypt to open its border with Gaza so those who want to flee the fighting can do so, quashing the financial support from Saudia Arabia and Qatar, etc. So many ways the US could engage to pressure the other side, and all of these possibilities are ignored here. In addition, this issue is a loser for Biden, on all sides, so I have to wonder why this newsletter repeatedly asks us to be anti-Israel. I have encouraged Jess to avoid this issue as much as possible (for example, see Simon Rosenberg's Hopium), but every week there is another anti-Israel post and nothing about the other side. It seems that the progressive left simply does not want to hold Arabs responsible for their actions, and this newsletter is another example. If you want to see a balanced discussion about how to hold Netanyahu accountable, how to support democrats and still be pro-Israel, look to Steve Sheffey. The people reading this newsletter have to see that there is another way.
Also you may appreciate this newsletter. I do. https://myemail-api.constantcontact.com/What-Did-Biden-Really-Do-.html?soid=1103590106844&aid=lYt-56XAgu4
RK Hamas is not a democratic organization. They are terrorists. There is no way to put pressure on them or demand they do anything. We have ZERO leverage with a terrorist organization. Just saying.
Of course, but silence is complicity in this context. More than 90% of your posts are anti-Israel and there are very, very few words about the other side, so your messaging is clear. Coming from a good place does not mean that your messaging does no harm, e.g., on Friday last week, I had protestors dressed as Hamas terrorists 2 blocks from my house because Biden was in my neighborhood raising money, yelling through bull horns for my destruction and Israel's. You have to take responsibility for the hate that flows from your one-sided postings. Also, I say anti-Israel because I have to support Israel no matter the administration in charge there, as protests from the left in Israel at this point are only seen as weakening it in the eyes of Arabs devoted to Israel's destruction. The left needs to get the vote as protests are not helping. Finally, the supposed position of "moral" clarity on "offensive" weapons as compared to destructive weapons is not a high ground; instead you are forcing Israelis to sit and pray in bomb shelters enduring thousands of rockets fired from Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran because they are "allowed" to defend themselves, but not take the fight to the terrorists as the US did in Afghanistan for more than 10 years and the deaths of more than 70,000 Afghan civilians. The US is not moral as compared to Israel, and should not be imposing its ideas of what Israel should be as compared to what it actually is.
This is a difficult topic to discuss in the best of circumstances, and I appreciate that we can exchange viewpoints here. Other Substack authors I admire (such as Robert Hubbell) have chosen to avoid this issue, and I understand their reasoning. But I also understand, and admire, the moral imperative Jess is following in publishing Chop Wood, Carry the World. I may not choose to take every action, but I feel that Jessica's voice on the issue is important, well-informed, and always comes from a good place.
Speaking of voices, thank you for the recommendation of Steve Sheffey. I just read one of his pieces and found it inspiring. I will check out more of his publications. Another resource I rely on for smart commentary is the weekly webinar "America at a Crossroads", put on by Jews United for Democracy and Justice. Since the Hamas attack, JUDJ also started an "Israel in Crisis" briefing series, to keep us up to date on developments.
I suspect you and I agree more than we disagree, RK. I’m glad to know I’m among so many caring travelers.
Wow! You expressed my feelings so well. To one Jew to another, I’m glad you feel the same way as I do.
Hi Abbi, I'm glad we can connect on this, and am grateful that Jessica provides this forum for us to do so.
I agree!
Thank you for this. I sent your very thoughtful comment to my daughter. You said it so much more clearly than I did.
I'm glad you think my comment may help, Susan. In case you’re interested, I’ve included a link to an article that discusses the misuse of the term genocide as it relates to Israel’s military campaign. It may not be something your daughter can hear right now, but I thought you might be interested anyway. Best wishes. https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/07/opinions/columbia-university-israel-campus-protests-antisemitism-ghitis/index.html
Do you subscribe to my other newsletter? The one where I send out actions about this?