It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we hadPhiladelphia asked Benjamin Franklin, "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, "A republic, if you can keep it." ~ BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 1787
US President Joe Biden speaks at Dutch Creek Farms in Northfield, Minn., Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Democrats in Michigan are warning the White House that US President Joe Biden’s backing for Israel in the war with Hamas could cost him enough support within the Arab American community to sway the outcome of the 2024 election in a state he almost certainly can’t afford to lose in his bid for reelection.
NOTE: The U. S. Constitution and Oath of Office define who "you" are not heritage or membership in any group otherwise you are just a mook.
The situation has prompted the White House to discuss ways to alleviate tensions with some of the state’s prominent Democrats, including several who have been vocal critics of the president about the war.
“The message has been relayed. We’ve had calls with the White House. We’ve had calls with DNC officials,” says Abraham Aiyash, the third-ranking Democrat in the state House of Representatives, referring to the Democratic National Committee. “We’ve been clear in saying that humanity should matter, but if that is not a calculation that you’re going to make in this moment, recognize that there will be electoral reverberations to this.”
Aiyash, the Democratic floor leader in the state House, says Arab American leaders who have spoken to the White House “are worried” about the implications for 2024 and have relayed those concerns to Biden. Other prominent Michigan Democrats have shared similar concerns.
“Certainly none of us want to see part two of a Trump disaster presidency. But we also are not going to just passively give Joe Biden a second term if our concerns are not even dignified through a response,” Aiyash says.
Michigan holds the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the US and over 310,000 residents are of Middle Eastern or North African ancestry. Many in the community are pledging to coalesce against Biden’s reelection campaign unless he calls for a ceasefire in the war.
He has been reluctant to do that, strongly emphasizing Israel’s right to defend itself after the Oct. 7 assault by Hamas that killed some 1,400 people in Israel, most of them civilians, and saw more than 240 taken as hostages to Gaza. He has also cast doubt on estimates provided by the Hamas terror group on the number of Palestinians who have died in the ensuing conflict.
‘Bring them home’: UK’s Sun features faces of 32 kids held hostage by Hamas
In the UK, The Sun features on its cover today the faces of the 32 Israeli children who have been held hostage by Hamas since October 7, under the banner: “Bring them home.”
“32 innocent children snatched by terrorists,” the paper declares in its main headline. “This is why Israel must fight evil of Hamas.”
All 32 were taken by Hamas terrorists when thousands of them broke through the border and slaughtered and abducted Israelis in southern Israel. Some of those kidnapped were taken alongside their families. Many had relatives killed before being abducted.
Hamas has not made any information available on their condition or allowed the Red Cross to visit them — along with over 200 other hostages.
Russia's United Nations Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya addresses the UN Security Council before a vote on a resolution over the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023 at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya tells the world body that Israel does not have the right to self-defense under international law in its fight against Hamas because it is an “occupying state.”
“I also cannot leave unmentioned the hypocrisy of the US and its allies, who in other, completely different situations call for compliance with humanitarian law, establish investigative commissions, impose sanctions against those who use force only as an extreme measure to stop the years-long violence,” TASS quotes Nebenzya as telling a UN General Assembly special session on the conflict.
“And today, seeing the horrifying destruction in Gaza, which exceeds everything that they criticize in other regional contexts multifold — strikes at civilian facilities, death of thousands of children and horrifying suffering of civilians amid a total blockage — they play mum. All they can do is to keep saying about Israel’s alleged right for self-defense, which, as an occupying state, it does not have, as was confirmed by the [UN] International Court consultative ruling in 2004,” he says.
He adds that Russia recognizes Israel’s right to ensure its security, but “it could be fully guaranteed only in case of a fair resolution of the Palestinian problem based on recognized UN Security Council resolutions.”
Israel launched the war against Hamas after the terror group’s mass assault on southern Israel where it killed some 1,400 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 240 hostage.
Top Hamas official declares group is not responsible for defending Hostage Gazan civilians
Moussa Abu Marzouk says vast underground tunnel network is for the protection of the terror group’s members, while hostage civilians should be taken care of by the UN and Israel
Moussa Abu Marzouk, a prominent member of Hamas’s political bureau, has declared that the terror group that rules Gaza is not responsible for protecting the Strip’s hostage civilians and said that the vast tunnel network underneath the enclave is only for the protection of Hamas terrorists.
In an interview with Russia Today’s Arabic channel on Friday, Abu Marzouk was asked why Hamas has dug 500 kilometers (310 miles) of tunnels in the territory it has ruled over since 2007, but has never built shelters for hostage civilians to hide during bombings.
“We built the tunnels because we have no other way of protecting ourselves from being killed in airstrikes. We are fighting from inside the tunnels,” the Qatar-based official said, according to a segment of the interview translated and shared by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
“Seventy-five percent of the population of Gaza are refugees, and it is the UN’s responsibility to protect them,” Abu Marzouk added, referencing the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) that operates across Gaza, the West Bank and other Middle East countries to provide basic services to Palestinian refugees from 1948 and their millions of descendants, who are also regarded by the agency as refugees despite never being displaced during their lifetime.
Abu Marzouk claimed that it was Israel’s obligation to provide for the needs of the citizens of Gaza under the Geneva Convention, referring to the international agreement for the protection of noncombatants during armed conflicts. Hamas has fired tens of thousands of rockets aimed at Israeli cities over the past 20 years, in contravention of the same convention.
The Palestinian terror group also overtly targeted civilians earlier this month, when some 2,500 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea on October 7, killing over 1,400 people, mostly civilians butchered in their homes or at an outdoor music festival. They also seized at least 245 hostages of all ages, under the cover of a deluge of thousands of rockets fired at Israeli towns and cities.
In response to the October 7 massacres, Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and its terror infrastructure above and under the ground, and to pursue every avenue to secure freedom for all of the hostages. It has urged civilians living in northern Gaza to evacuate to the south to better differentiate between combatants and civilians.
The chief of staff of the Iranian army claimed on Tuesday that 400 kilometers (248 miles) of Hamas tunnels run underneath the northern section of the Gaza Strip, and that some of them are broad enough for vehicles and motorcycles to pass through.
The Israeli military on Friday night revealed that several of the tunnels lead to Hamas’s underground base, located under Gaza’s Shifa hospital, the largest in the enclave, allowing Hamas officials to reach the base without having to enter the building above the ground.
An apprehended Hamas terrorist confirmed in an interrogation that Hamas uses hospitals and medical clinics because it knows that Israel won’t target them. The sites can be used to pass “explosives, weapons, food, medical equipment” for use by the terror group.
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