(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Media Watch on the Middle East War, Labor Action, and Congressional Republicans [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-15 These are my notes with some updates on the Middle East war prepared for the Media Watch taping on Thursday October 12. The situation is changing quickly. On Friday October 13, Israel demanded that civilians evacuate the northern half of Gaza as it prepared for an invasion. Gaza is a tiny densely populated territory, about the size of Manhattan Island, on the eastern Mediterranean that borders Israel and Egypt. Its 2.3 million people are virtual prisoners living in displacement camps since the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948. It is governed by Hamas, a radical political movement that has its own military, but entrance and exit to Gaza is controlled by Israel and Egypt. Hamas has been at war with Israel for decades and denies Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. The violence in the Middle East began on Saturday October 7 with Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel that led to the murder of over 1,000 Israeli’s, mostly civilians, and over 100 captives who were brought back to Gaza. Among those murdered in the brutal attack were numerous women, children, and the elderly. Much of the brutality was videoed and posted on social media, apparently by Hamas soldiers. Elon Musk and his social media company, X, formerly known as Twitter, have been sharply criticized for permitting the videos to be posted and for other inflammatory posts. Some of the videos and images are misleading or phony. Many American universities are embroiled in a battle over how to respond to the attack on Israel by Hamas. On social media there have been statements from student groups supporting Palestinians and blaming Israel for the conditions that led to the attack. Critics called on colleges to denounce the statements and complained that responses to the attack and student statements were inadequate. The President of Harvard University was sharply criticized by a former University President for allowing student comments to go unchallenged. Major donors pressured Harvard and a number of other universities to issue pro-Israel statements. At Hofstra University, the University President issued what I consider to be an excellent statement. She wrote “The world woke up on Saturday morning to news of the horrific and brutal attack by Hamas on Israel and the unspeakable, organized violence and hostage-taking against men, women, and children . . . Hofstra University mourns the loss of life, and we fear that the situation will move this part of the world even farther from lasting peace . . . As a community, we must abhor violence. At the same time, individuals can have differing political views, particularly given the complexity of the politics and history of this region of the world . . . At this difficult time, let us come together as the Hofstra Community with mutual respect and support for each other. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemned both hatred and antisemitism. She made it clear the United States and Americans should reject “both Hamas’ horrifying attacks against innocent civilians as well as the grave injustices and violence Palestinians face under occupation.” AOC issued a press release where she stated "Today is devastating for all those seeking a lasting peace and respect for human rights in Israel and Palestine. I condemn Hamas’ attack in the strongest possible terms. No child and family should ever endure this kind of violence and fear, and this violence will not solve the ongoing oppression and occupation in the region. An immediate ceasefire and de-escalation is urgently needed to save lives.” At the time we were taping, Gaza was under an Israeli siege and bombardment and Israel had amassed its army on the Gaza border preparing for an invasion to root out Hamas. Israel created a new “unity” government and pledged to “crush” Hamas. AOC has been criticized for calling for a cease fire by supporters of an Israeli counterattack. President Biden announced unequivocal U.S. support for Israel, sent Secretary of State Blinken to Israel to meet with its leaders, and is supplying Israel with weapons. The United Nations reported that as of Thursday morning October 12, over 300,000 Palestinians in Gaza had been displaced and forced to seek shelter because of Israeli retaliatory bombings. Later, the U.N. reported that the people of Gaza were running out of water. Thomas Friedman in the New York Times explained the Hamas attack on Israel as a reaction to “Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s supreme goal . . . that he can make peace with all the Arab states — even Saudi Arabia — and not have to give the Palestinians a single inch . . . that has been Netanyahu’s life’s mission: to prove to everyone that Israel can have its cake — acceptance by all the surrounding Arab states — and eat the Palestinians’ territory, too.” Friedman argues that Hamas launched this assault and ordered it to be as murderous as possible to trigger an Israeli overreaction and an invasion of the Gaza that would lead to massive Palestinian civilian casualties and force Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco, to back away from ties to Israel. Friedman thinks an Israeli invasion would be a serious mistake, He also blamed Netanyahu’s on seizing Palestinian lands on the West Bank for Israeli settlers for his government’s failure to pay adequate attention to what was happening on the Israeli border with Gaza. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/15/2199676/-Media-Watch-on-the-Middle-East-War-Labor-Action-and-Congressional-Republicans?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/