The Democratic Party’s radical, far-left faction is having a little problem with enemy identification. For many Democrats, it’s Israel and not the terrorists from Hamas who are the enemy.
Senator Bernie Sanders, for one, doesn’t even mention the terrorists in his statement.
I am extremely concerned by the growing conflict in Israel and Palestine. Once again we are seeing how the irresponsible actions of government-allied right-wing extremists in Jerusalem can escalate quickly into devastating war.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) May 11, 2021
Rockets raining down on the heads of innocent Israelis apparently isn’t worth a mention. Nor is the Hamas policy of placing military supplies and its fighters in civilian areas where dead Palestinians make excellent pictures for propaganda organs.
There are still many Democrats who support Israel’s right to defend itself. The president thinks so, as does Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The secretary said that “there are fundamental differences between a terrorist organization, Hamas, that is indiscriminately raining down rockets — in fact, targeting civilians — and Israel’s response defending itself, that is targeting the terrorists.”
This simple, incontrovertible fact is ignored by American left-wing radicals.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., responded to Biden on Twitter: “Blanket statements like these [with] little context or acknowledgement of what precipitated this cycle of violence – namely, the expulsions of Palestinians and attacks on Al Aqsa – dehumanize Palestinians [and] imply the US will look the other way at human rights violations. It’s wrong.”
“By only stepping in to name Hamas’ actions – which are condemnable – [and] refusing to acknowledge the rights of Palestinians, Biden reinforces the false idea that Palestinians instigated this cycle of violence,” she added. “This is not neutral language. It takes a side – the side of occupation.”
AOC and her radical cohorts in The Squad have a talent for “trivializing the momentous and complicating the obvious.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar, a member of Ocasio-Cortez’s “Squad” of progressive lawmakers, accused Israel of “terrorism.”
“Israeli air strikes killing civilians in Gaza is an act of terrorism. Palestinians deserve protection. Unlike Israel, missile defense programs, such as Iron Dome, don’t exist to protect Palestinian civilians. It’s unconscionable to not condemn these attacks on the week of Eid,” Omar, D-Minn., wrote on Twitter Monday.
It’s so unfair that the terrorists don’t have any defenses against Israeli airstrikes. And Israeli bombs are a lot more accurate than Hamas’s Qassam rockets. Maybe Omar thinks Israel should give Hamas its Iron Dome missile defense system and more accurate rockets to kill more civilians. Then, it would be a “fair fight.”
Israel is battling for its survival against an enemy that wants to exterminate it as much as the Nazis ever did. It doesn’t matter how sophisticated Hamas weapons are. It doesn’t matter that the terrorists are badly outnumbered. They want to kill as many Jews as possible, as quickly as possible. That about half the Democratic Party doesn’t acknowledge that simple fact is worrisome for the future.
Biden is under enormous pressure from the radicals to break with the Israeli government. So far, he has resisted. But he is likely to grant some concessions to the radicals’ point of view to keep the peace in his own party so his agenda will pass.