On this somber day, I have had a heavy heart. One year ago, Hamas terrorists launched an invasion of Israel, brutally killing families in their homes and young people at an all-night dance.
The situation has grown progressively worse since then. Israel responded forcefully, as Hamas hoped. Tens of thousands of innocent civilians in Gaza have died as a result of Israel’s punishing response. Hamas knew that would happen.
Hezbollah, the terrorist group that destroyed the government of Lebanon, has rained missiles and rockets on Israel for a year. Israel has now invaded Lebanon to destroy Hezbollah.
There is plenty of blame to go around, including to Netanyahu, who has not been willing to reach a ceasefire in Gaza (nor has Hamas).
A solution must be found, and the only genuine solution involves two states–one for the Israelis, one for the Palestinians. And a genuine commitment to peace.
The AFT posted an excellent commentary, which I share with you.
For Immediate Release Monday, October 7, 2024
Contact:
Andrew Crook
607-280-6603
acrook@aft.orgAFT Responds to Anniversary of Oct. 7 attacks
WASHINGTON—The AFT released a video produced in collaboration with the union’s partners in the Middle East and issued the following statement from President Randi Weingarten commemorating the first anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks:
“There are some moments that change the trajectory of our lives. Sept. 11 was one of those moments for the United States. Oct. 7, 2023, was one for Israel, Gaza and now the entire Middle East region.
“That day, Hamas brutally attacked Israelis, Jews, Muslims, Bedouins and Asian guest workers in the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Twelve hundred people were killed, raped, injured or taken hostage. Since that day, so much more destruction and pain have happened in the ensuing war: The flattening of Gaza by the Israel Defense Forces. The massive humanitarian needs. The relentless attacks on Israeli citizens by Hezbollah. The ongoing and indiscriminate attacks by Jewish settlers on Palestinian land on the West Bank. The holding of hostages by Hamas, and the refusal by Hamas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to consummate a cease-fire. And now, the bombing by Iran and the certain Israeli response.
“The pain is overwhelming in the region; and here at home, the events have deeply affected our schools, our workplaces and our communities.
“We mourn the dead and we pray for the living. We pray for peace, an end to this war, an end to violence, the return of the hostages and a path forward.
“Rather than resolutions or statements (of which we have many) denouncing hate and calling for an end to the war, among other things, on this anniversary of Oct. 7, we wanted to hear and to highlight the voices of Jews and Palestinians who live in the region —who are fighting for another way, who are fighting for peace and security, freedom, justice and self-determination for both peoples.
“Lifting up Jewish and Palestinian voices is essential, which is why our union has brought groups like Standing Together, Parents Circle and Hand in Hand to the U.S., so we can engage with people who are fighting for a better life and for peace. We need to listen to their voices. They show us the path forward.
“It’s clear the only way forward is to forgo the violence that’s defined the region for decades in favor of a peaceful solution.
“Since 2016, our union has been on that path—the path of two states for two peoples, of deepening engagement, of rejecting the binary. That is why we invited some of our allies to reflect on Oct. 7 and the ensuing destruction that has traumatized Israelis and Palestinians, as well as to share their hopes and aspirations for a more peaceful future.
“Please take a few minutes to watch this video and share it with your colleagues, friends and family so they too can hear these remarkable testimonies. You may agree or disagree—that is your right—but hear them. Listen to them. They are trying to forge a path forward for peace, freedom, security and self-determination for the 7 million Palestinians and the 7 million Jews who call Israel and the Palestinian territories their home.”
The AFT represents 1.8 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel; higher education faculty and professional staff; federal, state and local government employees; nurses and healthcare workers; and early childhood educators.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Hamas did not “invade” Israel. Plain and simple. Yes, they did strike out against their jailer-Israel. Russia invaded the Ukraine. The US invaded Iraq (and many other countries far too numerous to list here.) Using hasbara language only serves to obfuscate the Zionist genocide of the Palestinian people who have lived on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea for more than a millennium.
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Duane they brutally murdered a bunch of music festival goers and even some babies. They were not attacked by the festival goers nor the babies.
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Yes, and the Zionists have murdered thousands of times more innocent Palestinians, destroyed the infrastructure-homes, hospitals, water and sewage plants. . . and much more.
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Hamas did not strike their jailer. They murdered their friends and allies on the other side of the border, the leftists and peaceniks who believed in peace.
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Plain and simple there is NO Palestinian genocide. The population of Gaza has increased 3% per year for over 20 years. A genocide is where the population is reduced. Further, Israel has provided most of Gaza’s food, water, electricity and medical care (despite Gaza having more “hospitals” than most American cities). Further, when the occupation ended in 2005, they left working water and greenhouse systems to gel the Gazans’ independence. Hamas destroyed all of that in order to made the area more of a drain on Israel’s resources. If Israel wanted to commit genocide, they wouldn’t have to use military, they could just shut off the water. I guarantee no other Islamic nation would help them.
If you read the Hamas charter, you’d see their stated goal IS genocide, and an ethnic cleansing of the area to turn the entire middle east into a fundamentalist Islamic state. You can fin it on the internet.
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The AFT has done such a great job with public education that they are extending their all-purpose expertise to the Middle East. They draw a moral equivalence between the democratic nation of Israel and the theocrats of Hamas who would throw Diane Ravitch off a roof for her sexual orientation. Duane Swacker supports Hamas.
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Becky,
I did not see a “moral equivalence” of Israel and Hamas. As I have written here many times, Hamas is a terrorist group. The peace must happen between Israelis and Palestinians. The terrorists of Hamas and Hezbollah do not want peace.
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90% of casualties in urban warfare are civilians, noncombatants.
That is a fact. No matter what anyone thinks. Urban warfare is brutal, dangerous, unpredictable.
To defeat Hitler’s Nazis, the US and its allies bombed cities with napalm, burning to death hundreds of thousands of noncombatants of all ages. Those cities were where the factories were that made tanks, fighter planes, bombs, bullets for Hitler’s armies. Those cities are where the fuel that powered Hitler’s war machine were located.
In Japan, Tokyo was firebombed one night by fleets of allied bombers, killing, roasting and burning to death, more Japanese civilians than both A-bombs that were dropped on two cities in Japan. Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
If the allies hadn’t done that, Hitler and his Nazis and Japan might have survived to wage war again and again… or won. The price of war to defeat an enemy like that means noncombatants die too.
I don’t think what happened after Hamas terrorists ruthlessly and brutally invaded Israel like that, killing more than a thousand civilians, could be avoided without doing nothing and letting Hamas continue to hide among the same civilians they have always used as their shield while continuing to fire missiles into Israel and conducing hit and run raids while always running back to hide among the civilian shields, who have little or no choices unless they leave and become a war refugee.
How is that working out for the refugees leaving war zones? How are they treated in the countries they ended up? Answer: similar to Traitor Trump’s lies about legal immigrants from Haiti.
To defeat an enemy like Hamas, means that for every Hamas terrorist who is killed, expect about nine civilians to die or end up wounded.
There is no way to civilize warfare unless no one starts wars. With monsters like Hitler, Putin, Trump, et al, wars will never end unless we stop letting those monsters have power.
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And on that note, Operation Gomorrah ( the bombing of Hamburg in June of 1943) in as few as 6 days killed 45,000 German civilians out of a population of 634,000. There were few German military resources in the City . Calling the Death Toll in Gaza genocide is pure nonsense . 41,000 over the coarse of a year with Hamas fighters clearly hiding behind a civilian population. And many of those killed Hamas fighters or supporters . The death toll would be far higher if genocide was the goal. “Israel dropped 70,000 tons of bombs since last October,(till April 2024) exceeding World War II bombings in Dresden, Hamburg, London combined”
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Course of a year.
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Interesting fact: as you stated, the average civilian to combatant death ratio is 9 to 1. However, according to military analysts, the average in this current conflict is 1.5 civilians to every military combatant, which is a record in modern warfare. The IDF takes great pains to avoid civilian casualties.
A lot of readers will be asking, how it’s possible if they have killed 45,000 civilians, all women and children? Simple, they didn’t. Even according to the UN (No friend of Israel), the actual death toll is more like 17,000, mostly male combatants. The inflated number is simply a Hamas Health Ministry lie. Yet mainstream media news is still repeating that debunked lie as fact.
(I’d love to see some politicians looking into why all of mainstream media seems to be sharing lies that endanger not only a foreign nation, but generate hat against Jewish Americans).
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A two state solution seems so far off now. Radicalism produces radicalism in a never-ending spiral of violence. Sadat tries to end the spiral and he falls to an assassin. So with Rabin. It is discouraging at best.
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From the polls I’ve seen, neither side wants a 2-state solution. But it remains the only path to peace.
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Hard to disagree. I always recall that I never thought I would see the end of strife between the IRA and Britain. Nor did I anticipate the collapse of the Soviet Union. Hope springs eternal.
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According to Lebanese Foreign Minister Habib, Hezbollah head Hasan Nasrallah had informed Lebanese officials that they agreed to a ceasefire deal put forth by Biden and Macron. before Israel assassinated Nasrallah. Habib said that Lebanese officials relayed Nasrallah’s message to U.S. and French leaders. see https://truthout.org/articles/minister-says-hezbollah-head-agreed-to-ceasefire-hours-before-israel-killed-him/ This was reported in an interview he had with Christiane Amanpour at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu1_q1vlUXU
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He had been attacking Israel for 30 years. And sending suicide bombers to blow up pizza parlors, weddings, and buses. He waited too long. Or they didn’t trust him.
Did he agree to a ceasefire? The U.S. didn’t hear about it:
“However, an official from the Biden administration told CNN that Nasrallah himself agreeing to the deal is “not something we have heard before. If true, [it] was never communicated to us.”
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller did not rule out that it had happened, but also said the US was not aware.
“I can’t speak to whether he ever agreed to it and told somebody inside Lebanon. Obviously, that could be something that happened that we wouldn’t be aware of. I can tell you that, if that’s true, it was never communicated to us in any way shape or form,” Miller told CNN at a press briefing Thursday.”
https://search.app/uQV7gfTKm68YRFDs8
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Why were Syrian (and Iranians not in Iran) celebrating Nasrallah’s death in the streets? He was involved in the death of 500,000 Syrians with Assad. He’s also been involved in hundreds of other deaths, including of Americans. In fact much of the “Gazan devastation” that you see on TV is actually photos of Syria.
If Hezbollah is anything like their brother Hamas, they only agree to a ceasefire in order to launch a surprise attack.
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That’s true. He helped Syrian dictator crush a budding democracy movement. Hezbollah was also behind the devastating attack on the American barracks in Lebanon that killed nearly 300 Marines. They were in Lebanon as part of an international peacekeeping force. 49 French troops also died.
“1983 Beirut barracks bombings, terrorist bombing attacks against U.S. and French armed forces in Beirut on October 23, 1983 that claimed 299 lives. The attacks, which took place amid the sectarian conflict of the extremely damaging Lebanese Civil War (1975–90), hastened the removal of the international peacekeeping force from Lebanon in February 1984. Responsibility was claimed by a group calling itself Islamic Jihad, a largely unknown cell whose known figures were later associated with Hezbollah.”
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I’m quite impressed to see a politician take a day when over a thousand children and old people were brutally slaughtered in their homes and find a way to use it to try to leverage it for likes without actually taking any kind of moral stance at all.
Sure the plight of Palestinians is an important topic to discuss, and sure, Netanyahu is an idiot, but TODAY of all days is NOT the day. Each of these issues is something that should be discussed separately, but mixing them all together just dilutes the truth.
October 7th is the day Palestinian terrorists launched an unprovoked attack against grandmas and little girls and raped and murdered from home to home in a genocidal terror attack. Sure victims were from many different cultures but the intended target were Jews, and the attackers have publicly said so. Disgraceful for you to try to cover for them.
While the Palestinians are as much at the mercy of Hamas as the Israelis, The Palestinians have rejected every offer of peace and a two state solution, and cheered in the streets–and filmed it– when bodies of dead victims of the Nova festival were dragged through their streets.
Israel has been attacked by rockets and terrorists in the street almost daily for decades while terrorists use Palestinian children and hospitals as human shields.
Hamas has literally committed every war crime in the the book, including necrophilia, but have been given a pass by the UN and, unfortunately, America’s own politicians. And to add insult to injury, in a way that has been leveled at Jews for a thousand years, the victims have been pressured to accept the hurt and loss and not defend themselves.
To millions of Americans and peace-loving people around the world, demanding the Israelis ceasefire, knowing that the terrorists would use the opportunity for a huge attack, is absurd and anti-semitic.
This blog post is a truly disgusting display of the Politician’s art of standing without a spine and talking without saying anything.
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The problem with the public/media view of this conflict is generalization equating all Palestinians with Hamas, & all Jews (oops, sorry — “Zionists”) with the Israeli government & military. They permit no middle ground.
The press — on both political sides — is doing as much to prolong the conflict as the respective governments & militaries: As this video clearly shows, there are many Palestinians & Jews who don’t hate Jews, & believe in a 2-state solution that doesn’t require obliteration of Israel. The *ideal* of Israel is s a home for Jews & others to live together productively, an ideal twisted by current Israeli government. However, *all* press places this group under a single label, “pro-Palestinian,” even though their respective motivations are vastly different.
“Zionist” just means those who believe the Jewish people should have a national home. There’s nothing in it that requires subjugation of Palestinians or any other people, but it’s now equated explicitly with Netanyahu’s policies & actions.
People need to hear more about the groups in this video, & from individual Israelis & Palestinians who don’t want to be enemies. Most of the protests & demonstrations seem to be based on gross disinformation from both sides. Jews & Palestinians in Israel & through the world are caught in the middle. The actual war is between the worst elements of both sides. It’s the bad guys versus the bad guys.
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Lenny,
I completely agree. The extremists on both sides of the issues are controlling the public spaces. There are reasonable people on both sides who would like to live without violence. But the extremists have the guns.
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Thank you for your encouragement, Diane. I’ve been feeling very alone in my view. Most people, even those I’ve always considered reasonable, well-informed, & open-minded, seem to place blame on one side or the other. Some magnanimously allow that, “Well, yeah, our side did some bad things too, but still…”
News & background I see seems to be biased toward a single side’s point of view; I don’t know what to believe. It seems I have to take everything with a truckload of salt. Somebody has to be right, & the other wrong. Nobody says, “These are 2 powerful groups of fanatics putting their respective self-interests above the well-being of those they claim to represent.”
It reminds me of the Star Trek episode where they come across a pair of combatants who are literally the last 2 people alive on their world, refusing to give up the war until one of them is dead. Each of them lists grievances they present as sounding justified. The Enterprise crew fails utterly in trying to broker a truce. I hope our world does better.
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Thank you, Lenny. This is my blog. I will not post anything that is racist, anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, or homophobic. Everyone is entitled to their own views and there are many places to express them. This is not one of them.
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I’ve seen your policy in action, Diane, & appreciate the care you take, & that you also give commenters every benefit of the doubt before placing restrictions. The current dog whistle is “Zionist” (replacing the long-popular “international bankers”), an intentionally vague term with many subjective interpretations. Lately it often seems to mean anyone who supports the idea of Israel existing in any form, regardless of government policies or the existence of a Palestinian state. It’s irrelevant that many Jews in Israel, the US, & the rest of the world believe in an ideal of Israel as a home for Jews that also provides fair treatment to Palestinians & others, very different for what it’s become under the current administration. In this interpretation, anyone who supports the existence of any version of Israel (which includes many Jews in & outside of Israel) is by definition a genocidal oppressor.
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