Thank you, Peter, for speaking the truth so directly both from your deep commitment to truth and from your enormous compassion. I also want to add, just for the record, that Biden did not "step aside" for the good of the Democrats or the Country. Up until that Saturday night he minced no words about his firm intention of staying in the race. By that Sunday morning he was pushed out by his corporate donors refusing to back him.
Peter, you are right. Biden is NO hero. As we all know, Politics are local. However, when we, the US, is directly funding the mass killing of Palestinians, and the obliteration of the infrastructure, it is local.
It is local because it is eroding our moral fiber, values, security, reputation, clout, etc... Never mind the financial cost.
I am beyond positive that, just like our [UN]just wars before, when history is written, it WILL NOT be kind to Biden, Democrats, Congress, and the American Jewish communities.
Just to be clear: "American Jewish communities" are not one monolithic thing. Many of us went from being sickened by October 7th to being sickened by the prosecution of innocent Palestinians, beginning October 8th.
Great how you threw antisemiticism in there. The non-antisemitic way of putting it is American Zionist or American pro-Israel communities -- which includes a lot of Christian Zionists. Even "Democrats" is too broad--after all, Rashida Tlaib is a Democrat (as am I).
And if someone runs into a burning building and rescues a bunch of people at the risk of their own life, they're a hero, right? They're still a hero if it turns out that they are a bigot or have some other moral stain. Everything is nuanced and contextual.
I think you are being far too hard on Biden. I disagree with Israel’s handling of Gaza but I think Biden was put in an impossible position by Israel. It would have been much easier and politically expedient for him to follow Netnie Sanders lead but had he done so the fundamental nature of Israel - US relations would have changed in a way that ultimately would be horrible. He did his best to put pressure on Israel and to address our concerns. Abd even with thst he was accused of being anti Israel.
His position was also hurt by those on the Pro- Palestinian side like Rashid who refuse to condemn Hamas or do so in such qualified ways that it is clear they are lying. The lies promulgated by Palestinian supporters made it hard to be a fair arbitrator. And made it difficult to take a balanced view.
In such such a situation my loyalty will be to Israel even when I disagree with her polices. So I am thankful for Biden having been president in Oct 7.
If you don't raise the issue of Biden's legacy re Palestinians and Gaza, you're giving him and his genocide-facilitating policies and actions a pass. And that enables future presidents to continue in the same vein. Kamala needs to know that her "base" is not forgiving of genocide. And, as you said in the NYT yesterday, we're not forgiving of Biden's blatant and ongoing violation of the Leahy Law.
Agreed, he is no hero. And I do believe he should have recognized his infirmity months ago and not campaigned for reelection.
Having said that, I also believe that defeating Trump is, by far, priority number one. His threat to the world exceeds that even being done to the Palestinians (and that is larger than Gaza alone.) If beating Trump is aided by not emphasizing Biden’s supportive role in the genocide, and portraying him as an all-around “hero”, then it is a small price to pay. For now.
Let’s get Harris elected, Trump dumped, and then we can come at the Gaza genocide full-bore: Harris will be a far better ally in this than Trump ever will be.
In my view, it means among other things taking on AIPAC and the privileged status of many pro-Israel occupation “charities” and we’ll do better with Harris and with a healed Democratic Party than without them.
Always, thank you, Peter. For being a person of conscience, reflection, and actual thinking. For the Joshua Leifer interview, I look forward to hearing more of what he has to say. But I also hope you will challenge him against the pearl-clutching and hand-wringing whilst continuing to ignore the bald-faced acts of dehumanizing that have been about everything from ignoring, neglecting Palestinian suffering or even just ignoring/neglecting that they even exist. So many of us see it. While we all understand the suffering of the Holocaust, I was relieved to hear Gabor Maté and Naomi Klein verbally point out this frustrating obsession Jews have around their own suffering that they cannot see the suffering of others. It's crazy. If you knew more about the history of the world - the actual world - then you would know that other people have also suffered astounding levels of violence, hatred, systematic and systemic dehumanization, and more. When you don't see that, then it's as if you even wish to ignore or negate the existence of so many people around the world, not just the Palestinians. For the rest of us, it really sucks to have to say to Jews - hey, take a deeper look at yourselves. We thought that because of the Holocaust, then you guys were supposed to be even more enlightened. But that's not what we're seeing in far too many instances that are then translating into horrific public policies with horrific consequences.
well said. All the words in praise of him will make a farce of the Democratic Convention. History will expose the hypocrisy of his toleration, approval of genocide.
Joe Biden was discarded by the same billionaire class he assiduously served throughout his political career. Barely able to stumble his way through the words on a TelePrompter and not always cognizant of what is happening around him, his billionaire supporters pulled the plug. He was their creature – he has been in federal office for 47 years - from start to finish.
Peter, I am sure you will get some brickbats for these thoughts about Joe Biden but you have made just the right points and I was very glad to see this piece.
I think that history will give Biden very mixed marks. Indeed, the first two years of his presidency were outstanding in terms of legislative accomplishments. But much of his earlier record is checkered if not downright awful: his early silence on the Vietnam war, then his speed in abandoning South Vietnamese who had out of good faith joined the American war effort, his bullying of Anita Hill in the 1991 hearings on Clarence Thomas, his sponsorship of the disastrous mass incarceration program in the mid-90s, his support of the Iraq war and mass surveillance accompanying it, and his rapid abandonment in 2021 of 10s of thousands of Afghanis who helped the US in the Afghanistan war. Not least, he greatly expanded oil and gas drilling in his presidency, in complete contradiction to his statements on fighting change and the IRA. A very mixed picture indeed for a very standard "centrist" politician. It is history now and he has gotten more praise than he deserved yesterday at the convention but it doesn't matter. The key thing now is pressure to stop the mass murder of Palestinians in Gaza and their oppression and killing in the West bank, while, of course, supporting Harris and Walz in their fight to defeat Trump.
Peter, you keep me sane. So do your subscribers. I was struck by one thing though - a question: in your assessment of why Josh Shapiro would be a horrible choice for KH's VP (and I agree BTW) you showed the kind of empathy for someone you radically disagree with that helps keep me sane. I think you said something like "Shapiro was socialized by the same forces that shaped my parents' Jewish identities and commitment to Zionism which I myself wrongly understood for many years as the political frame for the state of Israel and what I later came to see as its government's profoundly misguided and dehumanizing policies toward Palestinians." I paraphrase. Was that more or less it? My thought at the time was "well so was Joe Biden's view of Zionism, the state of Israel and the rationale for turning a blind eye to the dehumanizing (and now genocide) of Palestinians. I assume that you see this about your parents but that you see their lives and characters as larger as well. Yes, Biden has done much to aid and abet this genocide including with military arms. Can he, like your parents and like Josh Shapiro, also have a life and character that includes complicity in this but is not only defined by his complicity in this genocide? If I have got wrong what you expressed about your parents' generation, Shapiro, and how that view rationalizes the dehumanization of even makes it seem necessary to dehumanize Palestinians. let me know. Thanks Peter. PS: One can only hope this is not also true of Doug Emhoff and his family and parents...
Peter: While I agree with you about the kudos for Joe Biden being overblown, I strongly disagree with you about the reasons. While I appreciate Biden's decision to step aside, I think he did so far too late and far too reluctantly to justify the plaudits he's been given. Fortunately, it may in the end up working out (with Kamala defeating Trump saving Biden’s legacy), but I think that will make Biden more lucky than a hero.
Meanwhile, I think you are completely wrong about Gaza being a genocide. I make the full argument for why I believe that to be the case in this piece, https://gordonstrause.substack.com/p/the-genocide-accusation, but since I'm guessing most folks won't take the time to read that, here is a quick summary:
The basic argument is that Gaza is a war and not a genocide. Three key points and questions I’d appreciate anyone Peter (or anyone who believes Gaza is a genocide) to respond to:
1. As horrible as it is that almost 50,000 Palestinians have died, I’d argue that if Israel’s goal was killing Palestinians, that number would at least be 10x times higher. So I’d ask those claiming genocide, why they still believe it’s a genocide when so few Palestinian have died relative to what would have happened had Israeel’s goal actually been to kill all Palestinians rather than focused on Hamas?
2. I believe that if Hamas surrendered and released the hostages, the deaths in Gaza would immediately end. That’s a completely different situation than actual genocides like those in Germany, Rwanda, Cambodia where civilians were massacred despite posing no threat. Why are the folks claiming Gaza is a genocide not putting all their energy into calling for Hamas to surrender and be brought to justice so that the deaths of civilians would immediately end?
3. In World War II, America and the Allies insisted on an unconditional surrender and killed more German and Japanese civilians in ONE DAY at Dresden, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki than Israel has killed in almost a year in Gaza. Do the folks who believe that Gaza is a genocide also believe that America committed a genocide against that Germany and Japanese peoples in WW2? If not, why? And why was it appropriate for the Allies to fight to an unconditional surrender in WW2 but not for Israel to do so with an enemy on its borders?
Two additional points:
First, to be clear, I certainly don’t hold the Israelis blameless for the situation today. In fact, I would fully support the U.S. not only cutting off all military aid but also imposing tight sanctions against Israel until it withdraws the settlers from 90+% of the West Bank (https://gordonstrause.substack.com/p/israel-and-the-palestinians). In fact, I believe that’s the only path to peace and prosperity for both peoples.
At the same time, while I don’t doubt that Israel has made mistakes and committed crimes in Gaza (in the same ways I don’t doubt that the U.S. and every other country has made mistakes and committed crimes during wars), I’m much more reluctant to criticize Israel policy in Gaza compared to the West Bank. The reality, if I’m being honest, is that if my kids were fighting in Gaza, I would prefer an approach that would reduce the chances of them being killed from 10% to 1%, even if it meant far more Palestinian deaths. Not because I think my kids’ lives are worth more than the lives of Palestinian kids. To be clear, I realize they’re not. But they are worth more to me. And so I recognize why Israel is making the choices it is in Gaza, even when I wish it weren’t the case.
Somehow Peter, you don’t seem to recognize or acknowledge this dynamic, even though I’d argue that virtually every people throughout human history would feel and behave the same way. It’s why, unfortunately but justifiably, your voice has largely ceased to matter.
“Genocide” is a broader concept than you give it credit for. Under international law, genocide does not require mass extinction of a people to be called “genocide.” Rather it includes the mass oppression and deprivation of the necessities for life, deprivation of identity, etc. This is all spelled out in the Convention on Genocide, to which Israel is a signatory.
The International Court of Justice, the arbiter in these matters, found that the charge of genocide was “plausible,” and offered Israel the chance to argue its case before it.
Actually, I do understand that Lawrence. In fact, in the longer piece I linked to (https://gordonstrause.substack.com/p/the-genocide-accusation), I acknowledge that the ICJ could rule that this is a genocide, which would make the charge technically accurate since the ICJ is the "official body."
But I say "technically accurate", because what genocide actually means to 99% of people is not the ICJ definition "a crime committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part". The reality is that definition could "plausibly" be used to describe almost any war between countries or tribes in human history, since they virtually all include the killing of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group at least in part.
But that's not what the word "genocide" means to most people, What the word means to most people is a version of the Holocaust, or as Peter himself writes in this article, "the worst thing a country can do." When something is called a genocide, the point is to conjure up the images of Auschwitz or tribes of Hutus hacking to death families of neighbors in their homes, or the Serbs lining up 8k men and boys in Srebenica and machine gunning them into mass graves.
That simply isn't what is happening in Gaza. After October 7, Hamas has launched literally thousands of missiles at Israel, and it has fought an urban guerilla war against invading Israeli troops from tunnels burrowed under civilian areas as well as hospital, schools, and other "civilian" buildings as part of a deliberate campaign to increase the number of Palestinian civilian deaths as a way to achieve its political goals. The reality is that Israeli is fighting a war against an enemy power, one that is not only depraved enough to deliberately slaughter more than a thousand Israelis civilians in a few hours for no military reason but which also deliberately uses the deaths of its own people as a political tactic.
Now, although I would disagree, I believe it's legitimate to argue (as someone like Ami Dar does: (https://x.com/AmiDar) that as horrible as October 7th was, Israel should not have invaded Gaza in response. And I think it's legitimate to argue that even if the invasion itself was justified, Israel's tactics have not. I would almost certainly even agree with that argument in some instances; although as I pointed out above, I think people should be honest with themselves before criticizing about what tactics they would support if it were their own kids at risk.
But what I think is completely illegitimate is the "genocide" charge, since its implication is that Israel is slaughtering the Palestinians for no military reason. That is simply not true and anyone making that charge is either ignorant or a Hamas apologist. Peter is certainly not ignorant, and I think its disappointing that his guilt over his support for the U.S. invasion of Iran has turned into someone who is unable to see both sides of what is happening in Gaza.
The point of language is understanding. If "experts" use a term in one way but virtually everyone else thinks the term means something else, it is hardly irrelevant to point that out. In fact, it's essential.
Peter's intellectual dishonesty here is clear. He explicitly argues that "genocide is the worst thing that America can do in terms of its foreign policy" and therefore we are obligated to stop providing arms to Israel if Gaza is a genocide, while eliding the fact that any definition of genocide that includes Gaza would also find the U.S. guilty of genocide in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Korea, World War II, and probably many other times as well, even though he knows that the people he is trying to convince would find such an expansive definition of genocide ludicrous.
And while you're of course correct that I made up the 99% number, I would wager it's not far from the truth. I'm betting if you asked Americans whether America committed genocide against Germany and Japan in World War II, about that percentage would disagree.
So I welcome you to explain why you believe that Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza is a genocide while America and British bombing of Dresden was not, even though about as many civilians died in just nights in Dresden as have died in the 10 months of the war in Gaza. And while you're at it, please explain why the Palestinians are not guilty of genocide as well for October.
For the record, as horrible as all three of these attacks were, I would describe none of them as "genocides". If you believe differently, and especially if you believe Gaza is a genocide while the others are not, I look forward to your explanation of why.
I agree that Biden is no hero. Kamala has a delicate dance to perform, here: she needs to take a stand against murder of innocent civilians, and find a way to stop our contribution to that murder, without actually calling Biden a villain to his face.
Thank you Peter.! i agree Totally! History will not be Kind to "Genocide Joe" who has turned this country into being complicit with Genocide. Joe Biden has along history far from being progressive.There has never been a War he didn't like., so he started 2 as President. He has long taken money from AIPAC. for his election. The only good thing is he ,indirectly has shown, how "Corporate Media" controls are Narrative for the profits of the "War Machine", no matter matter, how many people we exterminate. Thus making Wall Street Defense Contractors Billionaires while keeping the Public in the Dark and IgnorantI
We all know if Trump had been president he would have (and has) encouraged Bibi to level Gaza so he could build condos.
1. If withholding arms from Israel is so easy, why didn’t Biden make it happen? In the exact opposite case, I would have liked Biden to provide more military capability to Ukraine. But everything Biden has done has been measured over time (some have mentioned “nuance” in this chain) So would there be some sort of military danger to U.S. by doing both? And if we’re the greatest super military power in the world, then how could that be?
2. Personally I’m sick of the military industrial complex; but is it a necessity given Putin and others or is it a relic?
Peter - My questions were not rhetorical. I've tried to read literally everything you've written but I don't find any answers or comments adjacent to my questions. I'm hopeful you can be responsive in this way. Thank you.
Thank you, Peter, for speaking the truth so directly both from your deep commitment to truth and from your enormous compassion. I also want to add, just for the record, that Biden did not "step aside" for the good of the Democrats or the Country. Up until that Saturday night he minced no words about his firm intention of staying in the race. By that Sunday morning he was pushed out by his corporate donors refusing to back him.
That is not in fact what happened. He stepped aside when he was shown internal polling that said that he would lose but Harris could win. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/21/why-biden-dropped-out-00170106
One can argue whether there was any heroism involved. I think such questions are far more nuanced than how they are being treated here.
Peter, you are right. Biden is NO hero. As we all know, Politics are local. However, when we, the US, is directly funding the mass killing of Palestinians, and the obliteration of the infrastructure, it is local.
It is local because it is eroding our moral fiber, values, security, reputation, clout, etc... Never mind the financial cost.
I am beyond positive that, just like our [UN]just wars before, when history is written, it WILL NOT be kind to Biden, Democrats, Congress, and the American Jewish communities.
Just to be clear: "American Jewish communities" are not one monolithic thing. Many of us went from being sickened by October 7th to being sickened by the prosecution of innocent Palestinians, beginning October 8th.
Freda, please don’t forget your history or your heritage. Siding with the people who defend Hamas will not protect you.
Jews should be sticking together against a common enemy. I recognize it must be hard and very difficult to be Jewish right now.
Great how you threw antisemiticism in there. The non-antisemitic way of putting it is American Zionist or American pro-Israel communities -- which includes a lot of Christian Zionists. Even "Democrats" is too broad--after all, Rashida Tlaib is a Democrat (as am I).
And if someone runs into a burning building and rescues a bunch of people at the risk of their own life, they're a hero, right? They're still a hero if it turns out that they are a bigot or have some other moral stain. Everything is nuanced and contextual.
Peter,
I think you are being far too hard on Biden. I disagree with Israel’s handling of Gaza but I think Biden was put in an impossible position by Israel. It would have been much easier and politically expedient for him to follow Netnie Sanders lead but had he done so the fundamental nature of Israel - US relations would have changed in a way that ultimately would be horrible. He did his best to put pressure on Israel and to address our concerns. Abd even with thst he was accused of being anti Israel.
His position was also hurt by those on the Pro- Palestinian side like Rashid who refuse to condemn Hamas or do so in such qualified ways that it is clear they are lying. The lies promulgated by Palestinian supporters made it hard to be a fair arbitrator. And made it difficult to take a balanced view.
In such such a situation my loyalty will be to Israel even when I disagree with her polices. So I am thankful for Biden having been president in Oct 7.
If you don't raise the issue of Biden's legacy re Palestinians and Gaza, you're giving him and his genocide-facilitating policies and actions a pass. And that enables future presidents to continue in the same vein. Kamala needs to know that her "base" is not forgiving of genocide. And, as you said in the NYT yesterday, we're not forgiving of Biden's blatant and ongoing violation of the Leahy Law.
Agreed, he is no hero. And I do believe he should have recognized his infirmity months ago and not campaigned for reelection.
Having said that, I also believe that defeating Trump is, by far, priority number one. His threat to the world exceeds that even being done to the Palestinians (and that is larger than Gaza alone.) If beating Trump is aided by not emphasizing Biden’s supportive role in the genocide, and portraying him as an all-around “hero”, then it is a small price to pay. For now.
Let’s get Harris elected, Trump dumped, and then we can come at the Gaza genocide full-bore: Harris will be a far better ally in this than Trump ever will be.
In my view, it means among other things taking on AIPAC and the privileged status of many pro-Israel occupation “charities” and we’ll do better with Harris and with a healed Democratic Party than without them.
Always, thank you, Peter. For being a person of conscience, reflection, and actual thinking. For the Joshua Leifer interview, I look forward to hearing more of what he has to say. But I also hope you will challenge him against the pearl-clutching and hand-wringing whilst continuing to ignore the bald-faced acts of dehumanizing that have been about everything from ignoring, neglecting Palestinian suffering or even just ignoring/neglecting that they even exist. So many of us see it. While we all understand the suffering of the Holocaust, I was relieved to hear Gabor Maté and Naomi Klein verbally point out this frustrating obsession Jews have around their own suffering that they cannot see the suffering of others. It's crazy. If you knew more about the history of the world - the actual world - then you would know that other people have also suffered astounding levels of violence, hatred, systematic and systemic dehumanization, and more. When you don't see that, then it's as if you even wish to ignore or negate the existence of so many people around the world, not just the Palestinians. For the rest of us, it really sucks to have to say to Jews - hey, take a deeper look at yourselves. We thought that because of the Holocaust, then you guys were supposed to be even more enlightened. But that's not what we're seeing in far too many instances that are then translating into horrific public policies with horrific consequences.
AMEN! And brilliant opinion piece in the NYT yesterday. Onward and upward, my friend.
Biden has been a hypocrite regarding the War in Gaza! thank you for making that clear! Hoping Kamela can make a shift in our policy.
well said. All the words in praise of him will make a farce of the Democratic Convention. History will expose the hypocrisy of his toleration, approval of genocide.
Joe Biden was discarded by the same billionaire class he assiduously served throughout his political career. Barely able to stumble his way through the words on a TelePrompter and not always cognizant of what is happening around him, his billionaire supporters pulled the plug. He was their creature – he has been in federal office for 47 years - from start to finish.
Biden is definitely no hero.
Peter, I am sure you will get some brickbats for these thoughts about Joe Biden but you have made just the right points and I was very glad to see this piece.
I think that history will give Biden very mixed marks. Indeed, the first two years of his presidency were outstanding in terms of legislative accomplishments. But much of his earlier record is checkered if not downright awful: his early silence on the Vietnam war, then his speed in abandoning South Vietnamese who had out of good faith joined the American war effort, his bullying of Anita Hill in the 1991 hearings on Clarence Thomas, his sponsorship of the disastrous mass incarceration program in the mid-90s, his support of the Iraq war and mass surveillance accompanying it, and his rapid abandonment in 2021 of 10s of thousands of Afghanis who helped the US in the Afghanistan war. Not least, he greatly expanded oil and gas drilling in his presidency, in complete contradiction to his statements on fighting change and the IRA. A very mixed picture indeed for a very standard "centrist" politician. It is history now and he has gotten more praise than he deserved yesterday at the convention but it doesn't matter. The key thing now is pressure to stop the mass murder of Palestinians in Gaza and their oppression and killing in the West bank, while, of course, supporting Harris and Walz in their fight to defeat Trump.
Peter, you keep me sane. So do your subscribers. I was struck by one thing though - a question: in your assessment of why Josh Shapiro would be a horrible choice for KH's VP (and I agree BTW) you showed the kind of empathy for someone you radically disagree with that helps keep me sane. I think you said something like "Shapiro was socialized by the same forces that shaped my parents' Jewish identities and commitment to Zionism which I myself wrongly understood for many years as the political frame for the state of Israel and what I later came to see as its government's profoundly misguided and dehumanizing policies toward Palestinians." I paraphrase. Was that more or less it? My thought at the time was "well so was Joe Biden's view of Zionism, the state of Israel and the rationale for turning a blind eye to the dehumanizing (and now genocide) of Palestinians. I assume that you see this about your parents but that you see their lives and characters as larger as well. Yes, Biden has done much to aid and abet this genocide including with military arms. Can he, like your parents and like Josh Shapiro, also have a life and character that includes complicity in this but is not only defined by his complicity in this genocide? If I have got wrong what you expressed about your parents' generation, Shapiro, and how that view rationalizes the dehumanization of even makes it seem necessary to dehumanize Palestinians. let me know. Thanks Peter. PS: One can only hope this is not also true of Doug Emhoff and his family and parents...
Peter: While I agree with you about the kudos for Joe Biden being overblown, I strongly disagree with you about the reasons. While I appreciate Biden's decision to step aside, I think he did so far too late and far too reluctantly to justify the plaudits he's been given. Fortunately, it may in the end up working out (with Kamala defeating Trump saving Biden’s legacy), but I think that will make Biden more lucky than a hero.
Meanwhile, I think you are completely wrong about Gaza being a genocide. I make the full argument for why I believe that to be the case in this piece, https://gordonstrause.substack.com/p/the-genocide-accusation, but since I'm guessing most folks won't take the time to read that, here is a quick summary:
The basic argument is that Gaza is a war and not a genocide. Three key points and questions I’d appreciate anyone Peter (or anyone who believes Gaza is a genocide) to respond to:
1. As horrible as it is that almost 50,000 Palestinians have died, I’d argue that if Israel’s goal was killing Palestinians, that number would at least be 10x times higher. So I’d ask those claiming genocide, why they still believe it’s a genocide when so few Palestinian have died relative to what would have happened had Israeel’s goal actually been to kill all Palestinians rather than focused on Hamas?
2. I believe that if Hamas surrendered and released the hostages, the deaths in Gaza would immediately end. That’s a completely different situation than actual genocides like those in Germany, Rwanda, Cambodia where civilians were massacred despite posing no threat. Why are the folks claiming Gaza is a genocide not putting all their energy into calling for Hamas to surrender and be brought to justice so that the deaths of civilians would immediately end?
3. In World War II, America and the Allies insisted on an unconditional surrender and killed more German and Japanese civilians in ONE DAY at Dresden, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki than Israel has killed in almost a year in Gaza. Do the folks who believe that Gaza is a genocide also believe that America committed a genocide against that Germany and Japanese peoples in WW2? If not, why? And why was it appropriate for the Allies to fight to an unconditional surrender in WW2 but not for Israel to do so with an enemy on its borders?
Two additional points:
First, to be clear, I certainly don’t hold the Israelis blameless for the situation today. In fact, I would fully support the U.S. not only cutting off all military aid but also imposing tight sanctions against Israel until it withdraws the settlers from 90+% of the West Bank (https://gordonstrause.substack.com/p/israel-and-the-palestinians). In fact, I believe that’s the only path to peace and prosperity for both peoples.
At the same time, while I don’t doubt that Israel has made mistakes and committed crimes in Gaza (in the same ways I don’t doubt that the U.S. and every other country has made mistakes and committed crimes during wars), I’m much more reluctant to criticize Israel policy in Gaza compared to the West Bank. The reality, if I’m being honest, is that if my kids were fighting in Gaza, I would prefer an approach that would reduce the chances of them being killed from 10% to 1%, even if it meant far more Palestinian deaths. Not because I think my kids’ lives are worth more than the lives of Palestinian kids. To be clear, I realize they’re not. But they are worth more to me. And so I recognize why Israel is making the choices it is in Gaza, even when I wish it weren’t the case.
Somehow Peter, you don’t seem to recognize or acknowledge this dynamic, even though I’d argue that virtually every people throughout human history would feel and behave the same way. It’s why, unfortunately but justifiably, your voice has largely ceased to matter.
“Genocide” is a broader concept than you give it credit for. Under international law, genocide does not require mass extinction of a people to be called “genocide.” Rather it includes the mass oppression and deprivation of the necessities for life, deprivation of identity, etc. This is all spelled out in the Convention on Genocide, to which Israel is a signatory.
The International Court of Justice, the arbiter in these matters, found that the charge of genocide was “plausible,” and offered Israel the chance to argue its case before it.
Actually, I do understand that Lawrence. In fact, in the longer piece I linked to (https://gordonstrause.substack.com/p/the-genocide-accusation), I acknowledge that the ICJ could rule that this is a genocide, which would make the charge technically accurate since the ICJ is the "official body."
But I say "technically accurate", because what genocide actually means to 99% of people is not the ICJ definition "a crime committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part". The reality is that definition could "plausibly" be used to describe almost any war between countries or tribes in human history, since they virtually all include the killing of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group at least in part.
But that's not what the word "genocide" means to most people, What the word means to most people is a version of the Holocaust, or as Peter himself writes in this article, "the worst thing a country can do." When something is called a genocide, the point is to conjure up the images of Auschwitz or tribes of Hutus hacking to death families of neighbors in their homes, or the Serbs lining up 8k men and boys in Srebenica and machine gunning them into mass graves.
That simply isn't what is happening in Gaza. After October 7, Hamas has launched literally thousands of missiles at Israel, and it has fought an urban guerilla war against invading Israeli troops from tunnels burrowed under civilian areas as well as hospital, schools, and other "civilian" buildings as part of a deliberate campaign to increase the number of Palestinian civilian deaths as a way to achieve its political goals. The reality is that Israeli is fighting a war against an enemy power, one that is not only depraved enough to deliberately slaughter more than a thousand Israelis civilians in a few hours for no military reason but which also deliberately uses the deaths of its own people as a political tactic.
Now, although I would disagree, I believe it's legitimate to argue (as someone like Ami Dar does: (https://x.com/AmiDar) that as horrible as October 7th was, Israel should not have invaded Gaza in response. And I think it's legitimate to argue that even if the invasion itself was justified, Israel's tactics have not. I would almost certainly even agree with that argument in some instances; although as I pointed out above, I think people should be honest with themselves before criticizing about what tactics they would support if it were their own kids at risk.
But what I think is completely illegitimate is the "genocide" charge, since its implication is that Israel is slaughtering the Palestinians for no military reason. That is simply not true and anyone making that charge is either ignorant or a Hamas apologist. Peter is certainly not ignorant, and I think its disappointing that his guilt over his support for the U.S. invasion of Iran has turned into someone who is unable to see both sides of what is happening in Gaza.
"what genocide actually means to 99% of people"
This is an irrelevant argumentum ad populum. Also, you pulled that number out of a hat and don't have evidence to support it.
The point of language is understanding. If "experts" use a term in one way but virtually everyone else thinks the term means something else, it is hardly irrelevant to point that out. In fact, it's essential.
Peter's intellectual dishonesty here is clear. He explicitly argues that "genocide is the worst thing that America can do in terms of its foreign policy" and therefore we are obligated to stop providing arms to Israel if Gaza is a genocide, while eliding the fact that any definition of genocide that includes Gaza would also find the U.S. guilty of genocide in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Korea, World War II, and probably many other times as well, even though he knows that the people he is trying to convince would find such an expansive definition of genocide ludicrous.
And while you're of course correct that I made up the 99% number, I would wager it's not far from the truth. I'm betting if you asked Americans whether America committed genocide against Germany and Japan in World War II, about that percentage would disagree.
So I welcome you to explain why you believe that Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza is a genocide while America and British bombing of Dresden was not, even though about as many civilians died in just nights in Dresden as have died in the 10 months of the war in Gaza. And while you're at it, please explain why the Palestinians are not guilty of genocide as well for October.
For the record, as horrible as all three of these attacks were, I would describe none of them as "genocides". If you believe differently, and especially if you believe Gaza is a genocide while the others are not, I look forward to your explanation of why.
All the intellectual dishonesty is yours. Blocked.
These bogus arguments have been repeatedly refuted by actual experts on genocide.
I agree that Biden is no hero. Kamala has a delicate dance to perform, here: she needs to take a stand against murder of innocent civilians, and find a way to stop our contribution to that murder, without actually calling Biden a villain to his face.
Thank you Peter.! i agree Totally! History will not be Kind to "Genocide Joe" who has turned this country into being complicit with Genocide. Joe Biden has along history far from being progressive.There has never been a War he didn't like., so he started 2 as President. He has long taken money from AIPAC. for his election. The only good thing is he ,indirectly has shown, how "Corporate Media" controls are Narrative for the profits of the "War Machine", no matter matter, how many people we exterminate. Thus making Wall Street Defense Contractors Billionaires while keeping the Public in the Dark and IgnorantI
Peter can you explain two things.
We all know if Trump had been president he would have (and has) encouraged Bibi to level Gaza so he could build condos.
1. If withholding arms from Israel is so easy, why didn’t Biden make it happen? In the exact opposite case, I would have liked Biden to provide more military capability to Ukraine. But everything Biden has done has been measured over time (some have mentioned “nuance” in this chain) So would there be some sort of military danger to U.S. by doing both? And if we’re the greatest super military power in the world, then how could that be?
2. Personally I’m sick of the military industrial complex; but is it a necessity given Putin and others or is it a relic?
Peter - My questions were not rhetorical. I've tried to read literally everything you've written but I don't find any answers or comments adjacent to my questions. I'm hopeful you can be responsive in this way. Thank you.