We’ve have not forgotten the mass graves, the bodies found bearing signs of torture, rape used as a weapon by the Russians, and thousands and thousands of Ukrainian children forcibly taken into Russia, stolen from their parents. It’s sick.
Hamas and Putin represent different threats, but they share this in common: They both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy — completely annihilate it.
You know, history has taught us that when terrorists don’t pay a price for their terror, when dictators don’t pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos and death and more destruction. They keep going, and the cost and the threats to America and to the world keep rising.
He said the U.S. recognized the perils at this moment. He didn't lecture Israel from on-high. He cited our own errors after 9/11 to caution Israelis and others who seek revenge.
When I was in Israel yesterday, I said that when America experienced the hell of 9/11, we felt enraged as well. While we sought and got justice, we made mistakes. So, I cautioned the government of Israel not to be blinded by rage.
He said our goal is long-term peace in the region.
The United States and our partners across the region are working to build a better future for the Middle East. One where the Middle East is more stable, better connected to its neighbors. . . .
And he gave an uncomfortable message to people in Israel who wish to dismiss the interests and aspirations of the 2.5 million Palestinians in Israel. There cannot be long-term peace until this is resolved.
As I said in Israel, as hard as it is, we cannot give up on peace. We cannot give up on a two-state solution. Israel and Palestinians equally deserve to live in safety, dignity and peace.
Then he brought this back to ethnic strife in America. The crisis has a home front. He condemned ethnic jingoism.
Today, Jewish families worried about being targeted in school, wearing symbols of their faith walking down the street, or going out about their daily lives. And I know many of you in the Muslim American community, the Arab American community, the Palestinian American community and so many others are outraged and hardened saying to yourselves, “Here we go again with Islamophobia and the distrust we saw after 9/11.”
Just last week, a mother was brutally stabbed. A little boy here in the United States, a little boy who just turned 6 years old, was murdered in their home outside of Chicago. His name was Wadea. Wadea, a proud American, a proud Palestinian American family.
We can’t stand by and stand silent when this happens. We must without equivocation denounce antisemitism. We must also without equivocation denounce Islamophobia.
And to all you hurting, those of you who are hurting, I want you to know I see you. You belong. And I want to say this to you: You’re all America. You’re all America.
He criticized provocateurs on all sides trying to whip up anger, either at Israel or Palestinians.
I know we have our divisions at home. We have to get past them. We can’t let petty, partisan, angry politics get in the way of our responsibilities as a great nation. We cannot and will not let terrorists like Hamas and tyrants like Putin win. I refuse to let that happen.
Then a summary that is present in all of Biden's speeches, his expression of optimism.
We are the United States of America. The United States of America. And there is nothing, nothing beyond our capacity, if we do it together.
Some 22 million people saw his speech in real time.
It disappointed people in the U.S. and Israel who wanted a president to support Israel even if it treated civilians in Gaza as "animals" who deserved retribution. It disappointed people who wanted Biden to condemn snot-nose elitists at fancy colleges. It disappointed people who want one-state Jewish control of all land west of the Jordan. It disappointed people who wanted Biden to say that the fault is Israel's treatment of Palestinians.
It didn't disappoint me. We have a president who understands the complexity and danger of this situation. It's better than having a loose cannon as president.
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7 comments:
It's safe to say most Americans are clueless about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, so it's unlikely that anything Biden may say about it will penetrate. One thing it does show is his competency which should utterly discredit his detractors.
What US policy makers do understand is that there is no hope for stability in the Middle East. Islamic extremists will continue to exploit any vulnerabilities to achieve their goal of destroying Israel. Oil and religion do not mix. The best that can be achieved is an armed standoff with a greater share of Israel's GDP spent on defense, including US and other ally's contributions.
Republican isolationism is the most dangerous aspect of the current crisis. Not because of its anti-Semitism, which is bad enough, but because it undermines the only democratic country in the region.
The history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict dates back over a century to the Zionist movement and the Balfour Declaration. The current hostilities were obviously provoked by the Hamas attack that killed 1,200 Israelis, mainly innocent civilians including women and children. In return, Israel has killed over four times as many Palestinians, mainly innocent civilians including women and children, while turning Gaza to rubble. What President Biden failed to explain is why they need our aid to do it.
I agree that Biden‘s speech was excellent. So far, I feel very positive about what he is doing with respect to the war initiated by Hamas’ atrocities.
If Biden can take Hamas out of the picture in a way that causes less destruction, I am all for it.
Wow, reading that actually made me feel proud to be an American, which hasn’t happened a lot lately.
It seems like it was painful for you to admit that President Biden did a good job, which is not surprising.
"But Biden is easy to underestimate." Maybe for YOU and the Faux News crowd, but not the majority of Democratic primary voters (remember them?) who chose Joe Biden to be our leader from a crowded field of candidates.
It is "easy to underestimate" women, people of color, disabled people, older people and other marginalized groups. Because of his stutter, Joe Biden probably has been "underestimated" since he started talking.
We have laws in the U.S. against discriminating against people in many marginalized groups. We shouldn't need these laws, but we do, unfortunately. We need these laws because there are many shallow, superficial, ignorant, cruel and hateful people among us.
Anonymous –
Many of us would prefer a president that isn’t a white, male geezer, not because we’re “shallow, superficial, ignorant, cruel and hateful people,” but because your generation has done enough damage.
The moral fog of war and murderous atrocity? But despite his putative rhetorical connection here, no need for Biden to warn Ukraine anyway about human rights violations and war crimes in responding to an evil invading force. It’s Israel that’s the “Western” heavy and supposed colonizer. Arabs in the Levant would perhaps have preferred that the otherwise hated, centuries-long occupier Turks stay on after 1918? No Europeans forced the Ottomans into WWI on the losing side. But Bad Israel, Bad West is the reflexive point of departure for the modern Left. “Free Palestine” includes Tel Aviv, if they speak plainly.
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