November 14, 2023 | themessenger.com
President Joe Biden and the United States have been forceful in their support for Israel in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by the Palestinian militant organization Hamas. Biden’s remarks on Tuesday were powerful and unequivocal. His condemnation of Hamas was clear-sighted and forthright. There is no moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas. His message was spot-on.
Biden called the Hamas attacks “pure, unadulterated evil” and noted that Hamas is “a group whose stated purpose for being is to kill Jews.” He did not flinch from describing the atrocities that Israelis suffered: “Parents butchered using their bodies to try to protect their children. Stomach-turning reports of … babies being killed. Entire families slain. Young people massacred while attending a musical festival to celebrate peace. …Women raped, assaulted, paraded as trophies. Families hid in fear for hours and hours, desperately trying to keep their children quiet to avoid drawing attention.”
The “bloodthirstiness” of Hamas is reminiscent of “the worst rampages of ISIS,” Biden said. He warned other parties — notably, Hamas’s supporter Iran and its other proxy army, Hezbollah — to stay out of the conflict.
In this moment, Biden has displayed remarkable leadership. “[W]e must be crystal clear,” he said. “We stand with Israel. We stand with Israel. And we will make sure Israel has what it needs to take care of its citizens, defend itself, and respond to this attack.”
He backed up his words with action, sending a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean and delivering munitions and military equipment to Israel, including interceptors to replenish the Iron Dome missile defense system. He dispatched both Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to Israel for meetings with Israeli leaders. Additionally, the Department of Defense (DOD) has warned Iran and Hezbollah to back off, underscoring that the United States is prepared to come to Israel’s defense.
The contrast with some of the radical ideologues of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and leftist student groups on college campuses — among others whose statements appeared to support Hamas — could not be clearer.
BLM’s Chicago chapter posted a graphic of a paragliding Hamas terrorist with the words “I Stand with Palestine” emblazoned under the image. The group also shared online an infographic in which supporters of Hamas “educate” those who say Hamas’s hostage-taking was a bad thing: “The few Israeli ‘hostages’ are in fact Israeli soldiers and Israeli army generals who are responsible for keeping Palestinians hostage in the world’s largest open air prison, Gaza. The 2.4 million Palestinians held hostage are all civilians.”
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