Regardless of the media shutdown on pro-Palestinian reporting and extreme overstatement of pro-Israel publicity, support for the Palestinians is gradually developing around the country. This will affect the forthcoming US elections, from the presidency down to local members of Congress.
The point that Israel has troubled and dehumanized Palestinians in Gaza, far more than it has in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, is no excuse for the coldhearted behavior of some Hamas combatants.
Israel’s apartheid policies have fueled fires of anger among many Palestinians. However, indignation over ruthless and unfair policy should never be the motivation for the cruel demeanor we saw. Yet, whatever the Hamas militants did does not rationalize what Israel’s government is doing to the Palestinian civilian population.
No matter what Israel’s government, the prejudiced and racialist mainstream US news media, or the inept and uncertain administration do to defend Israel’s war crimes and brutality against civilians in the Gaza Strip, the real story is getting out.
It is difficult to judge US politics, but what the American community is seeing of this horror, mainly on social media, is appalling. It will have a vast influence on the election.
Americans express resentment at Israel’s unwarranted violence and inhumanity. Israeli forces so far have killed more than 21,000 people, mostly civilians including more than 9,000 children, and destroyed tens of thousands of homes and businesses owned by civilians who have nothing to do with Hamas.
What we see and what US politicians are embracing is an outpouring of Israeli government revenge, mixed with self-centered political exploitation to prop up an unsteady Netanyahu government.
The targeting of Palestinians, Muslim and Christian, is driven by a chauvinistic typecast promoted by Israel’s morally insolvent government. A host of elected US officials, including the White House, the Senate, and Congress, many habituated to the enormous infusion of campaign funding from pro-Israel political action committees defend it.
They also fear being stained during elections by incorrect claims of antisemitism. Israel’s morally blind defenders have weaponized claims of antisemitism in a bid to suppress growing indignation boiling up among the American public.
Several Americans are afraid to condemn Israel publicly, fearing Israel’s hate-driven guardians will muddy them. They see Netanyahu’s carnage in Gaza, and how even Jews who protest against the killings by both sides are demonized. This conflict is not strengthening Israel but is setting it up for political turmoil and eventual collapse. Americans are afraid to say in public how they feel, fearing the damaging public bullying and name-calling. However, they do not need to hide their feelings when they cast their votes.
Latest polling shows noteworthy cracks in American support for Israel. What the American public is seeing of this horror, mainly on social media, is shocking. Yes, Americans condemn the Oct. 7 Hamas violence. However, they are extremely uncomfortable with the Israeli government’s response, and the use of $14.3 billion in American tax dollars and an endless cache of US-made weapons and bombs in the Gaza massacre.
A New York Times/Siena poll conducted before Christmas shows Americans equally divided between defending and condemning Israel. The New York Times reports that American views on Israel are “fractured,” and that is not good for Israel, which for generations has enjoyed untiring American public support.
Worse, the polling shows that the president’s political base is divided. Numerous people, including Muslim Americans, who gave Joe Biden the push he needed to defeat Donald Trump in 2020, are deserting him at lightning speed, not just temporarily, but permanently and in a long-term realignment of their political activism.
The growing ‘AbandonBiden’ campaign, driven by disappointed Arab and Muslim American voters, will contribute to his defeat in 2024.
