I’ve been thinking so much about how Israel’s destruction of Gaza will be a significant issue for the Democrats in the next round of elections. In the past, I’ve voted for Dems with anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian positions (Hillary Clinton, Walter Mondale; even Joe Biden) in order to defeat the Republican menace. It’s even more important for the Dems to win now that MAGA is working so hard to destroy America’s foundational principles of liberty and justice for all. But I don’t think that I can vote for someone who blathers on about Israel’s right to defend itself while it ethnically cleanses Gaza of Palestinians. Is it genocide? See the link below. According to the legal definition, the answer is yes. Regardless, Israel has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, intentionally starved the population of food and water and destroyed more than 98 percent of the housing stock in Gaza.

No one should be expected to vote for candidates who cheerlead or are complicit in this behavior. My view is that it is up to those Democrats who are inclined to support Israel to speak out and push the party to a position of humanity on this issue. Otherwise, the party leaders seem terrified of doing the right thing, not unlike Republicans who side with Trump’s incompetent nominees and obviously destructive legislation. And too many Dems are fine with conflating calls for Palestinian liberty with anti-Semitism. How the Democrats deal with Israel’s atrocities will be a defining issue in the next election cycles. Here’s hoping we do the right thing. “Night Sun” photo by Bob Bauer