I stand with Israel. No words can adequately condemn the actions of Hamas over the past few days. I support Israel’s right to exist and the right of Israelis to live in peace. I hope and trust that the United States will continue to stand behind Israel in the coming days, weeks, and as long as it takes to restore Israel’s security. The actions of Hamas put its leaders and fighters well beyond the scope of my empathy or understanding.
Israel
Published by Will Brownsberger
Will Brownsberger is State Senator from the Second Suffolk and Middlesex District. View more posts
Thank you Will.
Yes I believe the same as you. How horrible to treat innocent people and their children as hostages!
Janet LaTanzi
Thank you Sen. Brownsberger for your expression of solidarity with Israel. This is not just a fight against terrorists, it is a fight between good and evil.
I only wish you would also get as outraged at the callous slaughter of babies in the womb that is a result of “reproductive rights” as much as you are outraged by the slaughter of babies by Hamas.
Dear Will,
Agreed, including Hamas’ leaders and fighters, but not the entire population of the Gaza strip, who really have nowhere
to go, Israel has to retaliate, but blanket bombing will leave another generation of Gazans who hate Israel. Is there no
space for some kind of international mediation?
Agreed — and thanks for saying what needs to be said. Most of the people who live in Gaza are women and children, innocent women and children, as innocent as the Hamas victims. They shouldn’t have to pay for Hamas atrocities.
The people of Gaza voted for Hamas time and time again therefore they are equally responsible for the atrocities committed by their elected leaders. This was a government planned and funded operation, not just a lone terrorist wearing a suicide belt.
Thank you for saying this. Innocent families with children living in abject poverty are being punished just for living in Gaza. They deserve peace and a voice as well.
It isn’t blanket bombing. The buildings you saw as housing is where Hamas has above ground military assets.
Below ground is the tunnel network. Those are the targets and hostages need to be rescued. They are being used as human shields.
That doesn’t mean casualties won’t be high. There will be an ground invasion in a densely populated area.
Your heartfelt comment is so very welcome – and supportive – at this horrible juncture in Israel’s relatively short existence.
I was with some Muslim friends yesterday and they were in tears over what Hamas has done. They all agree that the atrocities are not the acts of true Muslims. Hamas has gone against every principle in the Koran, and they are disgusted by these barbaric acts of violence. They also reminded me that a government/military is not necessarily representing the people. Just think of policies during the Trump era. They did not represent the will of the people. I pray for an end to the insanity and wish freedom and human rights for Palestinians. I wish for Palestinians to have the same rights and freedoms as the Israelis.
Kathy, thank you for your enlightening remarks. They’re especially needed to counter the numerous disparaging comments in a number of main stream news articles.
Thank you for this unequivocal support.
Words without deeds. I am not hearing unequivocal support for Israel from my fellow Democrats.
While I can’t judge any one person’s statement, I discount the obligatory and politically risk-free “I stand by Israel” and the like you either believe Israel is a colonizer, or not. I don’t love war.
Who are Gaza’s wardens? Israel? Sure. Also, Egypt, the Saudi’s Arabia, Jordan, Iran. The United States? You bet. And so on.
I think that empathy should also be maintained for the Palestinian civilians who will die as a result of
Israeli reprisals. And who suffer under Israel’s apartheid policies.
I whole heartedly agree but clearly Hamas is a barbaric organization that oppressors Palestinians living in Gaza. There is no justification for what they have done. I am saddened by the loss of so many Israeli and Palestinian lives, and unfortunately more to come.
I would agree with you. But how many justifications can be found for the oppressive policies of the government of Israel? Support for the Israeli people. Not for the repressive actions of its government. Support for the Palestinian people. Not for the terrorist actions of Hamas.
Well said Massimiliano, the majority of the people who will get hurt are
civilians on both sides.
Agreed
I’m with you on this matter. Hamas is a product of the mistreatment of the Palestinian people, Israel has brought this on by generations of mistreatment of Palestinians. This is deliberate. When you look at history Israel mistreats Palestinians and then Palestinians rise up and fight back. Then Israel says look at what they have done we must make them pay for their crimes and Israel invades and takes more Palestinian land. This happens over and over again. Right now many Palestinians (Hamas) has chosen to commit suicide rather than continue to be abused by Israel. Hamas didn’t attach Israel, they chose to commit suicide and few of our leaders are courageous to see or say this.
I agree with you. David. After what Israel has done to the Palestinians for so many years, it should come as no surprise to us that the Palestinians—through Hamas—was left with no other recourse. In America we always call people who are ready to fight back crude names because we don’t understand that the suffering of the oppressed has finally become more than they can bear.There is no doubt in my mind that Palestine was desperate enough for Hamas to commit what they certainly knew was a suicidal act for them and for thousands of other Palestinians. And they certainly knew that the United States would back Israel with all of its considerable might. But what alternatives were there after all the suffering the Palestinians had sustained?
We Americans scarcely ever read about Palestinians when they are being uprooted, maimed, starved and killed. But we certainly read—and see photos—of Israel when they sustain attacks from Palestinians. So how are we to know?
I also agree, especially with one of the responses comparing Palestinians to America’s indigenous
people who retaliated as best the could against the Europeans who stole their land, forced them onto desolate arid lands called reservations which, even today, are marginal. And, along the way, Native Americans were starved, mutilated and murdered: men, women, children and babies. The white settlers and American presidents and legislators were pitiless in supporting this disgraceful behavior.
The entire region is oppressed, remember the crushing of the Arab Spring?
Yes, and that’s exactly why Trump thought Netanyahu was such a great guy.
He’s another strongman and rabble rouser like Trump, Erdogan, Bolsonaro, and the whole pandemic of ultra far light authoritarian rabble-rousers. They are sending us back to the Stone Age.
At least when we went after the ISIS maniacs in Syria, we did our best to give time for people to escape.
The ultra far right leadership in Israel just wants to extract the maximum sadistic suffering from every innocent civilians in child in Gaza. Collective punishment, and it’s most horrifying and base.
Clearly said and easily confirmed by observation of events and what these people have said. Democracy is under attack around the world around the world and this includes in Israel (little Russia).
What’s the solution?
Thank you so much for your strong support of Israel and its right to defend itself.
What about the dreadful things Israel has been doing to Gaza all along. There was every reason for Hamas to attack Israel.
It takes a sick, sick individual to condone the barbaric slaughter, dismemberment, rape and torture of innocent people for any reason.
Agreed. And that includes the barbaric slaughter of innocent people in Palestine.
Thank you for this.
There’s no justification for the Hamas attack, but every time this happens, Israel retaliates tenfold. Not an eye for an eye, but ten or twenty times as many Palestinian lives, most of which cannot be described as militants. Members of the Israeli government have put out statements that they’re willing to eradicate every last Gazan – two million people, one million of whom are children – to root out Hamas. Is there any point at which the actions of the Israeli government can be considered indefensible?
Thanks for speaking up dear Henry. Israel can be brutal as occupiers and our politicians have to support them because of campaign contributions b what a horrific situation.
I second what you say, Henry. Isn’t Israel’s retaliation considered genocide?
Definition of genocide: the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.
That would be the actions of Hamas on 10/7 and the stated goal of Hamas, Hezbollah, and their Iranian masters. None of this group cares about the citizens they hide behind, they only care about their insane religious war. The Israelis are not trying to wipe out the people in Gaza, so throwing the genocide label around misses the point entirely. Palestinians have had ample opportunity to pursue statehood, and each time they threw it away because it was all or nothing. Each time they hit Israel it hits back harder – what would you expect given the stated goal of their enemies? Sorry, this one’s on the twisted murderous fools who run Gaza – Hamas.
Good point and too few are making it. If there’s peace between Israelis and Palestinians the Arab states, Iran and Islamists will lose their pawns.
This is truly a broken world. I pray for peace.
As if Israel hasn’t been slaughtering Palestinians for decades.
This is a bloody saga that must be fairly resolved.
Thank you for your support of Israel.
Thank you Will.
Thank you, Will! I pray that, somehow, this catastrophe will bring everyone closer to a just and lasting peace.
Thank you Senator.
Thank you for this unequivocal statement. There is never any justification for going door-to-door and shooting civilians in their homes, frequently after sexually assaulting women and children. Once all sides have acknowledged Israel’s right to exist, we can have conversations about appropriate accommodations for all of those who claim Palestine as home. Anti-semitism is real, it is both ancient and present, it is always ugly, and it has been deadly in our too-recent collective memory. Never again…
Thank you, Elizabeth.
Thank you Will and Elizabeth!!!
Thank you, Will.
I agree with Robert Shore. The Palestinians have been suffering from Israeli oppression for years, with their land given over to Israeli settlements and the “two-state solution” an ever-vanishing possibility. They are the underdogs here. Their only way of fighting back is “terrorism”. Think of the raisin in the sun: “does it explode?” Yes.
I certainly support Israel’s right to exist but also that of the Palestinians.
Terrorism, and in this case barbarism, is NEVER a justifiable means of resolving a disagreement. Not by Hamas, not by anyone. Do you condone 9/11 as well?
yes, it’s an interesting world when some think terrorism is bad – except when it’s against Israel. becuase the palestinians only goal it to kill all Jews, so it’s just one step to that goal.
Thank you Elizabeth
There is a very well-written Opinion piece in The Washington Post today by Yuval Noah Harari, Professor at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He brings up the Israeli hubris demonstrated by its treatment of the people of Gaza. Israel does not deserve the Hamas devastation, but it does need to wake up to their negligence in Gaza.
Exactly
I strongly condemn Hamas verbatim acts. I also strongly condemn Israel apartheid policies with The Palestine. There is no other solution that to recognize the right of Israelís to live in peace and security and the right of Palestine people to freedom and to their own country
I agree with you, Jose, and am so glad to see other voices recognize the suffering of the Palestinian people through Israel’s subjugation. Hamas, however, is a terrorist organization dedicated to the eradication of Israel and to having Shariah law govern Gaza. May moderation and reason come to both sides!
Barbaric acts
The recent actions by Hamas are incomprehensible and indefensible. No amount of agression, colonialism, white supremacy, apartheid, oppression, or any other transgressions attributed to Israel can ever possibly justify or explain what was done by Hamas. None. II try to teach my children that two wrongs do not make a right. It saddens me that this simple lesson I teach my 5 and 8 year old children is not clear to so many people that express opinions that seem otherwise. I stand with human decency and the innocence of children.
Thank you for your statement of support and outrage. Someday both sides will have to come to the peace table in good faith to create a just and lasting resolution, but this violence done by Hamas will make that much harder now. The violence done by Hamas makes us all less safe, and makes no one whole.
Thank you for your support of Israel, Will!
Thank you, Will.
Shalom from Ashdod, Israel. I’m an American citizen whose last address in the States was Allston, USA (1972-1995). There were 2 sirens today. I hope tomorrow’s quieter. Too bad Hamas doesn’t have to worry about the liberal vote.
Alan, are you able to stay in Ashdod right now? I know that Askelon is mostly evacuated. Do you have family in Israel? Thinking of you and everyone there. Wish I could offer something more helpful than just words.
Will – I appreciate your support for Israel and condemnation of the recent actions by Hamas, but like so many others on both sides of this issue, I also think you overlook some important context. While I would not go nearly as far as some recent Harvard student groups (saying the attack on Israel is solely Israel’s fault, due to its treatment of the Palestinians), there is some truth to the point that when people are forced into a desperate situation, they sometimes do desperate and despicable things. Let me stress that this goes both ways. Both Palestinian and Israeli leaders have, over decades, stoked this conflict, in part because it serves their ends of maintaining and expanding their own power. Unfortunately, it has led directly to horrific consequences for the citizens of both nations. This is not a conflict between Israelis and Palestinians as much as it is an assault by the leaders of both groups on the citizens of both. Most people can get along with most other people, and most people think other people of all stripes should be treated humanely. A few people in power on both sides of this conflict are stoking tensions, and have done for decades, at great cost to the populations of both sides. We are now entering another sad chapter of this saga, and can expect again to see one reprisal followed by the next, in endless repetition.
Well said, Dean. I support an Israel that does not marginalize, suppress, uproot, or victimize anyone, and wants the best for both Jews and Muslims. But that Israel doesn’t exist, and may never have. One reaps what one sows. What we are witnessing is the wheel of karma turning. It will continue to turn until no one is left to turn it. That’s what saddens me.
Thanks Will. It’s critical that unwavering support be shown to Israel in light of the unspeakable atrocities commited by Hamas. I can not understand groups speaking out in favor of those who slaughter innocents.
Linda, No one! is speaking out for Hamas. They are speaking out for Palestinians.
You are contributing to misinformation with your statement that people are speaking out for Hamas and the killing of innocent people, of any age. To support Palestinians is to also support Israel.
I think this is inappropriate. I don’t care what you think of foreign policy. The history of this region is extremely complex. I’ve heard very few who know it.
Of course I don’t condone terrorists especially Hamas who has been over Gaza & :Palestine” for years; stealing aid from other countries.
Innocent people in extremely crowded conditions are dying just as Innocent people in Isreal are.
There’s a mideast war breaking out. Egypt and the US blockade, now Egypt in a position to be the ironic savior. The Saudis. Our interest in having a foot in the middle east.
Yom Kippur being the 6th.
This is no 9/11.
Where is the outrage for genocide all over the world?
It’s just extremely complex.
Nobody condones rape and murders of innocent people.
We are no better. We just have this raw in front of us.
Intentional settling of land, pushing pushing. Where was the outrage for what has been happening to Palestinians for decades?
Standing is standing. We are in the same dichotomy we’ve been in the last few years. As our governments [US no house speaker] Netyanu [spelling] under attack.
Sick of “I stand with” or “I stand with”.] I stand with the Palestinian people not terrorists.
Thank you, Will. But — writing as a Jewish American — I think context matters. Of course these Hamas attacks are horrifying and heartbreaking — I would never deny the atrocity of it. But it’s also a fact that they are not “unprovoked.” Palestinians have been living under a brutal occupation by an Apartheid state. For every Israeli casualty mourned in the media over the past decades, there have been countless unremarked Palestinian losses – of life, of land, and of dignity. Gaza in recent years has been a prison, blockaded by Israel from receiving basic human needs.
I appreciate support for Israel’s right to exist and security. Continuing to arm the Israeli government will not bring that about — it will only escalate the already unimaginable violence and brutality.
Just needed to share my thoughts.
Thank you for your more balanced comment.
When you support Israel’s “right to exist” does that mean you support a state where Jewish people have more rights than Palestinian citizens? Does that mean you think that it was just for the international community to declare Palestinian land as Israel in 1948 and drive 700,000 Palestinians from their land and force them to live as refugees?
Sam, no, I don’t. If Israel is going to continue to exist (outside of a two-state solution, which has been a non-starter for a long time), then it will have to exist as a transformed state: there need to be reparations and reconciliation, and it needs to become a nation in which all ethnic and and religious groups share power. Thank you for asking for clarification.
Thank you Senator Brownsberger – such a painful time – appreciate your words and also those of Lise – hard to understand the hatred and brutality in Gaza but somehow in someway – those who act so violently need to be stopped and another way forward needs to be created.
Ann Capoccia
Well said.
Thank you Will. I am heartbroken for all Israelis who have been killed, injured, kidnapped, etc. or waiting to hear their loved ones are alive & coming home alive. My wish is how to avoid more losses to Israel & to innocent civilians living in Palestine. Praying for Peace!
The “oppression” and “living standards and conditions” under which the Palestinian people in Gaza have lived, is a legitimate concern and topic for discussion and negotiations,. That said, there is no justification for condoning the horrific acts that transpired over the weekend, nor is there a moral equivalency between the arguably unfair “political” or “self-protective” measures that Israel may have been following in regard to Gaza, and the deliberately planned indiscriminate execution and kidnapping of innocent men, women, and children that Hamas engaged in. Israel, with its far superior military and logistical superiority will in all likelihood prevail in this retaliatory response. However, nobody will be a “winner”, least of all the residents of Gaza, who will pay a dear price for this ill-conceived “display of power” by a group that has the avowed unrealistic goal of eliminating Israel as a nation
Thank you for stating this.
Let’s remember the whole recent history of this region. Israel has been appropriating Palestinian land ever since the State of Israel was formed. This has included the massacre of whole Palestinian villages.
More recently, since the formation of this current Israeli parliament as a coalition between Netanyahu and the religious far right, the Israeli government has adopted a more aggressive stance towards the Palestinian people. This has taken the form of invasive Israeli military searches, shootings and property destruction against Palestinians. World history shows that if one nation continuously persecutes another nation, then eventually that persecuted nation will rise up against its perceived oppressors. Remember the US War of Independence.
I condemn the unfettered aggression of BOTH parties in this conflict.
Calling Palestinians terrorists is like calling Native Americans who raided white settlements during colonial times terrorists. Yeah, there were atrocities and innocents killed on both sides. But ultimately it was the white people who stole their land with more powerful weapons. You can’t act surprised that they retaliated.
Thank you for giving voice to your constituents’ horror at the vicious and unspeakable war crimes against Israeli civilians, for which no condemnation is sufficient and for which Hamas’s leaders and fighters bear full moral responsibility.
Tragically, the ongoing retaliatory siege and aerial bombardment against Gaza do not only affect these leaders and fighters: there is at present no shelter or escape route available for ordinary Gazan citizens (themselves long victimized by Hamas repression) as their apartment towers, places of worship, and medical facilities are being reduced to rubble. As reported in the New York Times, over 1000 have allegedly already died, and the hospitals charged with responding to this escalating nightmare while humanitarian aid is blocked are running out of fuel for emergency backup generators, antibiotics, and other basic medical supplies—a situation the many medical professionals in your district cannot contemplate without horror. I hope and trust that you also share your constituents’ revulsion at these clear-cut violations of international humanitarian law and the possibility that our taxes are funding them, and that you will also do anything you can to mitigate this ongoing tragedy.
Israelis have the right to live in peace, but Palestinians can be forcibly evicted from their land, all their movements controlled, the Gaza strip blockaded. Somehow people are shocked that when you treat people like animals and take away their livelihoods, that they behave like animals. Nobody is condoning what Hamas has done. Obviously it’s horrific and sad. But let’s not act surprised. It’s insane that Israel is treated as the innocent victim of an unprovoked attack, as if they were behaving as peaceful neighbors just minding their own business. Treat people the way you want to be treated, especially if you are in a position of power.
Thank you.
Thank you Will for your exemplary service and candor and for this democratic forum.
Hamas’s actions are not beyond understanding. Terrorism works exceptionally well. So well in fact that the BBC and CBC won’t even use the term terrorist and in this country neither the President nor Governor has ordered flags lowered to half staff. We’re not having discussions about terrorism a la pist 9/11, our schools are sending emails that dare not even name the events of “This past weekend..” and offer any solidarity for our allies who were victims their own 9/11.
I highly commend President Biden’s words yesterday and stated actions as Commander in Chief, BUT that was politically free from peril and only a half measure in supporting Israel. It did little to counter the drumbeat of news that juxtaposes: the terrorists’ attack, Gaza’s overcrowding and Israel’s execution of war with the near total absence of voices giving historical context of the role Israel’s neighbors have played for over seventy years in sewing hatred and discord in an eternal quest to wipe the Jewish state off the map.
I see a cowardly and craven appeasement in my Democratic Party and other institution who don’t wish to alienate morally aberrant voters, or students who are unquestioningly on the anti-Israel bandwagon to the extent they are blind to an ideology of hate lest they lose followers in displaying pseudowoke piety, and in the absence of actually politically costly words of support of Israel that would be demonstrated in meaningful ways that impart moral clarity and instruction.
… in not displaying…
O Will, after decades of oppression of Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank, do you really believe that Hamas acted “unprovoked”? Is there no way to acknowledge and engage complexities? The bell tolls for us ALL.
Thank you, Will, for coming out against terrorism and barbarism.
And, speaking of those two things:
Most people don’t know that during the 2020 war against Armenians by Azerbaijan/Turkey/ISIS (yes, ISIS) and other TERRORIST organizations, Israel was an ACTIVE PARTICIPANT by sending loads of *weapons and personnel* during the fighting.
Yes, Israel knowingly joined the same side ISIS & other terrorists did.
In fact, just before September’s genocidal cleansing of the Armenian Christian region of Artsakh/Karabagh by Azerbaijan, the Israelis were sending even MORE weapons, knowing they’d be used against Armenians.
See research by Dr. David Phillips of Columbia University. He’s a principled Jew:
https://www.humanrightscolumbia.org/peace-building/perpetrators
Keep reading:
https://hetq.am/en/article/159676
These are FACTS, inconvenient as they may be.
Read the following TWO paragraphs from “Showdown Set in ‘Genocide’ Debate” by Rebecca Spence in The JEWISH Daily Forward of September 2, 2006:
1. Every year on April 24, the day that Armenians commemorate the killings, a resolution calling for the use of the controversial term is proposed in Congress and then beaten back. Some Jewish groups claim credit for ensuring that such a resolution never passes.
Jewish advocacy groups, including the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, B’nai Brith and American Jewish Committee “have been working with the Turks on this issue” for more than 15 years, said Yola Habif Johnston, director for foundations and community outreach at Jinsa.
2. “The JEWISH LOBBY has quite actively SUPPORTED Turkey in their efforts to PREVENT the so-called Armenian GENOCIDE resolution from passing,” she said.
* *
Here is former AJC CEO David Harris accepting an award from Azerbaijan’s vicious, corrupt dictator Pres. Aliyev (he’s a supporter of ISIS & other
terrorist organizations):
https://www.azernews.az/nation/47401.html
I could post a thousand articles here about the longstanding war (yes, WAR) by the leading Jewish American organizations and Israel against Armenians, though it is true that many principled Jews & Israelis are aghast at what Jewish organizations and Israel have done to Armenians over the decades.
https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-middle-east/2021/11/armenian-orthodox-spitting-incident-shows-racism-hate
Shalom, thank you Senator.
Wow! Quite an anti-Israel hatefest unleashed here Senator. This is exactly what I’m talking about when I say that only saying you support Israel’s right to defend herself is less than a half measure. If this is the future of the Democratic Party….
Thank you for you unequivocal support for Israel, and condemnation of Hamas horiffic war crimes.
Thank you, Will: your words are heartfelt and appropriate. I only wish that you had written the same statement in September 2o2o and again in September 2023 with the word ‘Artsakh’ in place of ‘Israel’ and ‘Azerbaijan’ in the case of ‘Hamas’.
Clear message, unequivocal support.
So, basically what were hearing here from the good people from Suffolk and Middlesex is:
1. Thank you Senator, and
2. Israel had it coning.
Am I missing something?
People said “our chickens came home to roost” after 9/11 too…
Thank you Senator for right words.
Will, I truly appreciate your unequivocal response. In my mind, it is the only logical way to see it. I know many disagree and I can see that the comments are pretty evenly split on both sides. My only response would be this: although neither the Israeli government nor the IDF has said so, I think it is implicit that Hamas can end this justified counterattack by releasing the hostages (Israeli, American, and many other nationalities) they took, and stopping the rockets. Unfortunately, for everyone, that is not their modus operandi….
Thank you, Will. The terrorist organization Hamas has done nothing to better the lives of the citizens of Gaza, and its sole purpose is Sharia law imposed on all of Israel and Palestine.
You know what I’m not hearing hear?
1. Countless depictions of Jews and Palestinians living as neighbors prior to Arab interference.
2. Not a whit of criticism of Arab countries over the seven plus decades using Palestinians as pawns to pressurize and inflame and to outright invade with Foreign Legion assistance using Palestinian villages as human shields.
3. Not a mention of Soviet operational and material support for regional terror.
4. Not a word about how Arab aid is only given, but countries are eternally closed.
5. This is what war looks like. Maybe if the Palestinian’s co-religionists were as bent on living in harmony with Israel instead of using Palestinians as pawns to scrape Israel off the map in a not very coveted region/conquest as far as Islamdom goes prior to the return of Israel then we’d be in a different place now.
…hearing here?
Thanks for your statement. The well planned attack on Israel, , and killing innocent concertgoers can’t be justified.
Thanks, Will. As you can see by some of the comments there’s still a lot of work to be done. Just a couple of examples: Why has Egypt maintained a heavily guarded border with Gaza??? Hmmm, I wonder.. And do our wonderful friends and neighbors understand that Hamas didn’t enter disputed land; they crossed into Israel – not settlements, Israel – and focused on slaughtering young people enjoying a peace party, babies, children, women and the elderly? Perhaps some who justify this should ponder the fact that Hamas places their military offices in the basement of a hospital and their weapons in mosques and elementary schools. They use children to dig tunnels, some of whom die each year. The behead babies. Nice folks.
Diane Covert
Thank you, Will. I agree with you 100%!
Thanks, Will. I strongly support Israel and surprised at the lack of sympathy and blame put on them in the above comments. But then again, this is what is being taught in our universities and colleges. Shame on Harvard University!
Exactly.
With notable exceptions, contemporary politicians are not leaders, certainly not statesmen, or philosopher kings by any means, they are craven chasers of the whims of the crowd, of likes and followers afraid to be the adults in the room.
The obligatory meek “I support the right of Israel,” while important, is not supporting Israel while remaining silent amidst a sea justification for Hamas by criticizing Israel in isolation of the Arabic participation.
Actually, Prime Minister Sharon unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Israel pulled all Jewish citizens out – roughly 9000, many of whom had lived there for generations. They left homes and buildings intact, especially the greenhouses used to grow fruit. Hamas dismantled the buildings, built rockets, and started firing on the border communities. Sderot is the only community in the world with an underground playground to protect children from missiles. May I also mention that Manhattan is roughly one seventh the size of Gaza but houses four times as many people? Somehow they don’t go to New Jersey and decapitate babies.
I would like to recommend some reading to those who are concerned about the situation in Israel/Palestine. The librarians at Watertown Library have put up a display of fine books that look at both sides of the Israeli question. Right now I’m reading two of them- “Letters to my Palestinian Neighbors”, by Halevi, and “Going Home- a Walk through 50 years of Occupation” by Shehadeh, a Palestinian walking through Ramallah. They are first person accounts and easy to read….
I think this is the only way we can really come to an understanding of the situation and a way to get beyond slogans, propaganda (from either side) and sound bites…
The Halevi book is written by a Jewish resident and attempts to explain his thoughts and observations from his 40 year life there.
Thank you will for your moral clarity and unwavering support of Israel.
‘1948’ by Benny Morris.
Will, Thank you
“I support Israel” is a hollow gesture that gives blanket permission to the Israeli government to do whatever it wants, which has been to subjugate, dispossess, and murder Palestinians in occupied lands. Israel doesn’t need your support when it has the support of the US foreign policy and military communities plus most western countries. All you are accomplishing by saying that is to greenlight Israel to create more Arab misery. You and I both know that Hamas is not gonna win and Israel will ratchet up its strangulation of Palestine and ethnic cleansing. It will take over Gaza and scatter its inhabitants. Is that the Israel you support?
100%
As a Belmont resident, I feel a lot of our neighbors and leaders are okay with that :/
Thank you.
Too many assume that the murder of Israelis/Jews is the wish only of Hamas. It is a sad fact that most of the residents of Gaza voted for Hamas and those in Judah & Shomron, aka West Bank, would vote for Hamas and kill Israelis, this despite the food, water, electricity, jobs and healthcare provided by Israel. Their hatred is in their education system and beliefs, sadly. It is naive to think otherwise.
What Hamas has done is a crime against humanity. What the Israel’s government is doing with Gaza now is a crime against humanity. How much better would have been to hold the desire for revenge on the part of Israel and call on the international community for an immediate meeting of all the interested parts, but with a real neutral dealer? I think that way of behaving would have teach the world a lot about the would will of Israel politicians
The best way to help innocent Palestinian children is to help them to get rid of Hamas. Only than they will live happily and freely. As much as you trying to blame Israel for horrible situation, it is Hamas who terrorize Gaza population and spending billions of EC and US tax dollars to buy bomb and support terror instead of using those money to build. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Stop blaming Israel.
Thank you Senator for your statement and for giving us this space to share our thoughts. The Israel-Palestine issue is clearly complex and one that the more I read about, the more confused I am and the more I question what I previously thought. There are only a few things that I feel like I can say with confidence as someone who lives in the US and not the Middle East.
1. A Hamas attack like the one last weekend is in no way “resistance” and should not be excused, justified, or worse – celebrated.
2. Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in the occupied territories and their settlement policy are indefensible. Hamas’ treatment of the people they are supposed to represent and govern is also indefensible.
3. The way the Israeli government has thrown around accusations of anti-semitism as something to hide behind anytime they get called out for doing something that violates the human rights of others just cheapens the phrase and people will take it less seriously than they should when there are legitimate Anti-Semitic words or actions (and I’m saying this as a Jew myself).
4. I can relate to the defensive feeling many Jews feel with regard to being held to a higher standard than other groups in positions of power who have US backing and violate the human rights of those they are in conflict with (ie: Maybe the criticisms of Israel would seem a little less suspect if people were coming after Saudi Arabia for what they are doing in Yemen with the same enthusiasm – this doesn’t excuse any of Israel’s actions, but it would feel less targeted if people were a little more consistent)
All that aside, it is impossible to pin the complete blame for everything that has gone on the last 100+ years on one side, and it truthfully doesn’t matter. Israel has the right to defend itself and keep its people safe, but will a massive retaliation really accomplish that? The thought of escalation and more innocent lives lost is what scares me the most, and I wish there was an easier way to eradicate Hamas.
Well said, Senator Brownsberger. Living through it while here in Jerusalem on holiday, I can’t tell you how challenging and frightening it has been. We need people like you who are strong enough to say what’s right is right. Thank you and President Biden for your support of Israel.
I wish, we all stand for Peace and not taking sides. Kids are suffering and dying on both sides. Shame!
Collective punishment is a war crime.
I am going to Piss people off here – It is not that I agree with war but I also believe in Karma. The Government of Israel has treated the Palestinians very much like the Jews were treated by the Nazi’s in Germany – they moved the Palestinians into Ghettos , cut off their water and power on a regular basis along with food and medical supplies and expect people to not get pissed off. Some might call me anti jew – I am not in fact I too am Jewish but I do not support the behavior of the Israel government – People are people and no one should be treated poorly. What I fear most is that this will be the beginning of WW-3
I support staying out of this mess and encouraging all other countries to do the same rather than support the escalation of violence – Come on folks be brave and stop being sheep , it is time to stop defending Israel’s behavior.
Spare me your crocodile tears for the Palestinians.
Our consumerism drives oil consumption and is oppressing the Palestinians. Do you shop on Amazon? Do you thin your EV offsets opptession?
What should Israel have been doing over the past seven decades?
Antisemitism and anti-Israel rhetoric has always been a convenient hate and distraction for oppressors.
Who are the oppressors? I’m sure Israel would welcome a loosening of Palestinian movements and look forward to a post Arab Spring-2 future where Palestinians aren’t indoctrinated in anti Jewish hate.
It’s a convenient distraction for the Arab States and Iran who are do the lions share of the oppressing in the greater region- the oligarchs of trade cum oil and the lords and jealous owners of thought and worship.
I so appreciate your clear and strong statement, Will. Thank you for standing up at this excruciating time for Israel and painful time for Jews everywhere.
“. . . they looked on one-another & became what they beheld . . .”
Blake, Jerusalem, plate 30
Two points: 1) Killing civilians is immoral, whether they live in Israel or in Gaza. 2) Escalating the violence is unlikely to be effective at saving the lives of hostages.
Yes. So true.
The Palestinian leadership, including Abbas of the PA, has yet to accept the existence of Israel as a Jewish State. On any land at all. Period. [The two-state solution means (to them) one state for Arabs alone, and another for both Jews and Arabs that will be voted into an Arab state, violently turned into a dictatorship, and become yet another Hamastan.]
Until they accept Israel as a Jewish State, their people will unfortunately suffer. But it is in their hands to end the conflict. There were offers on the table by Prime Ministers Barak and Olmert. But the Palestinians refuse to accept a Jewish State anywhere.
Hamas’ cruelty and violence is morally reprehensible. The treatment of the Palestinians in Gaza is also cruel, violent, and morally reprehensible. War is hell. What is wrong with our leaders on every side? What would it take to practice the core of every religious faith: Do to others what you want done to yourself?
But, no…no… We’d rather “win”. We’d rather “prove” we’re right by fighting it out. We’d rather be bullies. To be “nice” would be too easy. It’s really sickening. Grown up people still trying to kill each other. As if sharing would kill us. As if our pride and power were the most important thing.
Will b frankin
HAS BEING BOSTON STRONG WORN OFF?
Massachusetts has handed Hamas a victory. THIS WAS THEIR AIM.
“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” -Benjamin Franklin
///At least ten Americans were murdered in Israel last Saturday and the flag of the republic stands proud in Massachusetts. Why? ////
Seriously. Why? What did these dead Americans do to deserve not receiving this commemoration? Putting aside this privileged and remote left-wing anti-Israel bandwagon and value signaling who don’t have a solution, or ask the Palestinians, to renounce Hamas and Islamist terrorism.
1. High School superintendents and principals in MA won’t even name the terrorist slaughter and want students to feel safe. Safe from what? From thinking and feeling bad? Angry? My child’s principal claimed it was a school-level decision.
2. Obviously, this is political and a vote loser. Do Israelis have apartheid in their hearts, or has the ceaseless onslaught of bombings by islamist terrorists in Israel’s cafes and bus stands resulted in apartheid-like conditions
Other stated bucked Biden’s lack of a proclamation and there have been proclamations for other tragedies. Martha Coakley had a Maura Healey had a window of time to proclaim to the citizens of Massachusetts that terrorism makes the Commonwealth…sad it’s not too late, but it is too late though.
“By Jeff Darcy, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Governor Mike DeWine ordered all flags flown at half-staff for the horrific loss of civilian life in Israel from the terrorist attack by Hamas. President Biden said the United States “stands” with Israel and has its back,“
OCTOBER 10, 2023
Albany, NY
Governor Hochul Directs Flags to Half-staff in Remembrance of Lives Lost in Recent Terrorist Attacks Against Israel
A Proclamation on the Death of Dianne Feinstein
SEPTEMBER 29, 2023
PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS
Senator Dianne Feinstein was…
A Proclamation on Honoring the Victims of the Tragedy in Allen, Texas
MAY 07, 2023
PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS
As a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on May 6, 2023, …
A Proclamation on Honoring the Victims of the Tragedy in Nashville, Tennessee
MARCH 27, 2023
PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS
As a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on March 27, 2023, in Nashville…
A Proclamation on Honoring the Victims of the Tragedy in Monterey Park, California
JANUARY 22, 2023
PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS
As a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on January 21, 2023, in…
Will b frankin is tupo
Please read Donna Hick’s book “Dignity”. She is a world class mediator and worked with Desmond Tutu, and many others.. I got this book days after Trump was elected. Not a panacea but something to think about..
Thank you, Will !
Hey Will, our neighbors are openly discussing razing Gaza. The continued demonization is damaging to our Palestinian friends and neighbors.
Any statements on that specifically? (I’m kidding. They’re just saying the quiet part out loud).
Hey Will, our neighbors are openly discussing razing Gaza. The continued demonization is damaging to our Palestinian friends and neighbors. Any statements on that specifically? (I’m kidding. They’re just saying the quiet part out loud).
I’ll think of your statement the next time Belmontians attack our Palestinian neighbors.
Any thoughts on the innocent people being killed in Gaza? Their families here are suffering too.
See my. previous reply on the Donna Hicks book
I don’t believe everyone who says they support Israel/believe in Israel’s right to exist and
/or defend itself.
What does that mean when they stand mute to people celebrating Hamas’s attack and platform, justifying the attack?
What does it mean for elected officials to break from U.S. policy and not call Hamas terrorists and not call their actions a terrorist attack, but rather condemn their “actions,” leaving room for, or perhaps believing they are legitimate military actions if a tad misdirected?
Will, there are words to adequately condemn Hamas’s actions.
Also, what does it mean that you “ hope and trust that the United States will continue to stand behind Israel in the coming days, weeks, and as long as it takes to restore Israel’s security,” because it feels like an alternative stronger and more resolute statement would be “you know/rest assured that the United States…”
The tone of that statement feels to me like words of caution to Israel and a suggestion to Americans that there is an alternative reality to one of unwavering support for Israel.
I am heartsick by the violence in general, but happening right now and since Saturday.
I don’t know who to trust when they say they support Israel &c. and what that means to them. Does it mean you support Israel to do what it must to exist over the long run and as a Jewish state? Or do you trust in Arafat’s fruitful weapon?
Is there a path to reconciliation?
We’re always blinded by living in the present. History shows us the Arab states are Lucy to the west’s Charlie Brown whereas the football is peace in the middle east.
We are sorting out the information age. American soft power also means criticizing Israel, but I fear for every one who knows what Israeli apartheid means and doesn’t, are a million followers without deep coherent convictions, with their own followers all of whom riding along in a fallacious bandwagon and being chased by pundits and electioneers.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is “seeing the bottom of the barrel” America sows doubt, and the chill smell of winter will soon roll in as the contest at the front lines parallel democracy’s fight to weed corrupt Kremlin oligarch apparatchiks out of Kiev’s ranks, while our oligarchs’ heir, beneficiary of ClearChannel/ iheartRadio’s monopoly of the airwaves and Murdochs 24 hour infomercial positions America’s poseur messiah to rally his credulous troops “once more unto the breach, my aggrieved white friends,” and sadly America turns on itself without compassion for the plight, foibles, insecurity and humanity of each other.
…Or do you trust in Arafat’s fruitful weapon to relieve you of the inconvenient need to profess support for Israel?
This is why we must caution our communities against using rhetroic that incites hate and fear: https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/16/us/chicago-muslim-boy-stabbing-investigation/index.html
Hate crimes can happen anywhere.
Words without actions and faith without deeds.
Institutions like Harvard and UPenn and the Democratic Party have set themselves into further dire straits and down and anti-American and anti-Western anti-enlightenment path for and ephemeral short-term safety and to appease progressive voters and terrorists.
The double false piety of the Democratic Party mouthing support of Israel and standing in silent affirmation of critics who welcome Israel’s comeuppance and/or destruction and decontextualize the Israel-Palestine relationship in myopic exclusion and to the benefit of Arab and Iranian oppressors of their subjects and to the benefit of Democrats -scratch that- to the benefit of the Democratic Party strutting for Sanders and Stein voters.
Dear Senator Brownsberger:
Please take a stand for peace. The senseless killing of innocent children and people by both Israel and Hamas is terribly disturbing, and we, all decent human beings, must work to end it.
The US is strategically positioned to put pressure on both sides. It is time stand up to powerful lobbyists and be a voice for peace. Please do what you can to end Israel’s deadly blockade of humanitarian aid now and bring medical care to the dying in Palestine.
Sincerely,
Nick Nagykery
The Office of Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted (then deleted) “This is a struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness, between humanity and law of the jungle”.
That really what you rocking with, Senator?
It seems that every time an Arab army, or terrorists strike Israel it makes Israel stronger and turns anger towards Israel, which makes you wonder…
We’re certainly not talking about ARMITA GERAVAND at the moment. Who knows if the Russian-Iranian axis gave the order, but they certainly helped arm Hamas and didn’t stay them.
The Russian crimestate killed 10-20k in Mariupol alone and Putin can trust not to be called out for stirring the pot regarding the horrors in Gaza and Israel.
Iran warns Israel of a “huge earthquake,” and “shockwave, while Russia warns the democracies that they’ve been warned as they pull out of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and the functionality of all nuclear arsenals are only more theoretical with the passage of time.
How would we feel if the Canadians came down and try to claim part of Minnesota?
Did the electoral politics of my fellow Democrats (at the national level) give Hamas and their patrons the green light to conduct the massive act of terrorism on 10/7?
McGreal G. (2023, July 24). ‘We are winning’: Are US Jews who oppose Israeli settlements finally getting somewhere? The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/24/american-jews-critical-israeli-settlements-west-bank.
How Elites Captured the Social Justice Movement. On Point. By Daniel Ackerman and Meghna Chakrabarti. WBUR, 17 October 2023
The DNC had been giving the overlapping hodgepodge wing of: progressive, far-left and socialist enough rope to sway the followers of commercial social media in the hopes of keeping them under the DNC’s tent. Proper, mainstream Democrats have criticized Israel before, but have been largely silent in the wake of the Trump presidency and the elite capture of the Republican base and the ongoing struggle between Constitutional Government and oligarchy.
How Elites Captured the Social Justice Movement. On Point. By Daniel Ackerman and Meghna Chakrabarti. WBUR, 17 October 2023
I would add the example of elite capture the case of how the ME TOO movement was nearly addled in-utero as a collateral casualty of the elite protecting their own when Rose McGowan claimed – and she hasn’t recanted – that slick-haired vintner Governor Gavin Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, asked McGowan “what it would take to make her happy,” [to drop the allegations against Weinstein] at the behest of lawyer to Weinstein and the top-tier Democrats, David Boies.
It’s remarkable just how small the pool of viable presidential candidates there are when you are looking through the green-tinted lenses of the elite. The elite who bastardize the notion of “putting one’s own air-mask on first” as a jealous rationalization of clinging to power.
McGowan may not be a perfect messenger. She may be a woman scorned- hence the Elders episode- but her claim is Highly reasonable and aren’t we all supposed to BELIEVE HER? I guess that’s inconvenient.
Not sure what to make of the parallels between 9/11 and 10/7.
The Bush administration probably saw 9/11 through the interplay of many filters: a “clash of civilizations,” an attack on U.S. soil in many ways as spectacular as 12/7, payback, or some after-action from former Saudi assets in the Soviet-Afghanistan war. Whatever the Bush administration knew, we our thousands killed for a million and broke an Islamic state. Anyone paying attention then knew the stooge waving a prop vial of anthrax in congress was allowing himself to be made a fool to sell the war and be a fig leaf for the War Pigs, or otherwise in Congress. One could say we responded “as though” we were attacked by Islamdom and extracted a prohibitive price: the destruction of a crown jewel of the Islamic World: Iraq. One could also say if you do our marines in Kuwait and Americans in all walks of life in NYC, in the skies and at the Pentagon to disentangle us from engaging with our business partners in the greater Middle East then the opposite must happen and the usual patterns and redoubts will be changed. Those changes have been playing out for over twenty years. If you fault what we did in Iraq and Afghanistan let’s be sure we stipulate what it is we have done. It’s certainly disingenuous to say the mistake was spurious intelligence about WMDs when we knew that was a lie from the outset.
Whatever the Bush administration knew, we repaid our thousands killed [in 9/11] with on the order of a million, or more Iraqis and Afghanis.
The so-called progressives (may they in fact be so) would to well not to throw the Western baby out with the bathwater. Tyranny and totalitarianism is the ground state. Democracies are a precious thing and the mighty arms of Porthos buys us all but a moment in the sun before the dark and deadly cave closes down upon us.
I cannot support giving weapons and money to a nation to go and kill innocent people! It is wrong! It is also wrong to cut off water, food, medicine, fuel, to 2 Mio innocent people. Please call for a stop to this madness! Force cannot eradicate Hamas, only a diplomatic solution can solve this.
Obligatory “complicated airflow” aside from DNC leadership, whatever one may think about the illegal and brutish settlement activity and the plight of the refugees displaced during successive Arab invasions and management of jihad and other ideological terror, the: celebration of Hamas, the timing of pro-Palestinian rallies and displays, the timing of the “Israel had it coming” on this comment site and elsewhere and failure of civic and elected leaders to push back against and engage in the silence and equivocation all serves to endorse and elevate Hamas’s terror and the moral degeneracy fostered in the appeasement progressive votes and puting fear before liberty of may haunt us.
“Complicated airflow.” Home Box Office. Succession. S1E2?
Citation from comment awaiting moderation.
United States of America flag and Commonwealth of Massachusetts flag half-staff notification as a mark of solemn respect for the victims of the senseless act of violence perpetrated on October 26, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine
Please be advised that as a mark of solemn respect for the victims of the senseless act of violence perpetrated on October 26, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine, and in accordance with a Presidential Proclamation, Governor Maura T. Healey has ordered the United States of America flag and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts flag be lowered to half-staff at all state buildings beginning immediately today, until sunset on October 30, 2023.
What motivated the President Biden and various U.S. governors to not offer this mark of solemn respect for the 33 Americans killed by the US-declared terrorist organization Hamas? (Not to mention the Israeli victims and Palestinian human shields?
Two days before the 10/7 Hamas et al terrorist attacks there was a sudden rash of anti-Israeli graffiti reported in Cambridge See Click Fix and more was reported today. Coincidence, or was there something in the air?
‘I Might Have Once Favored a Cease-Fire With Hamas, but Not Now’
Oct. 27, 2023 – Dennis Ross, former U.S. envoy to the Middle East. He is now the counselor at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and teaches at Georgetown University, knows a thing, or two.
Politicians would be wise, just and ultimately merciful to abandon their self-serving appeasement of the far left bandwagoneer’s agenda and by extension Hamas’s paymasters’ agenda and start walking the walk of making life better for Palestinians and actually support Israel with deeds – such as explaining WHY Hamas is bad- and not just say they support Israel.
“But the events of Oct. 7 changed everything. As one commander in the Israeli military said, “If we do not defeat Hamas, we cannot survive here.””
“But ending the war now would mean Hamas would win.”
“ There are no easy solutions to Gaza, but there is only one path forward in this war. An outcome that leaves Hamas in control will doom not just Gaza but also much of the rest of the Middle East.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/27/opinion/hamas-war-gaza-israel.html?unlocked_article_code=1.6Ew.q66-.TMlZKOifHSm-&smid=url-share
THE DECOLONIZATION NARRATIVE IS DANGEROUS AND FALSE
It does not accurately describe either the foundation of Israel or the tragedy of the Palestinians.
OCTOBER 27, 2023 The Atlantic.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/10/decolonization-narrative-dangerous-and-false/675799/
Senator, please raise your voice and use whatever influence and connections you have to allow the U.S. citizens currently trapped in Gaza to cross into Egypt and come home — they are civilian non-combatants, they pose no threat to Israel, and they are also victims of Hamas’s horrific attacks. I know that none of these folks are members of your constituency, but at this point they need all of the help that they can get — and the U.S. State Department appears to be making little or no effort to help them leave Gaza.
Thank you,
Monika