On Tuesday, Israelis began the grim business of removing the bodies of 40 babies who had been beheaded by Hamas terrorists. “It’s hard to even explain exactly just the mass casualties that happened right here,” i24 News correspondent Nicole Zedek said during a broadcast from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. “Babies with their heads cut off, that’s what [the soldiers] said. Gunned down. Families gunned down, completely gunned down in their beds,” Zedek said of the “sheer horror.” CNN’s Nic Robertson reported from the scene: “Men, women, children, hands bound, shot, executed, heads cut.” “My stomach is churning at the images coming from Kibbutz Kfar Az,” wrote the ADL’s Jonathan Greenblatt. “40 Babies slaughtered and beheaded. The people who committed these massacres are evil. There is no moral universe in which such savagery can be justified. My heart is broken. Just broken.” It was just one scene. From one town. The horror continues to unfold: Hundreds of young people slaughtered at a music concert; families massacred in their homes; women raped, murdered, their bodies posted on social media sites. This was, or ought to have been, a moment of shocking, stunning moral clarity. It was, as President Biden said forcefully Tuesday, “an act of sheer evil.” But the pro-Hamas left reacted very differently. Nota bene: what follows is not an indictment of “all leftists,” or of those who sympathize with the plight of the Palestinians. It is, instead, a description of the moral depravity of those who actually celebrated, downplayed, rationalized, or ignored the atrocities in front of them. And a reminder: We never promised you a safe space. ** Noah Smith’s post “Western leftists have lost the plot,” included this image from a rally by the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) in support of the Palestinian cause.
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** At a pro-Hamas rally in Australia, protestors chanted “gas the Jews,” and “f*ck the Jews”. ** And then there were the universities. At Harvard, a coalition of student groups declared that it held “the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.” At UVA, students called the horrific events of this weekend "an unprecedented feat for the 21st century" and "a step towards a free Palestine." The president of the NYU Law School Bar Association put out a statement insisting that “Israel bears full responsibility” for the slaughter of Jews. “I will not condemn Palestinian resistance….” Other student groups called for an “Anti-Israel ‘Day of Resistance’ Praising Hamas Attacks.”
** It actually gets worse. Pro-Hamas protesters in California “intentionally added the paraglider that Hamas used to arrive at the Nova festival to rape and slaughter young girls.” Imagine being a Jewish student on campus these days. ** Another BLM statement declared solidarity with the Hamas attack and called for a similar “decolonizing” of the United States. ** The celebration of the Hamas atrocities was not confined to street protests. Via the Free Press:
** And, yes, this is Fox News, but the questions weren’t hard. A simple: “Of course, I condemn that…” would have been welcome. Instead, we got this viral video. ** Spare me the whataboutism, the lectures about historical grievances, and the tortured, intellectualized rationalizations for evil. Because what we witnessed was evil. Objective evil. All monsters have stories. They’ve suffered indignities, injustices. There are “root causes” for their rage; they can always try to cast their enormities as acts of justice. But sometimes evil is just evil. The Germans after WWI were treated unfairly; the Treaty of Versailles was unjust and punitive. None of that remotely justified the Holocaust or is even relevant to the outpouring of evil that followed. The Russians can describe their grievances against Ukraine; but none of that provides a justification for the invasion — for Bucha, Mariupol, or the ongoing rape, slaughter, and torture of civilians. Evil is just evil, even when dressed up in the rhetoric of liberation. The good newsJoe Biden delivered a "crystal clear" condemnation of Hamas. Via Axios:
** WH spox Karine Jean-Pierre also powerfully condemned “Repugnant Disgraceful Statements From Squad.”
** AOC breaks with 'Squad' to slam antisemitism at NYC rally.
** Via Dave Weigel: Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres (D), Israel supporter/DSA critic, called this "the beginning of the end for the DSA as a political force."
Quick Hits1. Blood on Biden’s Hands?Cathy Young on the twisted attempt to blame the killings in Israel on the U.S. president. 2. As Crises Mount, Republicans Depart from RealityA.B. Stoddard: “Once the “party of ideas,” the GOP is now feckless, fractured, and lacking a shared vision. 3. Israel, Ukraine, and the Need for American LeadershipJill Lawrence, in today’s Bulwark. 4. Speaker Race Is a Slow CrawlJoe Perticone on the GOP’s shambolic scramble to replace My Kevin. 5. Santos Faces New Charges Accusing Him of Lies and Credit Card Fraud
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The Moral Depravity of the Pro-Hamas Left
October 11, 2023
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