Please stop making people see this as a single issue election. You are doing a disservice to the Nation.
I continue to see Americans become single issue voters instead of keeping their heads out of their asses and voting for the best character candidate. There has always been and there will always be a good reason to not vote for someone. Your job as a voter is to see past the single reason and vote for the best person anyway. Why? Because you will never know (and neither will the candidate) enough about the issue to make the right decision all by yourself. The best you can hope for is a good decision based upon a good person’s best attempt to do a good thing for all of us instead of just some of us.
There are thousands of good reasons for what is happening in the Middle East. There are a few million good ways to help the people involved. President Biden has been a part of, seen a lot of, and will be responsible for some of what is happening right now. With so many other players responsible for so many parts of what is happening, can you tell with any certainty what President Biden is responsible for? What did Trump do to cause the current troubles? Because Trump instigated much of the world’s current crises.
I was taught through many opportunities to die, that life is a gift that very many people do not appreciate unless it is only their own. Trump is one of those people. Biden is of the variety that believes that he was put here to be of service to others. He is not always the best at what he wants to be. But which servant of the people has been?
The one truth about Trump is that he has always and will continue to only serve himself. If it makes you scared witless voters feel better to know who is going to screw you and take every imaginable advantage of you, then no one can stop you from voting to hurt yourselves with Trump.
But if you are willing to vote for someone who knows more than you do about how your government is supposed to work, someone who has worked with others on so many sides of so many issues, someone whose entire life has been devoted to all the people instead of just some, someone who has made a lot of mistakes and admitted to them, someone who will not fail to put your issues before their own, then vote for any number of seriously good candidates that have nothing to do with Trump.
I may not live to see what Americans will do to themselves but I hope that we overcome our willingness to beat up the best of us just because we are attracted to what appears to be a strong white male.
As always, I wish you nothing but the very best Michael.
Speaking for myself, I don’t see the current push toward War with Iran by Israeli and American hawks as a single issue. We’re possibly talking about WWIII. But you’re right: as Michael recently reminded everyone in his gently satirical way, the issue of reproductive rights gave a huge push to Democratic candidates in the mid-terms. Now with the “embryo” thing, it could be an even bigger factor. I would like to thank Michael for his spot on insight.
From now on I will look for your comments before I write anything. I think you are brilliant and I can not see me adding any value to the discussion if you have already weighed in. Thank you so much for taking the time to add your thoughts to these discussions.
Chotto nen o oshite okimasuga, amerikadeha nikkeiamerikajin ga Hawai to Kororado no Amerika kyōseishūyōsho ni haire raremashita. (Donarudo J toranpu ni yoreba) `kuso ana'-koku no Isuramu kyōto mo kyōseishūyōsho ni haire rarenaito naze omou nodesu ka? Watashitachiha dairi sensō de kyōdō bakugeki o okonai, Chūtō o fuantei ni shi, toranpu seiken-ka de Isuramu kyōto no kinshi-rei o shikō shimasu. Beikoku wa kore made minkan hito ni taishite kaku jōrei o tekiyō shita yuiitsu no kunidearu.
I am seriously thinking of cancelling my subscription. Biden did not create the problem in the Middle East. I have had enough of Democrats shooting themselves in the foot. I do not agree with Netanyahu and his reign of terror, but Biden only has so much power. We have threats to democracy right here at home. We have a golden opportunity to marginalize Republicans in 2024 and this crusade and ones like it may just give the Republicans the opportunity to turn the tide against us. Hamas gets a free ride. The three leaders of Hamas are worth $11 billion dollars while living in luxury in Qatar while their own people 65% of them before the October attacks required humanitarian aid. Biden can only do so much. He is no friend of Netanyahu. Netanyahu has the support of over 2 million Jewish settlers who would love to see Palestinians in Gaza pushed off the refugee camps in Egypt. Egypt will have no part of that potential humanitarian crisis. There are only 6 million Jews in Israel. Unless the Israelis stop Netanyahu, there is little Biden can do. I quote from Doug Floto who writes some newsletter I have never heard of who commented that "I remind them that Israel was FOUNDED in terror by Israeli nationalists bent on statehood." Great, Michael, why don't you just open the door to people who hate Jews and ignore the fact that there are Israelis who feel as strongly as we do that what is happening in Gaza is terrible. If they cannot throw Netanyahu out, what makes you think the Biden has the power to do so.
I agree with your words Richard. The good news right now is that Biden is winning in Michigan! There has never been Peace in the Middle East! This war and all war only kills innocents and leaves rubble! This war
We all want to end. Biden is not to blame for this war..
Netanyahu, who is a dictator is the reason it will not end. He cares nothing for humanity or anyone.. like Trump! Two who are the same. Netanyahu knew the
Attack was coming. He did not warn his people. Hamas came from Gaza many children there are the children of Hamas who grew up there.. feeling like prisoners for too long.. as men now they become terrorists against the life of poverty, hunger, thirst
With no place to go no freedom rage and terror filled their childhoods..The Jews also feel anger towards Netanyahu and want him gone..this war has caused
More division slaughter and hate there and now here in our once land of the free. My uncle was the late
Norman Cousins who helped JFK write his famous
Peace speech. My cousin, his daughter is still lost
In Israel.. there is now so much war between American Jews and American Palestinians right here in our country.. in Universities.. on the streets!
Religion has always caused War. Now it has grown
And politics greed and land money are the reason for all division as it has become contagious all across
The World. Israel has been an Allie of ours Biden and America has always stepped up for Humanity .. where there is unprovoked slaughter against innocent children and women and rape and the people who
Need Aid. That is the goodness of Biden.. yet we also have been sending weapons that now are misused.
Biden can stop sending weapons.. yet he does not have the power to stop this War. I feel we need to send aid and no more help to Netanyahu. We have
Our Democracy to save right here in our own Country.
We have Autocracy knocking at our door..
I do believe there are more good smart people here
Who believe in Biden as a great leader.. with Wisdom
Experience, and Morality plus a heart of love for
Democracy, and We The People.. if we want to keep our Democracy and Liberty and Justice for all
We have to Vote Vote for Biden as he has done
And will do more good. As he had to fix everything
That Trump ruined along with leading our Country
Always for the common folks.We have our justice system
That will remove Trump. Who has ruined our America.. his lies have brainwashed a base or cult
Who have been bitten by the Devil.
Along with Mike Johnson, who holds the gavel
And a house who gets their instructions from
Their Evil master… we have a war of our own
Right here at home. Let’s live in love our true Nature
And rise above the trouble here together as one American Family from everywhere we’ve come.
All colors. Every race. Faith, we have lived together
Accepting each other until Trump.
Belief systems are not who we are as human beings..
We came in from love and to love we will return.
Beneath our skin and without beliefs. We are all
The Same. Let’s get to work and spread goodness
And all that is right with love
All around the World. Send beautiful thoughts.
Pray. All thoughts are delivered!
I love you Michael Moore.. you are always for the good of our Planet, Climate, the hungry and poor and for Peace! I love all who are actively
Speaking out! Let’s pray for Peaceful days ahead…
Understanding of each other.. Accept, Tolerate and
Just curious where you got the thing about Hamas leaders having 11 billion dollars and living in corrupt luxury in Qatar? My neighbor,, Bill, (who doesn’t believe in science or evolution or gay rights) says exactly the same thing. When he said it, I thought it was just parroting one of the many propaganda slogans he hears from his friends and church leaders. But you are saying it too, so now I really would like to research it more. There’s corruption at the top in every country, even Iceland as I was surprised to find out a few years ago when that awful scandal broke about all the money hidden in Panama. But it’s an especially serious allegation when leveled at Hamas; because the implication is that it explains why the Gazan people for many years have been hungry and why their electricity iwas off for several hours a day. Bill was told it was because of Has’s mismanagement of resources. At least one thing I am clear on is that the reason there was not enough food and electricity in Gaza is because Israel controls how much food, fuel and fresh water can get into Gaza. My neighbor was so surprised last week when I told him that Israel has a naval blockade that doesn’t even allow Palestinians to receive oil to run the seawater desalination plants or to fish for a living. He couldn’t believe that Hamas can’t just go out on the open market and buy oil and food and have it delivered, because Israel has a land blockade and controls everything that gets in or out. It really is incredible that such a situation exists and it’s not something the average person learns about, so I don’t blame Bill for not knowing about it. But I am wondering where he gets his information from and how much of the Hamas billions thing is true?
The people in the best places to get verifiably accurate information are US Government officials, such as Congress. Unfortunately, Trump and a lot of other people with something to gain from it have had a very successful campaign of misinformation to persuade Americans to not trust anything their government tells them. Ironic that so many of us are willing to believe that all the Civil Servants and institutions with no profits to be gained are the ones who can’t tell the truth while all the business people and others with money to be made are our only sources of honest information. Thank Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and all the rest of the internet vultures for assisting in the demise of honest, accurate information in America, and probably the world.
You raise a hugely significant point about the information that is flying around. Should anyone base a personal decision on it? Should you make a stand, send money to a cause, take out an ad, or yell at your Congressional officials based upon the information you get from Bill? What information from any internet media sources should any of us take action on? As a retired Information Systems developer and manager I don’t believe any of us should take action on any of it. Currently, too many other national efforts are underway to manipulate all the information Americans receive. Other nations are becoming very proficient at injecting false information to move public sentiment so that their national interests are met, not ours.Only information that is verifiable by objective third party observations is reliable and almost none of that exists.
I thought you would enyoy this about a data graph in the Washington Post called, "Democrats' views of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Since 2002." I hope you can open the link. The comments are mine, from my Facebook page.
Oh, yum, yum, yum, yum. I love data; It's so tasty, I don't like the way the Post extrapolated the trend on the bottom two lines, though. They made it look like it's going to continue going up almost exponentially. That's just silly, if you don't mind my saying so. It's a good example of what I dealt with in my engineering job and how you can make a trend look like it's going up or down based on how you present the data. And the Post's conclusions in their write-up are so strange. They conclude that support for Israel and support for Palestine are going up at the same rate over time. Huh?? I don't know if this is just another example of media bias or scientific incompetence. Just look at the two bottom lines. The Israeli support line is about the same in 2022 as it is in 2002; whereas the Palestinian support line is very CLEARLY and consistently going up over time. My word.
I was an engineer too and I see exactly what you see in the data. Most likely, the Palestinian numbers are rising simply because more people are becoming aware that there is a place called Palestine filled with what are called Palestinians. And more people are taking sides because they feel they must - current fear levels in the US being what they are. Be interesting to see what the levels of fear have been in the US population over time. Bet they have been on the rise since 1968 when Republican leadership started whipping it up for their nefarious purposes….
You're right. We can never be sure. First-hand observations and talking directly to the people involved is a good way, if you can do that. That's why I travel a lot and when I do, I avoid the kind of tours where you stay with other Americans and don't get to talk to local people much. That's why I talk to my right-wing neighbors, too. I try to learn from a variety of different sources. But you remind me it's so easy to get sucked into the echo chamber where we hear stuff only from the people who share our views. I am guilty because I often watch the videos that Youtube selects for me based on an algorithm that knows what I tend to like to watch. After a short time, I'm not hearing anything on the other side of an issue and I have to make a course correction. What you just pointed out from your own eperience is frightening--that it is really that dangerous to believe anything. You know what else is frightening is how much peoples' opinions about history and current events are based on what they learn in Sunday school or Jewish school or Mormon temple or church. I'm afraid liberals are losing ground faster than they realize.
Reminds me of a day in January 1971 that I spent flying fellow soldiers into and out of hot LZs in Vietnam. When I finally got back to my hooch, a folder from home was waiting for me with a copy of The Washington Post. An article in that paper talked about the war in Vietnam and had specifics about a certain engagement in Khe San that I had participated in. My hoochmates and I laughed a lot at all the errors in the article and just how wrong a war correspondent could be. We all decided that even the newspeople who did a good job only could get 50% accuracy, and no one who wasnt there would ever know which 50% was the accurate 50%. So here we are over 50 years later and everyone who isn’t there still only has a 50% chance of reading accurate news, and no one who was not there will ever know which 50% is the accurate 50%. And that is from journalists who work hard at being accurate. How many of them do you think there are?
Keep working at it LeAnne. It is all anyone can do.
I already cancelled my subscription. I think what Michael's doing is foolish and dangerous--and I didn't hesitate to tell him so in an e-mail I sent the other night. He's got many great ideas--and I liked his reassuring voice when everyone else was predicting a red tsunami that thankfully never materialized--but this is the one thing I hate about him. He just doesn't seem to be able to see the forest for the trees. It's very short-sighted of him.
M Michael, I'm really upset with you.. What kind of response did you think Israel should have had?? Do you think they should have played nice in the sandbox?? And what would have happened if a proportional number of people had been so brutally attacked here in the US... Think the US would not have retaliated, defended itself in those people that were murdered? What's wrong with you?
So let's talk about proportionality. Israeli dead would have been roughly 12,000 American citizens. Palestinian dead would be around 3.3 Million American dead, about two thirds women, children, elderly and disabled. The calculator cuts both ways, but you can only apply it to what you perceive as fellow Westerners.
I'm just one individual, a nobody, but I'd like to try to answer that question, if I may. I wrote this essay a while ago because I thought that, if we are going to criticize Israel's response, we'd better have an answer to your exact question. I apologize for the length...I know it's annoying when someone just keeps talking...but I do believe that if you ask an important question like that, you should allow the time it takes to a person to try to answer. So, here it goes.
"What should have been Israel's response to the Oct. 7th horrific attack?"
People often ask that question, sometimes as a sincere question but often as a rebuttal to any criticism of Israel. It’s an effective rebuttal because it’s not a question you
can answer in a few sentences. There’s a 50-foot answer, a 1,000-foot answer, and a 10,000-foot answer. The 10,000-foot answer is where we should start because from up there you get the biggest picture and the clearest view.
The 10,000-foot answer is called "A just, one-state solution." It's the same revolutionary,
idealistic, utterly remarkable idea that our Founding Fathers adopted with the Constitution in 1787. Did you ever stop to think how far ahead of their time they were? ... with their idea of a country founded on equal rights and separation of church and state? If the framers of the Constitution had not courageously met in secret at an Inn in Williamsburg and then adopted those new-fangled "Age of Enlightenment" ideas, I submit that the country would have become a Christian theocracy, not a democracy.
And so, thank God this country was spared from hundreds of years of religious wars.
Besides the ideal of democracy, I suspect we dodged that bullet primarily because there was an abundance of land for the waves of American immigrant settlers to take from indigenous peoples. But in Israel/Palestine, there was never that kind of huge land area available, so the Zionists took what they could by force and set up a religious state with ambitions to take more land whenever the opportunity arose (the so-called Land of Zion).
Today, in Israel/Palestine, almost any serious observer knows that there is neither the will nor enough un-annexed land still available to set up two states. Biden pays lip service to a two-state solution because it is a fig leaf that allows Israel to continue doing what it's doing. Neither the status quo nor a two-state solution is acceptable to Israel because of the following demographic reality. The numbers of Palestinians and Israeli Jews are about equal now in Israel/Palestine as a whole. But Palestinians have a higher birth rate. So, Palestinians will soon outnumber Jewish Israelis. For Israel to maintain a Jewish majority, it must reduce the number of Palestinians. The Israeli government has chosen that as their policy. They have been keeping the Palestinians in check for decades through a combination of brutal policing, imprisonment, and deadly wars every 10 years or so, which they called “mowing the grass.” But, after October 7th, they did not have to choose war/ethnic cleansing. Even though the decision to go to war is often motivated by emotions such as fear, hatred and revenge, war is still always a conscious choice.
The Israelis could have, and still could, choose integration instead of annihilation—integration into one democratic, multi-religious state with equal rights for all. Of course, it will take a series of incremental steps to get to get there. That’s where the 50-foot answer and the 1,000-foot answer come into play. The 50-foot is easy. To move forward from here, there must be a permanent, bilateral ceasefire, release of hostages, humanitarian aid, yada yada. The 1,000-foot answer covers the steps that would come after---and that's the hardest part. I’ve been watching lectures by some of the most respected, most renowned experts in the field. They will spend hours talking about the history and the problems but, when pressed about a solution, they will look straight into the camera and say, “I don’t know” or “I didn’t say there was one.”
I don’t accept that. We know what some of the steps would have to be: a new justice system, a reformed army, de-weaponizing the entire population, and a new constitution based on the idea that all people are created equal. It’s time to think outside the box. Here are the outlines of a recipe for “The Three-State Solution.” Yes, there will be a million negative reasons to say it won’t work. However, it is indeed possible to envision an answer to the question, “What should Israel do?” And with enough support, it would be possible to realize it.
"THE THREE-STATE SOLUTION"
PART I. Take the southern part of Lebanon that Israel already grabbed, a small portion of
northern Israel, and an equal portion of the occupied West Bank. Create a state called
“Palisraelia” or, perhaps better, “The Levant.” The people will be called “Levantines” or
“Palisraelians.” It will be for Israelis and Palestinians and Lebanese who want to have a truly democratic, secular, nonmilitant state with equal rights for all. It will be more of an enterprise zone than a state. Big, enlightened entrepreneurs from other countries will be thrilled and honored to donate their time, energy and creativity to nurturing new industries and businesses in the zone. Famous artists, filmmakers, tech giants, fashion magnates and manufacturers will donate their talent to help the locals grow these new industries. Some large companies will move their regional headquarters there as a show of solidarity—like Caterpillar tractor, Tesla, and others. No arms will be manufactured there, however. They will be private donors and private efforts. It will be a hotbed of entrepreneurship. There will be jobs for the people who live there, something that is sorely lacking in the region. There will be free housing for those in need, paid for initially by the US. There will be no “refugees” and no one living in tents.
PART II. After a while, more and more Israelis will see what’s happening and want to live in that zone of peace and prosperity. New sections will be added to the zone gradually and the boundaries will shift south and west. In time, there will be very little left of the Israel that exists now. The United States can satisfy its need for a military outpost in what’s left, if it must. The remaining Israel will be more prosperous than it is now because it will start to have joint economic ventures with neighboring countries. Palestinians, instead of being subjugated day laborers like they are now, will be invited to put their considerable entrepreneurial talents to work in joint economic ventures.
PART III. The experiment will then be repeated with Gaza, Egypt, and southern Israel. Imagine tourists and modern-day bus caravans being able to travel freely up and down the entire fertile crescent from Tripoli to Cairo. Imagine the cruise ships being able to dock at Lebanese, Israeli, Gazan, and Egyptian ports. What a lucrative tourism industry!! The Saudis and the Donald Trumps of the world will be salivating to get on board with investments. The region will resume being what it always was throughout ancient history--a trading crossroads between Asia, Africa, and Europe where many different cultures intersected.
I write an email every week to President Biden and our Michigan representatives telling them that they are going to lose Michigan and their eternal souls if they don't stop Israel's murderous revenge killing of Palestinians. I remind them that Israel was founded in terror by Israeli nationalists bent on statehood. I remind them that they will have to negotiate with Hamas because nationalist groups bent on statehood (remember the Viet Cong?) can't be defeated militarily. I remind them of their racism against darker skinned peoples as they throw out racist tropes about rape and murder and barbarism and pagan worship. I remind them the the use of human shields isn what our military and diplomats trot out if, when we can't dislodge people we hate, at least we van satisfy people that we bombed the Christ out of them. So how about we do that instead?
We surely don’t want slaughter. So the questions are first Hamas hiding behind its own people and their homes. Also a question that a response from Palestinans seems to miss the existence of Jewish people in Israel. A simple ‘yes’ will do from people who want peace. All that said Netanyahu is a real jerk. Israel has had far more competent prime ministers. I would just love a policy where just once the Palestinian perspective is that Jewish people can continue to exist. The ongoing policy has been for at least since Arafat that the end game is Jews must disappear from ‘river to the sea’. Wish it wasn’t true.
Agree Terry - all we hear about is “Israeli genocide” from certain quarters. Even though, the Palestinians have made it clear that the Jewish people should be wiped off the map.
What about the thousands of Israeli’s slaughtered at the hands of Hamas? The thousands injured? The women raped? The psychological trauma of all of Israel and the Jewish people in the diaspora? All this while Arabs throughout the world danced in the street.
Get off the nAmerican propaganda wheel. Israel turned Gaza into na concentration camp and has killed 3o, 000 Palestinians, over half of them women and kids. How much blood is enough for you?
Hamas turned Gaza into a concentration camp? What are you talking about? Hamas built a fence around three side of their territory? Hamas installed robotic machine guns to shoot at themselves? Hamas flew drones overhead to fire missiles at themselves? They set up snipers to kill hundreds each year? I guess that's where they spent all the money that Netanyahu funneled to them.
Sorry, but that's just not true. You equate Jews with the state of Israel. Definitely not the same thing. While individual Jews did die in a ferocious attack, Israel as a state was attacked. And again, Israel has also used "from the river to the sea" to murder Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. I think you are about to call me an antisemite.. Well all my Arab and Jewish friends and coworkers are all Semitic peoples. Just as all their grandmothers and mothers and children are and all should be protected. No, as simple "yes" will not suffice.
Then just tell us that Jews have a right to exist at all in Israel. Just say it. Plus you can’t find any place any reference of Jews saying ‘river to the sea’, not from Golda Meyer, not from Yizhak Rabin, Menachem Begin. Yet while specifically targeting non-combatants since Munich 1972 you are quite clear that Jews must disappear all together. Yes it is simple enough to start with yes we have a right to exist. Very simple indeed to start. Plus you have no words to Hamas for hiding behind human shields. Do it. Say something. You can’t because you want us gone as a matter of clear stated policy, which no you cannot find in Jewish newspapers, government anyway regarding other people.
Jews have a right to exist in Israel. IYou're calling me an antisemite, but you're wrong. I did not celebrate the massacre of jews in the Holocaust, I did not celebrate munich, I did not celebrate October 7. But you refuse to accept your history in Palestine. That's on you. Israel purposely targets noncombatants in Gaza. They also deprive them of food, water, and electricity. You claim that Hamas hides behind human shields, but you offer no proof. Amnesty international debunked this in the 2018 war. As I said before, Human Shields is a rhetorical device that allows Israel to deny responsibility for bombing civilian populations. Just sy it, Palestinians have a right to exist in their own state. They have a right to be free from Israeli tyranny. and they certainly have a right to life, especially their women and children, whose humanity you so blithely dismiss.
Marilyn Cooper, Yigal and Susie Ran (Israelis), Paul Shifrin, Peter Nagourney, Al and Sharon Zatkin, Janet Levine. Half agree with me, half don't. Do you have any Jewish friends?
I understand the folks who are voting uncommitted as a protest, but please lets all be realistic about whats also at stake in this election. Donald Trump is going to be the Republican Nominee and if those folks who voted uncommitted think life for Palestinians would get with him are delusional.
Michael, what would have had Israel do after being attacked? Should they have just backed down so as not to offend the world which needs but a thin excuse to demonize Jews? What is your workable answer to the desire of the Arabs to slaughter all the Jews? What is your answer to Hamas deliberately putting the Palestinians in harms way to be killed in order to arouse the sympathy of the world? And what on earth do you think Biden can do to ameliorate a problem that has festered for centuries? Everything you do to "teach Biden a lesson" strengthens Trump and makes more possible the nightmare that would be a second Trump term. I am a Jew. My people are sick of 2,000 years of pogroms. The attack by Hamas is just the latest. Again I ask, what would have had Israel do?
Thank you for your last podcast, Micheal, and for this email. You explained the situation in Gaza with compassion and humanity, the way you always do, and I found it extremely helpful. I don't vote in Michigan, but I certainly understand what you are asking people to do, and why. You are one of America's great Patriots. I hope Joe gets the message, and uses his powers RIGHT NOW to stop the bombing and to help the Palestinians gain ALL of their human rights.
I love you. And will always be thankful for what you do and for your wonderful reporting.
But, please! I sure hope that Michigan isn’t going to give us a repeat performance of 2016 and hand the state’s electoral votes to Trump — like they did in 2016!
Has no one learned what not voting against Trump gets us!
Michigan needs to quit whining!
I get it. We all do. Biden’s Gaza policy is frustrating. And the killings are horrific.
But it’s going to get a LOT WORSE if your state doesn’t pull it together and vote for Joe Biden.
MICHAEL AND THIS DISCUSSION FORUM HAVE PROVIDED ME WITH THE SPACE AND FREEDOM I NEEDED TO MAKE MY DECISION ABOUT THE FINAL ELECTION IN NOVEMBER. I DON'T THINK MICHAEL EVER SAID WHAT WE SHOULD DO in november. I THINK HE PRETTY CLEARLY WANTS US TO VOTE AGAINST TRUMP. BUT HE POINTED OUT HOW YOUNG PEOPLE AND PEOPLE WHO SIMPLY HATE WAR FEEL, AND ALSO THE PEOPLE MOST DIRECTLY AFFECTED BY ALL THIS--PALESTINIANS WHO HAVE HAD CLOSE FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS KILLED (IN SOME CASES DOZENS OF THEM). IT HELPED ME FINALLY BE SURE ABOUT WHAT TO DO. IN PAST ELEC TIONS, I HAVE BEEN PRESSURED BY FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS TO VOTE FOR SOMEONE AND WENT ALONG WITH IT. THIS TIME I KNOW I'M VOTING BIDEN AND I FEEL GOOD ABOUT IT AND I'LL TELL YOU WHY. EVEN THOUGH I WANT SO BADLY TO SEND BIDEN AND BOTH PARTIES A MESSAGE, I HAVE LEARNED FROM PAST EXPERIENCE THAT IT TAKES THEM A LONG TIME TO GET IT. IN GENERAL, PEOPLE HAVE TO FEEL LIKE THEY DISCOVERED SOMETHING THEMSELVES BEFORE THEY BELIEVE IT. IF IT'S TRUE, THEY WILL GET IT EVENTUALLY, BUT THEY HAVE TO THINK IT WAS THEIR OWN IDEA. WE WILL KEEP EDUCATING THEM AND YOUNG PEOPLE WILL START TO HAVE THEIR VOICES MORE HEARD, BUT IT'S PROBABLY GOING TO TAKE ANOTHER THREE YEARS TO GET RESULTS. IN THE MEANTIME, WE MIGHT AS WELL NOT BE SADDLED WITH FOUR YEARS OF TRUMP.
Michael Moore, this is getting ridiculous— you’re on MSNBC whining still about this. You’re threatening that Michigan is going to just sit out voting in November.
Aren’t you forgetting that the Palestinians crossed over into Israel and the ones who started this war.
WHO are your people in Michigan more concerned about? The relatively small number of Palestinians, or the world when what’s on the line here is democracy in the United States, and then the world.
I think we need to focus on the big picture here. Let’s get Biden reelected FIRST.
If we lose that, your fight will lose too. Somehow it seems you’re missing that part. You’re scaring me.
You seem to no longer have the big picture. You know you can put Biden on alert without jeopardizing this election.
Two wrongs do not make a right. We can agree that the Holocaust was wrong and the Hamas attack was wrong but too many innocent Palestinians have been killed to exact revenge and restitution in a cycle that is never ending. Wrong is wrong and as plain as the nose on your face. – Judy Finelli
Wish I were able to vote, hoping it has the impact. I’m not so sure of Biden’s conscience or even his political sense anymore. Last night on Seth Meyers he tripled down, stating he was a “Zionist”! Oy vay Joey, wtf? Go Unccommited!
I always appreciate your views but in this piece you were MUCH too easy on Biden who, like Netanyahu , is a war criminal - not only for his failure to support a ceasefire in Gaza but for all the weapons he has sent to Ukraine. You make abundantly clear that our leaders are not honoring the wishes of We the People with your reference to the many unions et al that urging a ceasefire. For decades, America has been an oligarchy pretending to be a democracy and more and more of our citizens are realizing sad fact.
“We the People” elected Congresses and the President and Vice President to work their asses off trying to do the right thing for all of us in spite of our bitching and complaining about every little step they take. The Unions do not represent anyone but their Union members and they only represent them on Union-specific issues. Congress represents you in all political and governmental matters. Congress is absolutely in total control of all the tax moneys and Federal Budget and has the responsibility to approve or deny every little thing the President does. So if you have a problem with what you think is happening, you really really really need to talk to your Congress people. When they don’t answer your questions, elect someone else. That is called participating in your representative democracy. That is what the rest of us We the People have been doing to prevent our nation from becoming an oligarchy. Believe it or not but our leaders are honoring our wishes though it is very difficult at times to tell who the leaders are. Trump and all of his cronies are very obviously not leaders. All the Republican stooges in Congress are absolutely anything but leaders. You can take it from here.
The corruption in the USA government is more than people realize due to the revolving door between the regulators and corporations. While the regulators are in the government, they do favors for the corporations so that when they leave the government they get a nice cushy job. This includes government regulators for the banking system, food system, drugs and everything else. The conflict of interest in science policy makers and health policy officials is terrible. I'm a longtime Democrat and I see this corruption and read about this corruption often. I'm disgusted that myself and my children have to grow up in a country that is so dysfunctional and I'm voting for another candidate, (not trump)
No one has clean hands here Doug & I'm no fan of Netanyahu - but to paint a picture of Hamas as the victim is beyond comprehension and shows that you are either unable or unwilling to look at the whole picture and complexity of this situation.
First of all, I love you. And I thank you for sticking your neck out your whole life.
The situation in the Middle East right now is a lose-lose situation. Everyone is right and everyone is wrong. Until we decide to live peacefully with our neighbors, we will always lose. A handful of people on both sides are driven by their ego and hate, creating more of the same.
Stop it already!! Israel has done enough damage, and the Palestinian people don't deserve retaliation of this magnitude. I wish they would rise up against Hamas themselves, and Israel says enough. Let's give peace a chance!!
As for Biden, his greatest strength is his ability to work both sides of the aisle, and I am confident he is doing everything he can to end this unspeakable horror.
None of this is of his doing and let's remember, he is the president of the US, not Israel or Palestine. Why are people blaming him anyway!?
Good for all you Michiganers for taking a stand. I appreciate your voice and it was heard. Still, please, don't let this allow a neo nazi into the White House ever, ever, again. if you think Netanyahu is bad, just wait.
Dear Michael,
Please stop making people see this as a single issue election. You are doing a disservice to the Nation.
I continue to see Americans become single issue voters instead of keeping their heads out of their asses and voting for the best character candidate. There has always been and there will always be a good reason to not vote for someone. Your job as a voter is to see past the single reason and vote for the best person anyway. Why? Because you will never know (and neither will the candidate) enough about the issue to make the right decision all by yourself. The best you can hope for is a good decision based upon a good person’s best attempt to do a good thing for all of us instead of just some of us.
There are thousands of good reasons for what is happening in the Middle East. There are a few million good ways to help the people involved. President Biden has been a part of, seen a lot of, and will be responsible for some of what is happening right now. With so many other players responsible for so many parts of what is happening, can you tell with any certainty what President Biden is responsible for? What did Trump do to cause the current troubles? Because Trump instigated much of the world’s current crises.
I was taught through many opportunities to die, that life is a gift that very many people do not appreciate unless it is only their own. Trump is one of those people. Biden is of the variety that believes that he was put here to be of service to others. He is not always the best at what he wants to be. But which servant of the people has been?
The one truth about Trump is that he has always and will continue to only serve himself. If it makes you scared witless voters feel better to know who is going to screw you and take every imaginable advantage of you, then no one can stop you from voting to hurt yourselves with Trump.
But if you are willing to vote for someone who knows more than you do about how your government is supposed to work, someone who has worked with others on so many sides of so many issues, someone whose entire life has been devoted to all the people instead of just some, someone who has made a lot of mistakes and admitted to them, someone who will not fail to put your issues before their own, then vote for any number of seriously good candidates that have nothing to do with Trump.
I may not live to see what Americans will do to themselves but I hope that we overcome our willingness to beat up the best of us just because we are attracted to what appears to be a strong white male.
As always, I wish you nothing but the very best Michael.
David
Speaking for myself, I don’t see the current push toward War with Iran by Israeli and American hawks as a single issue. We’re possibly talking about WWIII. But you’re right: as Michael recently reminded everyone in his gently satirical way, the issue of reproductive rights gave a huge push to Democratic candidates in the mid-terms. Now with the “embryo” thing, it could be an even bigger factor. I would like to thank Michael for his spot on insight.
LeAnne,
From now on I will look for your comments before I write anything. I think you are brilliant and I can not see me adding any value to the discussion if you have already weighed in. Thank you so much for taking the time to add your thoughts to these discussions.
All the best,
Dave
Just a gentle reminder - in the USA Japanese American citizens were put into American concentration camps in Hawaii and Colorado.
What makes you think Muslims from "shit hole" countries (according to Donald J Trump) won't also be put into internment camps ?
We co-bomb in proxy wars - destabilize the Middle east and under Trump implement a Muslim Ban.
The USA is the only nation to have thus far used nuclear ordinance on civilians.
ordinance vs. "Laws".
ちょっと念を押しておきますが、アメリカでは日系アメリカ人がハワイとコロラドのアメリカ強制収容所に入れられました。
（ドナルド・J・トランプによれば）「クソ穴」国のイスラム教徒も強制収容所に入れられないとなぜ思うのですか？
私たちは代理戦争で共同爆撃を行い、中東を不安定にし、トランプ政権下でイスラム教徒の禁止令を施行します。
米国はこれまで民間人に対して核条例を適用した唯一の国である。
.
Chotto nen o oshite okimasuga, amerikadeha nikkeiamerikajin ga Hawai to Kororado no Amerika kyōseishūyōsho ni haire raremashita. (Donarudo J toranpu ni yoreba) `kuso ana'-koku no Isuramu kyōto mo kyōseishūyōsho ni haire rarenaito naze omou nodesu ka? Watashitachiha dairi sensō de kyōdō bakugeki o okonai, Chūtō o fuantei ni shi, toranpu seiken-ka de Isuramu kyōto no kinshi-rei o shikō shimasu. Beikoku wa kore made minkan hito ni taishite kaku jōrei o tekiyō shita yuiitsu no kunidearu.
I am seriously thinking of cancelling my subscription. Biden did not create the problem in the Middle East. I have had enough of Democrats shooting themselves in the foot. I do not agree with Netanyahu and his reign of terror, but Biden only has so much power. We have threats to democracy right here at home. We have a golden opportunity to marginalize Republicans in 2024 and this crusade and ones like it may just give the Republicans the opportunity to turn the tide against us. Hamas gets a free ride. The three leaders of Hamas are worth $11 billion dollars while living in luxury in Qatar while their own people 65% of them before the October attacks required humanitarian aid. Biden can only do so much. He is no friend of Netanyahu. Netanyahu has the support of over 2 million Jewish settlers who would love to see Palestinians in Gaza pushed off the refugee camps in Egypt. Egypt will have no part of that potential humanitarian crisis. There are only 6 million Jews in Israel. Unless the Israelis stop Netanyahu, there is little Biden can do. I quote from Doug Floto who writes some newsletter I have never heard of who commented that "I remind them that Israel was FOUNDED in terror by Israeli nationalists bent on statehood." Great, Michael, why don't you just open the door to people who hate Jews and ignore the fact that there are Israelis who feel as strongly as we do that what is happening in Gaza is terrible. If they cannot throw Netanyahu out, what makes you think the Biden has the power to do so.
I agree with your words Richard. The good news right now is that Biden is winning in Michigan! There has never been Peace in the Middle East! This war and all war only kills innocents and leaves rubble! This war
We all want to end. Biden is not to blame for this war..
Netanyahu, who is a dictator is the reason it will not end. He cares nothing for humanity or anyone.. like Trump! Two who are the same. Netanyahu knew the
Attack was coming. He did not warn his people. Hamas came from Gaza many children there are the children of Hamas who grew up there.. feeling like prisoners for too long.. as men now they become terrorists against the life of poverty, hunger, thirst
With no place to go no freedom rage and terror filled their childhoods..The Jews also feel anger towards Netanyahu and want him gone..this war has caused
More division slaughter and hate there and now here in our once land of the free. My uncle was the late
Norman Cousins who helped JFK write his famous
Peace speech. My cousin, his daughter is still lost
In Israel.. there is now so much war between American Jews and American Palestinians right here in our country.. in Universities.. on the streets!
Religion has always caused War. Now it has grown
And politics greed and land money are the reason for all division as it has become contagious all across
The World. Israel has been an Allie of ours Biden and America has always stepped up for Humanity .. where there is unprovoked slaughter against innocent children and women and rape and the people who
Need Aid. That is the goodness of Biden.. yet we also have been sending weapons that now are misused.
Biden can stop sending weapons.. yet he does not have the power to stop this War. I feel we need to send aid and no more help to Netanyahu. We have
Our Democracy to save right here in our own Country.
We have Autocracy knocking at our door..
I do believe there are more good smart people here
Who believe in Biden as a great leader.. with Wisdom
Experience, and Morality plus a heart of love for
Democracy, and We The People.. if we want to keep our Democracy and Liberty and Justice for all
We have to Vote Vote for Biden as he has done
And will do more good. As he had to fix everything
That Trump ruined along with leading our Country
Always for the common folks.We have our justice system
That will remove Trump. Who has ruined our America.. his lies have brainwashed a base or cult
Who have been bitten by the Devil.
Along with Mike Johnson, who holds the gavel
And a house who gets their instructions from
Their Evil master… we have a war of our own
Right here at home. Let’s live in love our true Nature
And rise above the trouble here together as one American Family from everywhere we’ve come.
All colors. Every race. Faith, we have lived together
Accepting each other until Trump.
Belief systems are not who we are as human beings..
We came in from love and to love we will return.
Beneath our skin and without beliefs. We are all
The Same. Let’s get to work and spread goodness
And all that is right with love
All around the World. Send beautiful thoughts.
Pray. All thoughts are delivered!
I love you Michael Moore.. you are always for the good of our Planet, Climate, the hungry and poor and for Peace! I love all who are actively
Speaking out! Let’s pray for Peaceful days ahead…
Understanding of each other.. Accept, Tolerate and
Unite.Peace will come in the name of Love.
And we love you, Buffy Ford Stewart!
Just curious where you got the thing about Hamas leaders having 11 billion dollars and living in corrupt luxury in Qatar? My neighbor,, Bill, (who doesn’t believe in science or evolution or gay rights) says exactly the same thing. When he said it, I thought it was just parroting one of the many propaganda slogans he hears from his friends and church leaders. But you are saying it too, so now I really would like to research it more. There’s corruption at the top in every country, even Iceland as I was surprised to find out a few years ago when that awful scandal broke about all the money hidden in Panama. But it’s an especially serious allegation when leveled at Hamas; because the implication is that it explains why the Gazan people for many years have been hungry and why their electricity iwas off for several hours a day. Bill was told it was because of Has’s mismanagement of resources. At least one thing I am clear on is that the reason there was not enough food and electricity in Gaza is because Israel controls how much food, fuel and fresh water can get into Gaza. My neighbor was so surprised last week when I told him that Israel has a naval blockade that doesn’t even allow Palestinians to receive oil to run the seawater desalination plants or to fish for a living. He couldn’t believe that Hamas can’t just go out on the open market and buy oil and food and have it delivered, because Israel has a land blockade and controls everything that gets in or out. It really is incredible that such a situation exists and it’s not something the average person learns about, so I don’t blame Bill for not knowing about it. But I am wondering where he gets his information from and how much of the Hamas billions thing is true?
The people in the best places to get verifiably accurate information are US Government officials, such as Congress. Unfortunately, Trump and a lot of other people with something to gain from it have had a very successful campaign of misinformation to persuade Americans to not trust anything their government tells them. Ironic that so many of us are willing to believe that all the Civil Servants and institutions with no profits to be gained are the ones who can’t tell the truth while all the business people and others with money to be made are our only sources of honest information. Thank Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and all the rest of the internet vultures for assisting in the demise of honest, accurate information in America, and probably the world.
Ms Hamilton,
You raise a hugely significant point about the information that is flying around. Should anyone base a personal decision on it? Should you make a stand, send money to a cause, take out an ad, or yell at your Congressional officials based upon the information you get from Bill? What information from any internet media sources should any of us take action on? As a retired Information Systems developer and manager I don’t believe any of us should take action on any of it. Currently, too many other national efforts are underway to manipulate all the information Americans receive. Other nations are becoming very proficient at injecting false information to move public sentiment so that their national interests are met, not ours.Only information that is verifiable by objective third party observations is reliable and almost none of that exists.
I thought you would enyoy this about a data graph in the Washington Post called, "Democrats' views of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Since 2002." I hope you can open the link. The comments are mine, from my Facebook page.
https://palomaimages.washingtonpost.com/pr2/5b2281fe93c6622d4d4dda330546df73-1_tstmp_1709182336-1280-0.png
Oh, yum, yum, yum, yum. I love data; It's so tasty, I don't like the way the Post extrapolated the trend on the bottom two lines, though. They made it look like it's going to continue going up almost exponentially. That's just silly, if you don't mind my saying so. It's a good example of what I dealt with in my engineering job and how you can make a trend look like it's going up or down based on how you present the data. And the Post's conclusions in their write-up are so strange. They conclude that support for Israel and support for Palestine are going up at the same rate over time. Huh?? I don't know if this is just another example of media bias or scientific incompetence. Just look at the two bottom lines. The Israeli support line is about the same in 2022 as it is in 2002; whereas the Palestinian support line is very CLEARLY and consistently going up over time. My word.
https://palomaimages.washingtonpost.com/pr2/5b2281fe93c6622d4d4dda330546df73-1_tstmp_1709182336-1280-0.png
LeAnne,
I was an engineer too and I see exactly what you see in the data. Most likely, the Palestinian numbers are rising simply because more people are becoming aware that there is a place called Palestine filled with what are called Palestinians. And more people are taking sides because they feel they must - current fear levels in the US being what they are. Be interesting to see what the levels of fear have been in the US population over time. Bet they have been on the rise since 1968 when Republican leadership started whipping it up for their nefarious purposes….
You're right. We can never be sure. First-hand observations and talking directly to the people involved is a good way, if you can do that. That's why I travel a lot and when I do, I avoid the kind of tours where you stay with other Americans and don't get to talk to local people much. That's why I talk to my right-wing neighbors, too. I try to learn from a variety of different sources. But you remind me it's so easy to get sucked into the echo chamber where we hear stuff only from the people who share our views. I am guilty because I often watch the videos that Youtube selects for me based on an algorithm that knows what I tend to like to watch. After a short time, I'm not hearing anything on the other side of an issue and I have to make a course correction. What you just pointed out from your own eperience is frightening--that it is really that dangerous to believe anything. You know what else is frightening is how much peoples' opinions about history and current events are based on what they learn in Sunday school or Jewish school or Mormon temple or church. I'm afraid liberals are losing ground faster than they realize.
Dear LeAnne,
Reminds me of a day in January 1971 that I spent flying fellow soldiers into and out of hot LZs in Vietnam. When I finally got back to my hooch, a folder from home was waiting for me with a copy of The Washington Post. An article in that paper talked about the war in Vietnam and had specifics about a certain engagement in Khe San that I had participated in. My hoochmates and I laughed a lot at all the errors in the article and just how wrong a war correspondent could be. We all decided that even the newspeople who did a good job only could get 50% accuracy, and no one who wasnt there would ever know which 50% was the accurate 50%. So here we are over 50 years later and everyone who isn’t there still only has a 50% chance of reading accurate news, and no one who was not there will ever know which 50% is the accurate 50%. And that is from journalists who work hard at being accurate. How many of them do you think there are?
Keep working at it LeAnne. It is all anyone can do.
All the best!
Dave
Biden has taken enormous amounts of money from the Israeli lobby
I already cancelled my subscription. I think what Michael's doing is foolish and dangerous--and I didn't hesitate to tell him so in an e-mail I sent the other night. He's got many great ideas--and I liked his reassuring voice when everyone else was predicting a red tsunami that thankfully never materialized--but this is the one thing I hate about him. He just doesn't seem to be able to see the forest for the trees. It's very short-sighted of him.
M Michael, I'm really upset with you.. What kind of response did you think Israel should have had?? Do you think they should have played nice in the sandbox?? And what would have happened if a proportional number of people had been so brutally attacked here in the US... Think the US would not have retaliated, defended itself in those people that were murdered? What's wrong with you?
So let's talk about proportionality. Israeli dead would have been roughly 12,000 American citizens. Palestinian dead would be around 3.3 Million American dead, about two thirds women, children, elderly and disabled. The calculator cuts both ways, but you can only apply it to what you perceive as fellow Westerners.
I'm just one individual, a nobody, but I'd like to try to answer that question, if I may. I wrote this essay a while ago because I thought that, if we are going to criticize Israel's response, we'd better have an answer to your exact question. I apologize for the length...I know it's annoying when someone just keeps talking...but I do believe that if you ask an important question like that, you should allow the time it takes to a person to try to answer. So, here it goes.
"What should have been Israel's response to the Oct. 7th horrific attack?"
People often ask that question, sometimes as a sincere question but often as a rebuttal to any criticism of Israel. It’s an effective rebuttal because it’s not a question you
can answer in a few sentences. There’s a 50-foot answer, a 1,000-foot answer, and a 10,000-foot answer. The 10,000-foot answer is where we should start because from up there you get the biggest picture and the clearest view.
The 10,000-foot answer is called "A just, one-state solution." It's the same revolutionary,
idealistic, utterly remarkable idea that our Founding Fathers adopted with the Constitution in 1787. Did you ever stop to think how far ahead of their time they were? ... with their idea of a country founded on equal rights and separation of church and state? If the framers of the Constitution had not courageously met in secret at an Inn in Williamsburg and then adopted those new-fangled "Age of Enlightenment" ideas, I submit that the country would have become a Christian theocracy, not a democracy.
And so, thank God this country was spared from hundreds of years of religious wars.
Besides the ideal of democracy, I suspect we dodged that bullet primarily because there was an abundance of land for the waves of American immigrant settlers to take from indigenous peoples. But in Israel/Palestine, there was never that kind of huge land area available, so the Zionists took what they could by force and set up a religious state with ambitions to take more land whenever the opportunity arose (the so-called Land of Zion).
Today, in Israel/Palestine, almost any serious observer knows that there is neither the will nor enough un-annexed land still available to set up two states. Biden pays lip service to a two-state solution because it is a fig leaf that allows Israel to continue doing what it's doing. Neither the status quo nor a two-state solution is acceptable to Israel because of the following demographic reality. The numbers of Palestinians and Israeli Jews are about equal now in Israel/Palestine as a whole. But Palestinians have a higher birth rate. So, Palestinians will soon outnumber Jewish Israelis. For Israel to maintain a Jewish majority, it must reduce the number of Palestinians. The Israeli government has chosen that as their policy. They have been keeping the Palestinians in check for decades through a combination of brutal policing, imprisonment, and deadly wars every 10 years or so, which they called “mowing the grass.” But, after October 7th, they did not have to choose war/ethnic cleansing. Even though the decision to go to war is often motivated by emotions such as fear, hatred and revenge, war is still always a conscious choice.
The Israelis could have, and still could, choose integration instead of annihilation—integration into one democratic, multi-religious state with equal rights for all. Of course, it will take a series of incremental steps to get to get there. That’s where the 50-foot answer and the 1,000-foot answer come into play. The 50-foot is easy. To move forward from here, there must be a permanent, bilateral ceasefire, release of hostages, humanitarian aid, yada yada. The 1,000-foot answer covers the steps that would come after---and that's the hardest part. I’ve been watching lectures by some of the most respected, most renowned experts in the field. They will spend hours talking about the history and the problems but, when pressed about a solution, they will look straight into the camera and say, “I don’t know” or “I didn’t say there was one.”
I don’t accept that. We know what some of the steps would have to be: a new justice system, a reformed army, de-weaponizing the entire population, and a new constitution based on the idea that all people are created equal. It’s time to think outside the box. Here are the outlines of a recipe for “The Three-State Solution.” Yes, there will be a million negative reasons to say it won’t work. However, it is indeed possible to envision an answer to the question, “What should Israel do?” And with enough support, it would be possible to realize it.
"THE THREE-STATE SOLUTION"
PART I. Take the southern part of Lebanon that Israel already grabbed, a small portion of
northern Israel, and an equal portion of the occupied West Bank. Create a state called
“Palisraelia” or, perhaps better, “The Levant.” The people will be called “Levantines” or
“Palisraelians.” It will be for Israelis and Palestinians and Lebanese who want to have a truly democratic, secular, nonmilitant state with equal rights for all. It will be more of an enterprise zone than a state. Big, enlightened entrepreneurs from other countries will be thrilled and honored to donate their time, energy and creativity to nurturing new industries and businesses in the zone. Famous artists, filmmakers, tech giants, fashion magnates and manufacturers will donate their talent to help the locals grow these new industries. Some large companies will move their regional headquarters there as a show of solidarity—like Caterpillar tractor, Tesla, and others. No arms will be manufactured there, however. They will be private donors and private efforts. It will be a hotbed of entrepreneurship. There will be jobs for the people who live there, something that is sorely lacking in the region. There will be free housing for those in need, paid for initially by the US. There will be no “refugees” and no one living in tents.
PART II. After a while, more and more Israelis will see what’s happening and want to live in that zone of peace and prosperity. New sections will be added to the zone gradually and the boundaries will shift south and west. In time, there will be very little left of the Israel that exists now. The United States can satisfy its need for a military outpost in what’s left, if it must. The remaining Israel will be more prosperous than it is now because it will start to have joint economic ventures with neighboring countries. Palestinians, instead of being subjugated day laborers like they are now, will be invited to put their considerable entrepreneurial talents to work in joint economic ventures.
PART III. The experiment will then be repeated with Gaza, Egypt, and southern Israel. Imagine tourists and modern-day bus caravans being able to travel freely up and down the entire fertile crescent from Tripoli to Cairo. Imagine the cruise ships being able to dock at Lebanese, Israeli, Gazan, and Egyptian ports. What a lucrative tourism industry!! The Saudis and the Donald Trumps of the world will be salivating to get on board with investments. The region will resume being what it always was throughout ancient history--a trading crossroads between Asia, Africa, and Europe where many different cultures intersected.
LeAnne,
You are one learned and truly beautiful person. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Dave
I write an email every week to President Biden and our Michigan representatives telling them that they are going to lose Michigan and their eternal souls if they don't stop Israel's murderous revenge killing of Palestinians. I remind them that Israel was founded in terror by Israeli nationalists bent on statehood. I remind them that they will have to negotiate with Hamas because nationalist groups bent on statehood (remember the Viet Cong?) can't be defeated militarily. I remind them of their racism against darker skinned peoples as they throw out racist tropes about rape and murder and barbarism and pagan worship. I remind them the the use of human shields isn what our military and diplomats trot out if, when we can't dislodge people we hate, at least we van satisfy people that we bombed the Christ out of them. So how about we do that instead?
We surely don’t want slaughter. So the questions are first Hamas hiding behind its own people and their homes. Also a question that a response from Palestinans seems to miss the existence of Jewish people in Israel. A simple ‘yes’ will do from people who want peace. All that said Netanyahu is a real jerk. Israel has had far more competent prime ministers. I would just love a policy where just once the Palestinian perspective is that Jewish people can continue to exist. The ongoing policy has been for at least since Arafat that the end game is Jews must disappear from ‘river to the sea’. Wish it wasn’t true.
Agree Terry - all we hear about is “Israeli genocide” from certain quarters. Even though, the Palestinians have made it clear that the Jewish people should be wiped off the map.
What about the thousands of Israeli’s slaughtered at the hands of Hamas? The thousands injured? The women raped? The psychological trauma of all of Israel and the Jewish people in the diaspora? All this while Arabs throughout the world danced in the street.
Get off the nAmerican propaganda wheel. Israel turned Gaza into na concentration camp and has killed 3o, 000 Palestinians, over half of them women and kids. How much blood is enough for you?
No, Hamas with a huge assist from Iran, did that.
Hamas turned Gaza into a concentration camp? What are you talking about? Hamas built a fence around three side of their territory? Hamas installed robotic machine guns to shoot at themselves? Hamas flew drones overhead to fire missiles at themselves? They set up snipers to kill hundreds each year? I guess that's where they spent all the money that Netanyahu funneled to them.
Sorry, but that's just not true. You equate Jews with the state of Israel. Definitely not the same thing. While individual Jews did die in a ferocious attack, Israel as a state was attacked. And again, Israel has also used "from the river to the sea" to murder Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. I think you are about to call me an antisemite.. Well all my Arab and Jewish friends and coworkers are all Semitic peoples. Just as all their grandmothers and mothers and children are and all should be protected. No, as simple "yes" will not suffice.
Then just tell us that Jews have a right to exist at all in Israel. Just say it. Plus you can’t find any place any reference of Jews saying ‘river to the sea’, not from Golda Meyer, not from Yizhak Rabin, Menachem Begin. Yet while specifically targeting non-combatants since Munich 1972 you are quite clear that Jews must disappear all together. Yes it is simple enough to start with yes we have a right to exist. Very simple indeed to start. Plus you have no words to Hamas for hiding behind human shields. Do it. Say something. You can’t because you want us gone as a matter of clear stated policy, which no you cannot find in Jewish newspapers, government anyway regarding other people.
Jews have a right to exist in Israel. IYou're calling me an antisemite, but you're wrong. I did not celebrate the massacre of jews in the Holocaust, I did not celebrate munich, I did not celebrate October 7. But you refuse to accept your history in Palestine. That's on you. Israel purposely targets noncombatants in Gaza. They also deprive them of food, water, and electricity. You claim that Hamas hides behind human shields, but you offer no proof. Amnesty international debunked this in the 2018 war. As I said before, Human Shields is a rhetorical device that allows Israel to deny responsibility for bombing civilian populations. Just sy it, Palestinians have a right to exist in their own state. They have a right to be free from Israeli tyranny. and they certainly have a right to life, especially their women and children, whose humanity you so blithely dismiss.
I doubt sincerely that you have any Jewish friends
Marilyn Cooper, Yigal and Susie Ran (Israelis), Paul Shifrin, Peter Nagourney, Al and Sharon Zatkin, Janet Levine. Half agree with me, half don't. Do you have any Jewish friends?
I understand the folks who are voting uncommitted as a protest, but please lets all be realistic about whats also at stake in this election. Donald Trump is going to be the Republican Nominee and if those folks who voted uncommitted think life for Palestinians would get with him are delusional.
Michael, what would have had Israel do after being attacked? Should they have just backed down so as not to offend the world which needs but a thin excuse to demonize Jews? What is your workable answer to the desire of the Arabs to slaughter all the Jews? What is your answer to Hamas deliberately putting the Palestinians in harms way to be killed in order to arouse the sympathy of the world? And what on earth do you think Biden can do to ameliorate a problem that has festered for centuries? Everything you do to "teach Biden a lesson" strengthens Trump and makes more possible the nightmare that would be a second Trump term. I am a Jew. My people are sick of 2,000 years of pogroms. The attack by Hamas is just the latest. Again I ask, what would have had Israel do?
Thank you for your last podcast, Micheal, and for this email. You explained the situation in Gaza with compassion and humanity, the way you always do, and I found it extremely helpful. I don't vote in Michigan, but I certainly understand what you are asking people to do, and why. You are one of America's great Patriots. I hope Joe gets the message, and uses his powers RIGHT NOW to stop the bombing and to help the Palestinians gain ALL of their human rights.
Thanks, Mike for the reminder. I hope that Michigan sends a strong message to Biden and we stop enabling the ongoing genocide.
I love you. And will always be thankful for what you do and for your wonderful reporting.
But, please! I sure hope that Michigan isn’t going to give us a repeat performance of 2016 and hand the state’s electoral votes to Trump — like they did in 2016!
Has no one learned what not voting against Trump gets us!
Michigan needs to quit whining!
I get it. We all do. Biden’s Gaza policy is frustrating. And the killings are horrific.
But it’s going to get a LOT WORSE if your state doesn’t pull it together and vote for Joe Biden.
Let’s keep our eye on the ball.
MICHAEL AND THIS DISCUSSION FORUM HAVE PROVIDED ME WITH THE SPACE AND FREEDOM I NEEDED TO MAKE MY DECISION ABOUT THE FINAL ELECTION IN NOVEMBER. I DON'T THINK MICHAEL EVER SAID WHAT WE SHOULD DO in november. I THINK HE PRETTY CLEARLY WANTS US TO VOTE AGAINST TRUMP. BUT HE POINTED OUT HOW YOUNG PEOPLE AND PEOPLE WHO SIMPLY HATE WAR FEEL, AND ALSO THE PEOPLE MOST DIRECTLY AFFECTED BY ALL THIS--PALESTINIANS WHO HAVE HAD CLOSE FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS KILLED (IN SOME CASES DOZENS OF THEM). IT HELPED ME FINALLY BE SURE ABOUT WHAT TO DO. IN PAST ELEC TIONS, I HAVE BEEN PRESSURED BY FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS TO VOTE FOR SOMEONE AND WENT ALONG WITH IT. THIS TIME I KNOW I'M VOTING BIDEN AND I FEEL GOOD ABOUT IT AND I'LL TELL YOU WHY. EVEN THOUGH I WANT SO BADLY TO SEND BIDEN AND BOTH PARTIES A MESSAGE, I HAVE LEARNED FROM PAST EXPERIENCE THAT IT TAKES THEM A LONG TIME TO GET IT. IN GENERAL, PEOPLE HAVE TO FEEL LIKE THEY DISCOVERED SOMETHING THEMSELVES BEFORE THEY BELIEVE IT. IF IT'S TRUE, THEY WILL GET IT EVENTUALLY, BUT THEY HAVE TO THINK IT WAS THEIR OWN IDEA. WE WILL KEEP EDUCATING THEM AND YOUNG PEOPLE WILL START TO HAVE THEIR VOICES MORE HEARD, BUT IT'S PROBABLY GOING TO TAKE ANOTHER THREE YEARS TO GET RESULTS. IN THE MEANTIME, WE MIGHT AS WELL NOT BE SADDLED WITH FOUR YEARS OF TRUMP.
Michael Moore, this is getting ridiculous— you’re on MSNBC whining still about this. You’re threatening that Michigan is going to just sit out voting in November.
Aren’t you forgetting that the Palestinians crossed over into Israel and the ones who started this war.
WHO are your people in Michigan more concerned about? The relatively small number of Palestinians, or the world when what’s on the line here is democracy in the United States, and then the world.
I think we need to focus on the big picture here. Let’s get Biden reelected FIRST.
If we lose that, your fight will lose too. Somehow it seems you’re missing that part. You’re scaring me.
You seem to no longer have the big picture. You know you can put Biden on alert without jeopardizing this election.
Otherwise, I’m canceling my subscription.
Two wrongs do not make a right. We can agree that the Holocaust was wrong and the Hamas attack was wrong but too many innocent Palestinians have been killed to exact revenge and restitution in a cycle that is never ending. Wrong is wrong and as plain as the nose on your face. – Judy Finelli
Wish I were able to vote, hoping it has the impact. I’m not so sure of Biden’s conscience or even his political sense anymore. Last night on Seth Meyers he tripled down, stating he was a “Zionist”! Oy vay Joey, wtf? Go Unccommited!
Michael -
I always appreciate your views but in this piece you were MUCH too easy on Biden who, like Netanyahu , is a war criminal - not only for his failure to support a ceasefire in Gaza but for all the weapons he has sent to Ukraine. You make abundantly clear that our leaders are not honoring the wishes of We the People with your reference to the many unions et al that urging a ceasefire. For decades, America has been an oligarchy pretending to be a democracy and more and more of our citizens are realizing sad fact.
You are calling us war criminals for helping Ukraine defend itself?
You go Victoria!
“We the People” elected Congresses and the President and Vice President to work their asses off trying to do the right thing for all of us in spite of our bitching and complaining about every little step they take. The Unions do not represent anyone but their Union members and they only represent them on Union-specific issues. Congress represents you in all political and governmental matters. Congress is absolutely in total control of all the tax moneys and Federal Budget and has the responsibility to approve or deny every little thing the President does. So if you have a problem with what you think is happening, you really really really need to talk to your Congress people. When they don’t answer your questions, elect someone else. That is called participating in your representative democracy. That is what the rest of us We the People have been doing to prevent our nation from becoming an oligarchy. Believe it or not but our leaders are honoring our wishes though it is very difficult at times to tell who the leaders are. Trump and all of his cronies are very obviously not leaders. All the Republican stooges in Congress are absolutely anything but leaders. You can take it from here.
The corruption in the USA government is more than people realize due to the revolving door between the regulators and corporations. While the regulators are in the government, they do favors for the corporations so that when they leave the government they get a nice cushy job. This includes government regulators for the banking system, food system, drugs and everything else. The conflict of interest in science policy makers and health policy officials is terrible. I'm a longtime Democrat and I see this corruption and read about this corruption often. I'm disgusted that myself and my children have to grow up in a country that is so dysfunctional and I'm voting for another candidate, (not trump)
No one has clean hands here Doug & I'm no fan of Netanyahu - but to paint a picture of Hamas as the victim is beyond comprehension and shows that you are either unable or unwilling to look at the whole picture and complexity of this situation.
Dear Michael,
First of all, I love you. And I thank you for sticking your neck out your whole life.
The situation in the Middle East right now is a lose-lose situation. Everyone is right and everyone is wrong. Until we decide to live peacefully with our neighbors, we will always lose. A handful of people on both sides are driven by their ego and hate, creating more of the same.
Stop it already!! Israel has done enough damage, and the Palestinian people don't deserve retaliation of this magnitude. I wish they would rise up against Hamas themselves, and Israel says enough. Let's give peace a chance!!
As for Biden, his greatest strength is his ability to work both sides of the aisle, and I am confident he is doing everything he can to end this unspeakable horror.
None of this is of his doing and let's remember, he is the president of the US, not Israel or Palestine. Why are people blaming him anyway!?
Good for all you Michiganers for taking a stand. I appreciate your voice and it was heard. Still, please, don't let this allow a neo nazi into the White House ever, ever, again. if you think Netanyahu is bad, just wait.
Thank you,
Carmen