HAMAS gets free ride from left

Two more instances of refusal by the American left to condemn the atrocious acts of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Arabic Harakah al-Muqāwamah al-Islāmiyyah, abbreviated HAMAS), with which the Fourth Arab-Israeli War began, have surfaced in the past week. This is worse than a refusal to judge HAMAS for their behavior. We now see people excusing that behavior, or denying it, in the face of clear evidence of their guilt. But now some of those excuse-makers and deniers are catching heat from their own side. Whether that heat is serious or an effort by some to save their political skins, the heat is definitely on.

Denying that HAMAS did it

As everyone surely knows by now, the Fourth Arab-Israeli War has resumed. Negotiations to extend the cease-fire (which wasn’t quite holding anyway) collapsed, and the Israeli Air Force resumed airstrikes over Gaza.

On Monday November 27 – four days before the resumption of fighting – the Oakland City Council convened a special meeting. There they passed a resolution calling for an immediate permanent cease-fire. According to the Associated Press, the resolution called in addition for “unrestricted entry of humanitarian assistance into Gaza and a restoration of basic services, as well as ‘respect for international law’ and the release of all hostages.”

But the Council rejected, 6-2, a resolution condemning HAMAS for its conduct of the war. The resolution specifically mentioned the killings and kidnappings that began it. But attendees were having none of it. They actually said that Israeli Defense Forces personnel did the killings. An X user shared a minute and twelve seconds of remarks against the resolution:

The footage contains subtitles of the remarks – and the denial of the atrocities is unmistakable.

There have not been beheadings of babies and rapings! Israel murdered their own people on October 7^th!

Other attendees referred to “atrocity propaganda,” and even compared HAMAS to a female victim of domestic violence. The Jewish Telegraph Agency quoted one resident as accusing many of the public commenters as working from a script.

Reaction to that video was almost uniformly negative. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.), quote-posting the video, said this:

He wasn’t alone. The Mercury News reported widespread condemnation of the city of Oakland for its stance.

Trying to excuse it

In all justice, none can deny the atrocities. The Jewish Chronicle carried a story giving details that do not bear mention in polite company. More to the point, authentic footage of HAMAS atrocities has reached the United States Senate and House of Representatives. Not one Senator or Representative is prepared to deny what that footage depicts.

But a handful of Representative actually are willing to excuse it. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) provides an instructive – and disturbing – example. She appeared on CNN’s State of the Union program yesterday morning, as a guest of CNN correspondent Dana Bash. Ms. Bash asked the Representative why so many “progressive women” have not spoken against HAMAS using rape as a weapon of war. Summaries of this interview appeared at The Daily Caller, BizPacReview, and Mediaite.

Ms. Bash began by briefly summarizing the reports that came out of the Negev almost immediately after the events. Rep. Jayapal then said this:

But I think we have to remember Israel is a democracy. That is why they’re a strong ally of ours. And if they do not comply with international humanitarian law, they are bringing themselves to a place that makes it much more difficult strategically for them to be able to build allies, to keep public opinion with them, and frankly, morally, we cannot say that one war crime deserves another. That is not what international humanitarian law says.

Ms. Bash immediately rounded on her guest for trying to change the subject. The resulting dialogue was even more chilling:

Dana Bash: With respect, I was just asking about the women, and you turned it back to Israel. I’m asking you about Hamas.

Rep. Jayapal: I already answered your question, Dana. We have to be balanced about bringing in the outrages against Palestinians. Fifteen thousand Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes, three-quarters of whom are women and children.

DB: And it’s horrible. But you don’t see Israeli soldiers raping Palestinian women.

PJ: I don’t want this to be the hierarchies of oppressions.

Afterward, the negative reaction toward Rep. Jayapal poured in. Even Christine Pelosi, daughter of an infamous mother, couldn’t contain her shock.

Jessica Tarlov, the current token leftist on Fox News’ The Five, condemned Jayapal even further:

Herewith a sampling of other reaction:

Taxpayers’ money to HAMAS?

In other news, Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) has been suing the Biden administration to find out how much, if any, taxpayers’ money has been flowing to HAMAS. Jackson v. Biden, 2:22-cv-00241. (Docket page.) Rep. Jackson filed the lawsuit on December 20, 2022, and specifically addressed the Pay to Slay program by the Palestinian Authority. The suit accuses the administration of violating the Taylor Force Act, named after a U.S. serviceman killed in Israel. On October 10, 2023, three days after the Fourth Arab-Israeli War began, Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk signed an order granting a motion for discovery in that case.

Note that Rep. Jackson filed his motion in August. But after the war broke out, the judge said Jackson had sufficient grounds for discovery. At issue is the State Department’s Economic Support Fund (ESF) program, specifically for Gaza and “The West Bank” (i.e., Judea and Samaria). This program had been operating since 1993 (the Oslo Accords), but President Trump suspended it. By reinstating it, President Biden is facilitating the Pay to Slay program – because money is fungible. (Under the Taylor Force Act, if Pay to Slay continues, Palestinian “authorities” lose eligibility for ESF.)

Since the current war broke out, the Biden administration has tried to keep this quiet. But last Wednesday, Breitbart gave details of the lawsuit and the court order. This will force disclosures that could belie President Biden’s expressions of support for Israel.

Analysis

CNAV has noted before how the Fourth Arab-Israeli War fractures coalitions on the left and the right. This fracture is far more apparent on the left, because they, not the right, hold the White House. And also because leftists have a history of excusing crime as just retribution for “oppression,” according to Critical Theory. To a leftist, a thief is an irregular wealth-redistribution agent – and a murderer is an irregular punisher of oppressors. And the penalty of death, even for individuals who made no decision to oppress, becomes an appropriate penalty.

But now these penalties extend to the ultimate violation of women, and the slaughter of infants. This recalls Herod the Great’s Slaughter of the Innocents. (Matthew 2:16-18.) Facing that, leftists have to choices: to deny, or to excuse. We now see instances of both. Worse still, a Democratic administration has been funding terrorists, in violation of the law, perhaps since its very inception.

When the war began, such denials happened on the right as well. But now, those on the right who had denied the atrocities the loudest, are quietly taking down their remarks. Lauren Witzke, for example, unpinned her post accusing Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu of standing down his armies before the attack. In stark contrast, the leftists have gone all-in on defending HAMAS, even explicitly.

Conclusion

Appropriate authorities have documented the atrocities by HAMAS – and those who commit such acts, are enemies of humanity. Therefore no one can defend them for any reason. Those on the right now seem to begin to realize that. But this war divides the left between those who realize that, and those who don’t.