A couple of newsletters ago, I mentioned remarks made by former Obama speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz, who lamented the fact that people are inundated with horrific images out of Gaza.
Hurwitz says online information about the genocide is impairing the work of people desperately trying to defend Israel.
“So you have Tik Tok just smashing our young people’s brains all day long with video of carnage in Gaza,” Hurwitz told the crowd at a Jewish Federation event. “And this is why so many of us can’t have a sane conversation with younger Jews because anything that we try to say to them, they are hearing it through this wall of carnage. So I want to give data and information and facts and arguments and they are just seeing in their minds carnage and I sound obscene.”
Now we have very similar comments from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Speaking at a conference hosted by the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, Clinton complained that young people are turning on Israel as a result of “made-up videos.”
“Smart, well-educated, young people from our own country, from around the world, where were they getting their information?” Clinton explained. “They were getting their information from social media, particularly TikTok.”
“That is where they were learning about what happened on October 7th, what happened in the days, weeks, and months to follow, she continued. “That’s a serious problem. It’s a serious problem for democracy, whether it’s Israel or the United States, and it’s a serious problem for our young people.”
Clinton says it’s hard for her to talk about the issue with young people because they lack context and influenced by the “pure propaganda” of social media.
Clinton is particularly dismayed that young Jewish Americans are becoming increasingly pro-Palestine.
“It’s not just the usual suspects [I’d love to know who she’s referring to here!] It’s a lot of young Jewish Americans who don’t know the history and don’t understand,” says Clinton. “A lot of the challenge is with younger people. More than 50% of young people in America get their news from social media.”
“We have to do a better job of talking through the importance of supporting Israel and Israel’s security in a way that crosses generations,” she concluded.
Ah, but how will you get through that wall of carnage?
Clinton’s remarks generated immediate backlash across social media, but one of the most perceptive comments came from the writer Tariq Kenney-Shawa.
“Honestly this is great,” he wrote. “Let the defense of Zionism be led by the likes of Hillary Clinton, who represents, to the younger generation across the political spectrum, a microcosm of everything wrong with the political establishment. She’s what Israel needs least, but fully deserves.”
Trump and Venezuela
In recent days, politicians on both sides of the aisle have expressed criticism over Trump’s potential war on Venezuela.
“The Administration is pretending we’re ‘at war’ with Venezuela to justify blowing up boats all without a vote, without transparency, and without answering to Congress,” tweeted Senator Rand Paul (R-KY). “If it’s war, declare it. If it’s not, stop acting like it is.”
“How is it that we have money for regime change in Venezuela but not money to pay air traffic controllers in our country?,” wondered Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY).
“It’s long past time for Congress to finally get substantive and complete answers to the questions Democratic and Republican lawmakers have been asking for months, and for the Administration to be transparent about its strategic intentions in the region,” said Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) in a statement.
Now, a group of Senators, including Chuck Schumer of New York and Adam Schiff of California, say they will force a War Powers vote if Trump takes action against the country.
The actions of these lawmakers align with the views of the vast majority of Americans.
A CBS/YouGov poll shows that 70% of Americans oppose the U.S. taking military action in Venezuela, and 76% believe the administration has not “clearly explained the U.S. position on military action in Venezuela.”
These numbers aren’t surprising.
The genocide has undoubtedly tarnished Israel’s reputation with the American public, but “War on Terror” fatigue is another big part of the story.
In the case of Venezuela, we see echoes of the Iraq war. Disinformation. Shady sources. A barrage of “experts” sounding off about the need for regime change. However, this time around, there seems to be a greater skepticism among the population, and that suspicion is also fueling a lot of the fallout with Israel.
On some level, Trump’s first presidential victory was propelled by his direct criticisms of the Bush-era foreign policy, but his administration has certainly not been dovish.
Can the White House navigate this terrain without alienating a certain sector of its base?
There’s an interesting quote from a former senior Trump adviser in a recent POLITICO article.
“There’s definitely a little bit of trepidation, like, okay, where are we going here? Let’s not turn into George W. Bush and before you know it, we’re in charge of Venezuela,” he says. “But as far as nation building, and forced regime change and boots on the ground, all of those would be definite red lines for me, and I think for most people within the America First world.”
Odds & Ends
🪧 Inside the grassroots campaign to release U.S. teenager Mohammed Ibrahim from Israeli detention
🇮🇱 How Zionism was sold to the world
🧊 The Israel lobby is melting down before our eyes
🐘 Stop calling right-wing criticism of Israel ‘anti-Zionism’
📺 Responsible Statecraft: Inside Israel’s shadow campaign to win over American media
🇵🇸 Counterpunch: The US-Israeli Scheme to Partition Gaza and Break Palestinian Will
🇺🇦 Common Dreams: Comparing the Ukraine and Gaza Peace Deals
🏛️ Zeteo: Will Congress Impeach Pete Hegseth?
🚜 Electronic Intifada: The US bulldozed the prospect of Uniting for Peace in Palestine
🇸🇾 Newsweek: Israel’s Netanyahu Responds to Donald Trump Warning on Syria
🗣️ Truthout: Republicans Probe Alleged Hegseth Order to “Kill Everybody” as War Crimes Mount
🇪🇬 Middle East Eye: Israel relishes in Trump’s Muslim Brotherhood crackdown as Gulf shrugs it off
🗳️ Jewish Insider: Haley Stevens maintains support for Israel as her primary rivals battle over anti-Israel lane
“If it’s war, declare it.” The US Congress — they have that power under the constitution — has not declared war since December 1941.
As for Hillary Clinton, if she wasn’t dead politically before this, she is now.
“We have to do a better job of talking through the importance of supporting Israel and Israel’s security in a way that crosses generations,” says Clinton.
We might ask ourselves what kind of country Israel actually is – besides being the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people, of course.
Entering election year, Netanyahu’s government targets Israel’s free press….What began as Israel’s leader cold-shouldering the mainstream media is becoming a more widespread assault on the country’s freedom of the press….Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not granted an interview to Israel’s three main broadcasters in over four years. He’s accused them of “brainwashing,” claimed they assist Israel’s enemies and personally gone after journalists who criticize him….Now, that longstanding tension is evolving into something more aggressive.: On Monday, Netanyahu’s coalition will establish a special parliamentary committee to advance legislation that would replace Israel’s independent media regulators with political appointees.
Benajmin Netanyahu’s government targets Israel’s free press | CNN
Legislating apartheid: How Israel entrenched unequal rule during Gaza war…In a two-year blitz, Israeli lawmakers passed over 30 laws curtailing Palestinians’ rights and punishing dissent, a new report shows….As a disturbing new report by the Haifa-based legal center Adalah shows, they have used the chaos of the past two years to advance more than 30 new laws entrenching apartheid and Jewish supremacy — joining Adalah’s existing list of now more than 100 Israeli laws that discriminate against Palestinian citizens….Just a month after October 7, the Knesset passed a two-year temporary order — renewed last week for another two years — that outlaws the “systematic and continuous consumption of publications of a terrorist organization,” carrying a one-year prison sentence. In other words, the legislature now criminalizes conduct that takes place entirely within a person’s private space.
How Israel entrenched apartheid rule during Gaza war
Just why is it important to support Israel?