Starting my (first!) thread here about the UN Security Council’s first resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages by Hamas, with the US abstaining.
The all complicates ongoing negotiations for Hamas for a hostage release in in exchange for a six-week ceasefire and the release of some 400 Palestinian prisoners. Israel is saying it will not cease fire until the last of the hostages return home and Hamas is destroyed. So now you have Israel in defiance of a UN Security Council mandate amid critical need to get aid into Gaza to avert a famine Gaza.
I don’t understand why the U.S. can’t pick a side - if it wants a cease-fire then just own it. If it wants to link the two, and this resolution didn’t’- then why not veto? Seems to me the resolution should have been timed to enshrine a negotiated agreement on a ceasefire and hostages.
There are some syntactical issues here. Sure, the UNSCR demanded a cease-fire "and" the release of the hostages. But it didn't link the two, which is a massive policy change, a victory for Hamas, and ranges the Biden Administration on the side of the ignorant bigots who chant the mantra cease-fire in Palestin? Plastina? Palstine? Whatever... that place. A disgrace.
In the end this resolution will accomplish nothing. Hamas will not release all the hostages and Israel will not cease fire. Israel will refrain from going into Rafah until it is ready to do so and it is nowhere near ready. Ramadan will end and in 2 weeks and this will be forgotten.
What if it were your new infant Hamas put in an oven than turned it on to bake? Or perhaps Hamas took your pregnant wife, raped her again and again till both were dead! Or they burned your family alive in front of your eyes? To top it off, they videotaped the whole massacre and forced you to relive every day until you were beheaded? You think they will ever forget it so lightly? Israel gave Palestine the land they occupy as a means to peace and Hamas will never stop hating the Jews. From birth, they are trained to hate Jews and Americans. They will never stop, never.
As far as the Biden administration is concerned, it’s a disgrace to most Americans and a laughing stick to the rest of the world. They could give a hoot! BTW: Hamas is currently in the USA, thanks to Biden and his minions. So, lock your doors!
As Elise noted before, the Biden Administration’s “passive-agressive” strategy may be getting tougher — so Israel cancels a DC trip <yawn>—but there has to be some movement by Hamas toward a resolution before Israel will stand down, if only temporarily
While I agree that the resolution probably won’t accomplish much immediately, abstaining was a very public and historic rebuke of Israel’s conduct. The U.S. is a steadfast ally, and not opting for a veto sends a strong signal.
It might look like a victory for Hamas, but only if the plan was to win by breaking the ties that bind the Palestinian community together and its social welfare infrastructure. The repercussions of losing so many doctors and hospitals will be enormous. Apartment buildings take time to rebuild and so do schools. Hamas is as responsible for the deaths and destruction as Israel.
The challenge for negotiators will be finding an acceptable off-ramp that brings the hostages home and gets aid to civilians who have nowhere to go.
Punishing the leaders of Hamas who orchestrated the October 7th attack may have to be creatively separated from a ceasefire agreement. Israel has every right to capture, jail, and convict those responsible in court, but destroying Gaza doesn’t seem to be working.
My heart is with all the mothers, fathers, soldiers, doctors, nurses, teachers — on both sides.
Let’s hope Elise is right that the timing is helpful. Praying for peace in the Holy Land seems both futile and urgent.
Exactly it doesn’t do anything while offering the appearance of doing something. The only thing that will get a ceasefire, release hostages, and get aid in are the negotiations, so the timing of this resolution is helpful.
It is disturbing that this United States administration doesn't know the difference between good and evil. Once, this great nation stood by its friends in there struggle against evil. To stand by Israel is to stand for what is good. The defeat of Hamas will make for a better world for Israel and Gaza.
So the security council demands a ceasefire. The members can sanction Israel if Israel does not comply. But can they sanction Hamas if they don’t release the hostages that they have not yet murdered? Of the 134 they have, only 99 are believed to still be alive. Hamas again refused a deal last night. So how are the members of the security council sanction Hamas? So Hamas carried out the biggest massacre of Jews since the holocaust on October 7. And who is the secure council blaming? Israel. And to make it crystal clear. Although most Israelis today would not re-elect Netanyahu, most Israelis agree that Hamas must be eliminated, otherwise Hamas will be able to keep their promise to do October 7 over and over again. Where does that leave Israel in view of the council vote?
I don’t understand why the U.S. can’t pick a side - if it wants a cease-fire then just own it. If it wants to link the two, and this resolution didn’t’- then why not veto? Seems to me the resolution should have been timed to enshrine a negotiated agreement on a ceasefire and hostages.
There are some syntactical issues here. Sure, the UNSCR demanded a cease-fire "and" the release of the hostages. But it didn't link the two, which is a massive policy change, a victory for Hamas, and ranges the Biden Administration on the side of the ignorant bigots who chant the mantra cease-fire in Palestin? Plastina? Palstine? Whatever... that place. A disgrace.
In the end this resolution will accomplish nothing. Hamas will not release all the hostages and Israel will not cease fire. Israel will refrain from going into Rafah until it is ready to do so and it is nowhere near ready. Ramadan will end and in 2 weeks and this will be forgotten.
What if it were your new infant Hamas put in an oven than turned it on to bake? Or perhaps Hamas took your pregnant wife, raped her again and again till both were dead! Or they burned your family alive in front of your eyes? To top it off, they videotaped the whole massacre and forced you to relive every day until you were beheaded? You think they will ever forget it so lightly? Israel gave Palestine the land they occupy as a means to peace and Hamas will never stop hating the Jews. From birth, they are trained to hate Jews and Americans. They will never stop, never.
As far as the Biden administration is concerned, it’s a disgrace to most Americans and a laughing stick to the rest of the world. They could give a hoot! BTW: Hamas is currently in the USA, thanks to Biden and his minions. So, lock your doors!
Did you intend to direct this to me?
As Elise noted before, the Biden Administration’s “passive-agressive” strategy may be getting tougher — so Israel cancels a DC trip <yawn>—but there has to be some movement by Hamas toward a resolution before Israel will stand down, if only temporarily
While I agree that the resolution probably won’t accomplish much immediately, abstaining was a very public and historic rebuke of Israel’s conduct. The U.S. is a steadfast ally, and not opting for a veto sends a strong signal.
It might look like a victory for Hamas, but only if the plan was to win by breaking the ties that bind the Palestinian community together and its social welfare infrastructure. The repercussions of losing so many doctors and hospitals will be enormous. Apartment buildings take time to rebuild and so do schools. Hamas is as responsible for the deaths and destruction as Israel.
The challenge for negotiators will be finding an acceptable off-ramp that brings the hostages home and gets aid to civilians who have nowhere to go.
Punishing the leaders of Hamas who orchestrated the October 7th attack may have to be creatively separated from a ceasefire agreement. Israel has every right to capture, jail, and convict those responsible in court, but destroying Gaza doesn’t seem to be working.
My heart is with all the mothers, fathers, soldiers, doctors, nurses, teachers — on both sides.
Let’s hope Elise is right that the timing is helpful. Praying for peace in the Holy Land seems both futile and urgent.
Exactly it doesn’t do anything while offering the appearance of doing something. The only thing that will get a ceasefire, release hostages, and get aid in are the negotiations, so the timing of this resolution is helpful.
It is disturbing that this United States administration doesn't know the difference between good and evil. Once, this great nation stood by its friends in there struggle against evil. To stand by Israel is to stand for what is good. The defeat of Hamas will make for a better world for Israel and Gaza.
So the security council demands a ceasefire. The members can sanction Israel if Israel does not comply. But can they sanction Hamas if they don’t release the hostages that they have not yet murdered? Of the 134 they have, only 99 are believed to still be alive. Hamas again refused a deal last night. So how are the members of the security council sanction Hamas? So Hamas carried out the biggest massacre of Jews since the holocaust on October 7. And who is the secure council blaming? Israel. And to make it crystal clear. Although most Israelis today would not re-elect Netanyahu, most Israelis agree that Hamas must be eliminated, otherwise Hamas will be able to keep their promise to do October 7 over and over again. Where does that leave Israel in view of the council vote?