On Israel-hamas war, we’re obligated to have a real debate based on facts
“I used to watch MSNBC and CNN and read the NY Times and Washington Post to find out what is going on in the world. Today you will not get news from occupied Palestine from MSNBC or CNN or the NYT or WP or any U.s.-based media. The only way to get the real story of the genocide taking place is to watch social media. In particular, you must watch Al Jazeera to understand what is taking place. As American citizens you are obligated to educate yourself to the truth of the Zionists crimes in Palestine. We (the United States of America) must stop our support for the criminal country of Israel.”
The above post I wrote and published on Linkedin in mid-december. Apparently, this was too much truth for Kevin Rennie who published an editorial attacking a Lamont official for “liking” the above post [Dec. 24, Insight, Page 1, “Official’s unintentional social media ‘like’ tells chilling tale“]. There are several dimensions of this story and initially I was just going to let it be, but upon further reflection and witnessing some of the consequences of the Rennie piece, I have no option but to respond. But let’s stick to the facts. And let’s have a real debate based on facts.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas fighters attacked Israeli communities and killed 1,139 people and took 240 hostages.
There is evidence that Hamas fighters also raped women prior to murdering them.
The land where the attack took place only became a part of Israel after the United Nations voted to create a Zionist state in 1948 where Jews from Europe could call home after the horrors of the Holocaust. It is important to note that none of the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust were killed by Palestinians — they were all killed by Europeans. It was a myth that Israel was founded in a land with no people for a people without a land. Palestinians were there when the Jews from Europe arrived.
Prior to the creation of Israel in 1948, the land was called Palestine and had been controlled by the Ottoman Empire and after World War I by the British. Prior to 1948, Jews lived in Palestine and were a minority.
After a series of wars, millions of Palestinians were forced from their homes and relocated to Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Jordan and other countries in the region.
The Palestinians never accepted this forced removal and theft of their lands and homes.
Palestinians were pushed into the West Bank and Gaza.
Zionists have pursued a policy of taking more land from the Palestinians in the West Bank and have established a puppet government in the West Bank.
Hundreds of thousands of Zionists have set up apartheid-like settlements in the West Bank and through violence and intimidation have removed Palestinians from their homes. This practice continues today.
The citizens of Gaza voted not to continue to support the puppet government and Hamas was elected to rule Gaza in 2006.
Soon after Oct. 7, 2023, Israel began a bombing campaign that has killed over 22,000 Palestinian men, women and children and injured over 50,000. The indiscriminate bombing has left 80 percent of the residents of Gaza homeless without running water, sewage, heat, shelter, food or jobs and the bombs continue to fall on schools, hospitals, universities, residential areas, refugee centers and United Nations facilities.
In terms of the mainstream media’s coverage of this war, CNN, MSNBC, Fox, the New York Times and the Washington Post are not showing or reporting on the carnage caused by U.S. paid for and manufactured weapons. Yes, Al Jazeera is owned by the Qatari government, and yes it is biased toward the plight of the Palestinians, but it has cameras and reporters on the ground showing the bombardment, death and destruction at great personal cost. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 77 journalists have been killed by Israel since October 7, and 21 have been arrested by the Israel Defense Force.
The Biden Administration recently, without Congressional approval, sent $147 million worth of tank munitions to Israel to extend the killing of Palestinians who have no tanks, no airplanes, and no ability to defend themselves from this slaughter. And this does not include the $14 billion Congress is considering to support the war. This is more than $7,000 for every man, woman and child living in Gaza. Gaza has a per capita income of less than $6,000 compared to Israel’s per capita income of over $50,000. These are my tax dollars and your tax dollars.
Am I opposed to this slaughter? Yes. Am I opposed to illegal settlements in the West Bank and Gaza? Yes. Am I against Zionism because it is by definition anti-democratic, expansionist and criminal? Yes. Do I agree with the case brought against Israel in the International Criminal Court for committing genocide? Yes.
Do I agree with the 153 nations who voted in the United Nations General Assembly for a cease-fire in December (only 10 voted against it including the United States, Israel, and Austria)? Yes.
And finally, can someone be anti-zionist and not be antisemitic? The answer to this is a resounding yes.
I can support a vision of an Israel that includes all Palestinians in a democracy.
Zionists are not democrats. It is impossible to square Zionism with democratic principles except in some warped form unrecognizable to freedom-loving people. The Zionists have destroyed any possibility of a two-state solution leaving only two choices to consider: One is an apartheid-like state of permanent Jim Crow policies that leave Palestinians as thirdclass residents in their homeland; or a democracy where religion is irrelevant in the determination of citizenship. I prefer the latter. It will not be easy, but the alternative is permanent war, death, insecurity and madness. More Americans might agree with me if the mainstream media did its job and covered this story the way Al Jazeera journalists do, particularly those who gave their lives to share with the world the insanity of this war.
On a personal note, I have already seen how organizations and clients have reacted to the Rennie piece by treating me as if I have a combination of COVID and HIV. But fortunately for me, at this time in my life, I can afford to be canceled even at the cost of losing a few cowardly clients and upsetting a misinformed columnist.
Fred Mckinney has worked in the Carter White House, taught at Brandeis, the University of Connecticut, the Tuck School of Business and Quinnipiac University. For 15 years Dr. Mckinney served as president and CEO of the Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council. He is a co-founder of BJM Solutions, an economic consulting company.