In a recent opinion piece for The Washington Post (“Biden’s Gaza policy is the latest major U.S. foreign affairs blunder,” December 13), columnist Perry Bacon Jr. questioned both the morality and integrity of the United States’ foreign policy over the last two months as it continues to support Israel both militarily and diplomatically in its fight against Hamas.
For Bacon Jr., the support by US President Joe Biden and his administration for the Jewish state’s war against a genocidal terrorist enemy is a blunder that is “blotting out positive memories of Biden’s foreign policies – perhaps permanently.”
However, in making his case against the US administration’s steadfast support for Israel’s war in Gaza, Bacon Jr. makes it clear that he has a faulty and simplistic understanding of Israel, Hamas, and both the purpose of the war in Gaza as well as the nature of the intense urban warfare currently taking place in the coastal enclave.
The U.S. wants to lead the world on global policy issues. But the past two months are the latest illustration of why people and nations across the world are so skeptical of American foreign policy and global leadership. https://t.co/skxnVUX0Mq
— Perry Bacon Jr. (@perrybaconjr) December 13, 2023
According to Bacon Jr., Israel is currently engaged in the indiscriminate killing of Palestinian civilians as well as the “bombing [of] everything in Gaza,” ultimately intent on destroying the entire area. To support his claims, he points to Israeli strikes on hospitals and schools as well as the mass displacement of Gazan civilians.
However, the key factor missing from Bacon Jr.’s analysis is the role that Hamas plays in this war. Nowhere in this 17-paragraph piece is it mentioned that Hamas, an internationally recognized terror organization, embeds itself within the general population, using the cover of civilian infrastructure to conceal its gunmen, rocket launchers, elaborate tunnel system, and ruthless terrorist leadership.
Thus, Hamas’ use of these locations takes away their civilian protection and turns them into legitimate military targets. Similarly, Israel encouraged the movement of civilians from northern Gaza to the south in order to shield them from the fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists.
This is in sharp contrast to the conduct of the Russian military in its invasion of Ukraine, with its indiscriminate attacks against civilians and non-military targets, which Perry Bacon Jr. incorrectly compares Israel to a number of times.
Footage published by the IDF shows Hamas operatives opening fire at troops from an UNRWA school in northern Gaza's Beit Hanoun, and a strike in response. pic.twitter.com/eNpNsTsJJ4
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 9, 2023
Not only is Hamas’ cynical manipulation of Gaza’s civilian population and infrastructure not mentioned once in the piece, but the terror group and its barbaric actions on October 7 only warrant a couple of passing references.
For anyone unacquainted with the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, this piece will leave them with the false impression that the Jewish state is the aggressor in Gaza, without any context or reasoning given for why it has been conducting a large military operation over the past two months and why there has been so much fighting in supposedly civilian areas.
But it’s not only Israel’s conduct in Gaza that Perry Bacon Jr. has a problem with, it’s with Israel itself.
Citing the US administration’s support for Israel as a democracy in a region that is no stranger to autocracies, monarchies, and dictatorships, Bacon Jr. seeks to undercut this impression of the Jewish state by questioning its democratic bona fides.
The claims put forward against Israel’s democratic character include the assertion by certain human rights organizations that Israel is practicing apartheid, that Israel has been targeting journalists throughout the war, and that Israel is stifling expressions of criticism of the war in Gaza.
The charge of apartheid has been thoroughly debunked on numerous occasions, including by HonestReporting, as a legal fiction that has been concocted by opponents of the Jewish state and is not grounded in reality.
Concerning the second charge, Bacon Jr. writes “Over the past two months, dozens of journalists have been killed in Gaza, with credible accusations that the Israeli military has intentionally targeted journalists.”
However, this analysis is belied by the fact that most killed journalists in Gaza did not fall in the line of duty and that the source for the claim that Israel is “targeting” journalists is a single quote by Lebanon’s Minister of Information Ziad Makary. As well, the IDF has continually asserted that it does not intentionally target journalists.
The third charge against Israel’s democratic character is described by Bacon Jr. as “a member of Israel’s Knesset was suspended after criticizing the bombing in Gaza.”
However, a look at the source provided for this claim, an article from the Israeli daily Haaretz, proves that it is not as straightforward as he would have us believe.
In mid-October 2023, an extreme-left Jewish parliamentarian, Ofer Cassif, was suspended by the Knesset Ethics Committee for implicitly comparing Israel’s conduct in Gaza to the Holocaust. According to the findings of the Committee, Cassif’s statement was inappropriate to “his status as a Member of Knesset and severely harms the Knesset’s standing and the public’s trust in the Knesset.”
This is a far cry from a blanket suspension of an MK solely for “criticizing the bombing in Gaza.” In fact, there have been expressions of opposition to certain aspects of Israel’s conduct in the war in the Israeli public sphere without reprisal by the government.
From this piece, it is clear that Perry Bacon Jr. has a superficial understanding of the current war in Gaza, with no nuance or complexity to temper his denigration of Israel and its military activities.
He even admits as much when he writes, “I don’t follow foreign affairs as closely as I probably should.”
This has not stopped him, however, from penning a one-sided critique of the United States’ courageous support for Israel as it combats an immoral terror group bent on the Jewish state’s destruction.
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Photo Credits via Flash90:
- Joe Biden – Arie Leib Abrams
- Soldier – Ayal Margolin
