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It’s been 17 days since Hamas launched its horrific attack against Israel, killing over 1,400 Israeli citizens, including defenseless women, children and the elderly. In the aftermath of such unspeakable brutality, the US government and the American people have shared in the grief of families, prayed for the return of loved ones, and rightly declared solidarity with the Israeli people.
As I stated in an earlier post, Israel has a right to defend its citizens against such wanton violence, and I fully support President Biden’s call for the United States to support our long-time ally in going after Hamas, dismantling its military capabilities, and facilitating the safe return of hundreds of hostages to their families.
But even as we support Israel, we should also be clear that how Israel prosecutes this fight against Hamas matters. In particular, it matters — as President Biden has repeatedly emphasized — that Israel’s military strategy abides by international law, including those laws that seek to avoid, to every extent possible, the death or suffering of civilian populations. Upholding these values is important for its own sake — because it is morally just and reflects our belief in the inherent value of every human life. Upholding these values is also vital for building alliances and shaping international opinion — all of which are critical for Israel’s long-term security.
This is an enormously difficult task. War is always tragic, and even the most carefully planned military operations often put civilians at risk. As President Biden noted during his recent visit to Israel, America itself has at times fallen short of our higher values when engaged in war, and in the aftermath of 9/11, the US government wasn’t interested in heeding the advice of even our allies when it came to the steps we took to protect ourselves against Al Qaeda. Now, after the systematic massacre of Israeli citizens, a massacre that evokes some of the darkest memories of persecution against the Jewish people, it’s understandable that many Israelis have demanded that their government do whatever it takes to root out Hamas and make sure such attacks never happen again. Moreover, Hamas’s military operations are deeply embedded within Gaza — and its leadership seems to intentionally hide among civilians, thereby endangering the very people they claim to represent.
Still, the world is watching closely as events in the region unfold, and any Israeli military strategy that ignores the human costs could ultimately backfire. Already, thousands of Palestinians have been killed in the bombing of Gaza, many of them children. Hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes. The Israeli government’s decision to cut off food, water and electricity to a captive civilian population threatens not only to worsen a growing humanitarian crisis; it could further harden Palestinian attitudes for generations, erode global support for Israel, play into the hands of Israel’s enemies, and undermine long term efforts to achieve peace and stability in the region.
It’s therefore important that those of us supporting Israel in its time of need encourage a strategy that can incapacitate Hamas while minimizing further civilian casualties. Israel’s recent shift to allow relief trucks into Gaza, prompted in part by the Biden administration’s behind-the-scenes diplomacy, is an encouraging step, but we need to continue to lead the international community in accelerating critical aid and supplies to an increasingly desperate Gaza population. And while the prospects of future peace may seem more distant than ever, we should call on all of the key actors in the region to engage with those Palestinian leaders and organizations that recognize Israel’s right to exist to begin articulating a viable pathway for Palestinians to achieve their legitimate aspirations for self-determination — because that is the best and perhaps only way to achieve the lasting peace and security most Israeli and Palestinian families yearn for.
Finally, in dealing with what is an extraordinarily complex situation where so many people are in pain and passions are understandably running high, all of us need to do our best to put our best values, rather than our worst fears, on display.
That means actively opposing anti-semitism in all its forms, everywhere. It means rejecting efforts to minimize the terrible tragedy that the Israeli people have just endured, as well as the morally-bankrupt suggestion that any cause can somehow justify the deliberate slaughter of innocent people.
It means rejecting anti-Muslim, anti-Arab or anti-Palestinian sentiment. It means refusing to lump all Palestinians with Hamas or other terrorist groups. It means guarding against dehumanizing language towards the people of Gaza, or downplaying Palestinian suffering — whether in Gaza or the West Bank — as irrelevant or illegitimate.
It means recognizing that Israel has every right to exist; that the Jewish people have claim to a secure homeland where they have ancient historical roots; and that there have been instances in which previous Israeli governments made meaningful efforts to resolve the dispute and provide a path for a two-state solution — efforts that were ultimately rebuffed by the other side.
It means acknowledging that Palestinians have also lived in disputed territories for generations; that many of them were not only displaced when Israel was formed but continue to be forcibly displaced by a settler movement that too often has received tacit or explicit support from the Israeli government; that Palestinian leaders who’ve been willing to make concessions for a two-state solution have too often had little to show for their efforts; and that it is possible for people of good will to champion Palestinian rights and oppose certain Israeli government policies in the West Bank and Gaza without being anti-semitic.
Perhaps most of all, it means we should choose not to always assume the worst in those with whom we disagree. In an age of constant rancor, trolling and misinformation on social media, at a time when so many politicians and attention seekers see an advantage in shedding heat rather than light, it may be unrealistic to expect respectful dialogue on any issue — much less on an issue with such high stakes and after so much blood has been spilled. But if we care about keeping open the possibility of peace, security and dignity for future generations of Israeli and Palestinian children — as well as for our own children — then it falls upon all of us to at least make the effort to model, in our own words and actions, the kind of world we want them to inherit.
Here are links to some useful perspectives and background on the conflict:
● Israel Is About to Make a Terrible Mistake by Thomas L. Friedman
● ‘I Love You. I Am Sorry’: One Jew, One Muslim and a Friendship Tested by War by Kurt Streeter
● A Timeline of Israel and Palestine’s Complicated History by Nicole Narea
● Gaza: The Cost of Escalation by Ben Rhodes
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As traffic slows down and comes to a halt, we hope you are out of it, or get out of it soon.
Remember where you are, who you are and what your best neighbors ought to be convinced to think of you.
This is PANAMA. Gringo “time is money” notions don’t work here. Acclimate to the “maybe mañana” attitude for your own health and safety.
HOW LONG will these protests last? It might be days or weeks. They might be cut short by an intervening decision or event.
In the meantime, calm down. Find something to do around the house.
If there is a need to get supplies, better to network with others than to be an individual in a crowd of hoarders at one of the big supermarkets. These twisted so-called “Darwinians” will tell you about the strongest and toughest and smartest and richest surviving. Actually, it’s those who form the most adequate associations with other people who do that best.
Does the editor have a suggested end strategy for this crisis? Of course. The high court rules that this contract, like the prior one, is unconstitutional. Nito, Benicio and the PRD cower at the thought of starting this up again. In any case those who were for selling off part of Panama as a mining colony get sent to political oblivion in next May’s elections, and because the company is a foreign entity that has intervened in Panamanian politics, the new administration declares First Quantum non grata and kicks them out of the country.
Will they sue in some international court? Let them. They won’t win before any impartial tribunal.
Each for their domestic political reasons, Israel’s Netanyahu regime and Gaza’s Hamas regime decided that war and pogroms against noncombatant civilians were the way out of long festering and unsustainable political crises. Go much beyond that and the equivalencies stray ever farther from the truth.
Hamas won the last Palestinian elections, in 2006, with Gaza their stronghold. They did so with Israeli help. Since shortly thereafter the loser, Mahmoud Abbas, has stayed on as an illegitimate and ineffectual authoritarian with an ever-shrinking part of the county on the West Bank, as violent Israeli settlers grab ever more land and destroy ever more Palestinian property. Hamas has become ever more violent and extreme in Gaza, from time to time putting on deadly pyrotechnics shows that only bring destruction and misery to the people whom they govern.
Nobody speaking for Israel has any right to comment on how badly the Palestinians are led. It’s like a rapist taunting his victim on a grand scale.
You can understand fascists anywhere liking all the death and destruction. People like that are really into cruelty, and there a many of them in many countries cheering for the Israeli bombing campaign.
But a large majority of the American people look at what’s going on over there and are sickened by it and want a ceasefire. What Uncle Sam is paying for instead is more bombing, more war, and an ethnic cleansing campaign directed at a civilian population of more than a million people, most of whom are too young to vote now and who certainly had no voice in the 2006 election.
STOP IT! Stop feeding the slaughter now, find a mediator who can be neither the United States nor any other knee-jerk supporter of either side, end this atrocious war, end this atrocious apartheid scheme, bring war criminals from both sides to the defendants’ dock of international justice and get on with the business of promoting two states that will get along with each other.
While we are at it, let’s get past the hypocrisy. The dispossession and removal of so many conquered peoples are the national stories of most of the modern-day countries of the Americas. An honest look at what has been done in the places we are from, and a bit of humility about that, are steps along the way to understanding the problem between the Israelis and the Palestinians and making proper moral judgments about the aspects of it. There is no ethnic cleansing lite, nor are there glorious tales to be truthfully told about the process. Look at all the war propaganda in that light.
Writing in English is the most ingenious torture ever devised for sins committed in previous lives.
James Joyce
There is only one kind of shock worse than the totally unexpected: the expected for which one has refused to prepare.
Mary Renault
A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned to walk forward.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Self-knowledge is not knowledge but a story one tells about oneself.
Simone De Beauvoir
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Burlándose descaradamente de la opinión pública expresada en las calles y en las consultas ciudadanas, el gobierno del PRD-Cortizo y la Asamblea Nacional, con todos sus partidos (PRD, Molirena, Panameñista, Cambio Democrático, Martinellistas, Populares, etc.) aprobaron el contrato con la empresa First Quantum Mineral (FQM), o Minera Panamá. Mofándose del pueblo panameño, cambiaron algunas frases del contrato para decir que lo habían modificado. Tan pronto la embajadora norteamericana dijo que ella avalaba el contrato, corrieron todos esos títeres gringueros a aprobar el contrato. Cuando se percataron que las organizaciones populares no se dejarían engañar recurrieron a la represión para impedir el acceso al recinto legislativo.
La actuación de las autoridades de todos los órganos del estado panameño, ejecutivo, legislativo y la Corte Suprema de Justicia, que tardó 20 años en señalar la inconstitucionalidad del primer contrato, muestra que las instituciones están corrompidas por oscuros intereses privados. La forma como se ha despreciado a la opinión pública prueba que estamos ante un estado antidemocrático y antipopular. La sospecha de que el apuro en aprobar el contrato es indicio de corrupción y de fraude electoral anticipado, si los dineros del sector minero, por vías directas o indirectas acaban financiando las campañas presidenciales.
En la política panameña, todos los lazos conducen a los intereses de First Quantum:
Está claro que la única salida frente a los intereses mineros y los corruptos políticos salpicados por la mina es política. Hay que sacar del gobierno a los partidos, políticos y candidatos que representan intereses antinacionales mineros. Si queremos un país sin minería o, al menos, sin minería a cielo abierto, no podemos elegir a los mismos de siempre. Si queremos un país verdaderamente democrático en el que se escuche la voz del pueblo, no podemos elegir en 2024 a candidatos que trabajan para Minera Panamá. El Polo Ciudadano de Panamá señala que, en 2024, hay una sola opción política para sacar a los corruptos de las instituciones, la candidatura presidencial Maribel Gordón y Richard Morales.
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Peace, God’s mercy and blessings be upon you.
This is how Muslims and Arabs greet others: with a wish for the other to be blessed with peace and the mercy of God.
Our religion came with a message of peace. The Pact of Omar, issued at the gates of Jerusalem almost 15 centuries ago, more than a thousand years before the Geneva Conventions, ordered Muslim soldiers not to kill a child, a woman or an old person, not to destroy a tree, not to harm a priest, not to destroy a church.
Those are the rules of engagement that Muslims must accept and abide by, as should all those who believe in our common humanity. All civilian lives matter!
I am outraged and grieved by those acts of violence waged against innocent civilians in Gaza, in the West Bank, and Israel.
The relentless bombing campaign underway in Gaza as we speak is cruel and unconscionable—on every level.
It is collective punishment of a besieged and helpless people.
It is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.
It is a war crime.
Yet, the deeper the crisis cuts of cruelty, the less the world seems to care.
Anywhere else, attacking civilian infrastructure and deliberately starving an entire population of food, water, electricity, and basic necessities would be condemned. Accountability would be enforced, immediately, unequivocally.
And it has been done before—recently, in another conflict.
But not in Gaza. It’s been two weeks since Israel put in place the complete siege of the Gaza Strip. And still, for the most part, global silence.
Yet the message the Arab world is hearing is loud and clear: Palestinian lives matter less than Israeli ones. Our lives matter less than other lives. The application of international law is optional. And human rights have boundaries—they stop at borders, they stop at races, and they stop at religions.
That is a very, very dangerous message, as the consequences of continued international apathy and inaction will be catastrophic—on us all.
We cannot let raw emotions dictate the moment; our priorities today are clear and urgent:
First: An immediate end to the war on Gaza, the protection of civilians, and the adoption of a unified position that indiscriminately condemns the targeting of all civilians, in line with our shared values and international law, which loses all value if it is implemented selectively.
Second: The sustained and uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid, fuel, food, and medicines to the Gaza Strip.
Third: The unequivocal rejection of the forced displacement or internal displacement of the Palestinians. This is a war crime according to international law, and a red line for all of us.
This conflict, my friends, did not start two weeks ago, and it will not stop if we continue down this blood-soaked path. We know all too well that it will only lead to more of the same—a zero-sum game of death and destruction, of hatred and hopelessness played on repeat.
Today, Israel is literally starving civilians in Gaza, but for decades, Palestinians have been starved of hope, of freedom, and a future.
Because when the bombs stop falling, Israel is never held accountable, the injustices of occupation continue and the world walks away, until the next round of violence. The bloodshed we are witnessing today is the price of that, of failing to make tangible progress towards a political horizon that brings peace for Palestinians and Israelis alike.
Israeli leadership must realise that there is no military solution to its security concerns, that it cannot continue to sideline the five million Palestinians living under its occupation, denied of their legitimate rights, and that Palestinians lives are no less valuable than Israeli lives.
The Israeli leadership must realise, once and for all, that a state can never thrive if it is built on the foundations of injustice.
Over the past 15 years, we have seen how the dreams of a two-state solution and the hopes of an entire generation have turned into despair. This has been the policy of hardline Israeli leadership—to focus solely on security over peace and create new illegal realities on the ground that render an autonomous Palestinian state unviable. In the process, it has empowered extremists on both sides.
But we must not—we cannot—write off this conflict as too far gone, for the sake of both the Palestinians and the Israelis.
Our collective and unified message to the Israeli people should be: We want a future of peace and security for you and for the Palestinians, where your children and Palestinian children should no longer live in fear.
It is our duty as the international community to do whatever it takes to restart a meaningful political process that can take us to a just and sustainable peace on the basis of the two-state solution.
The only path to a safe and secure future for the people of the Middle East and the entire world—for the Jewish people, for Christians, for Muslims alike—starts with the belief that every human life is of equal value and it ends with two states, Palestine and Israel, sharing land and peace from the river to the sea.
The time to act is now.
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Tres regiones de Panamá han sido incorporadas entre los Sitios de Anfibios Amenazados (TALs, por sus siglas en inglés), por la Segunda Evaluación Global de Anfibios (GAA-2) realizada recientemente para la Autoridad de la Lista Roja de Anfibios (ARLA) de la Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (UICN). El análisis evaluó el riesgo de extinción de más de 8,000 especies de anfibios de todo el planeta e identificó 50 TALs en el mundo que son de crítica importancia para la conservación porque cuentan con el 71% de todos los anfibios amenazados. Entre ellos se encuentran las tierras altas entre Panamá y Costa Rica, Panamá Central y el Chocó-Darién.
Este esfuerzo global contó con datos y conocimientos de más de mil expertos en todo el mundo, dentro de los cuales se encuentran científicos panameños. Sus resultados, reportados en un artículo en la revista Nature el 4 de octubre pasado, revelaron que dos de cada cinco anfibios en el mundo están amenazados de extinción. Entre los autores de este artículo se encuentran el director del proyecto de Rescate y Conservación de Anfibios de Panamá (PARC), el Dr. Roberto Ibáñez, y Ángel Sousa-Bartuano, de la Universidad de Panamá.
La Primera Evaluación Global de Anfibios (GAA-1) se realizó en 2004 y, desde entonces, al menos cuatro especies de anfibios se han extinto, incluyendo la rana arlequín de Chiriquí (Atelopus chiriquiensis) que habitaba en las tierras altas entre Costa Rica y la región occidental de Panamá.
La GAA-2 reveló que la destrucción y degradación de los hábitats figura como la más grande amenaza a los anfibios a nivel mundial, afectando a la mayoría de las especies amenazadas. En Panamá, la enfermedad causada por el hongo quítrido se mantiene como el principal factor de riesgo para los anfibios; sin embargo, las afectaciones a su hábitat tienen un impacto importante.
“Ya que, al reducir las áreas en donde éstos se distribuyen, también se reducen las posibilidades donde puedan existir poblaciones remanentes de las especies afectadas por el hongo”, explicó Ibáñez. “Además, se disminuyen y fragmentan los hábitats que utilizan otras especies de anfibios”.
Según la GAA-2, existen 11 especies amenazadas en Panamá Central, en su mayoría por causa de la enfermedad y la pérdida de su hábitat. En el caso del Chocó-Darién, se identificaron 81 especies amenazadas, en gran medida por la pérdida de su hábitat, seguido por la enfermedad y el cambio climático. En cuanto a los anfibios de tierras altas, 76 especies se encuentran amenazadas, principalmente por la pérdida del hábitat, seguido de la enfermedad. Sin embargo, esta es la región del país con mayor porcentaje de anfibios amenazados por el cambio climático, con un 17%.
Aunque es un valor relativamente bajo, en comparación con TALs como Puerto Rico o Jamaica donde el 100% de anfibios se encuentran bajo amenaza por el cambio climático, esto podría deberse a que en Panamá no es tan sencillo separar el efecto del cambio climático del causado por el resto de las amenazas.
“Si las poblaciones de varias especies declinaron previamente y si la enfermedad aún las mantiene en números bajos, esto hace difícil determinar si existe un efecto del cambio climático y si esta amenaza es importante para los anfibios de Panamá”, dijo Ibáñez. “No obstante, los efectos del cambio climático podrían impactar aún más a estas poblaciones, también afectar a las poblaciones otras especies de anfibios en el país”.
En el futuro, este factor podría tener un mayor impacto en el país, ya que la GAA-2 reveló que a nivel global contribuyó al 39% de los deterioros en el estatus de anfibios en la Lista Roja de la UICN desde 2004.
“Se espera que las especies que se vean más afectadas sean aquellas que se encuentran exclusivamente en las tierras altas del país. También aquellas que viven en zonas húmedas, las cuales se verán afectadas al tornarse más áridas por cambios en la precipitación”, dijo Ibáñez.
A pesar de las crecientes amenazas identificadas en el análisis, no todos los hallazgos fueron negativos. Unas 120 especies mejoraron su estatus en la Lista Roja de la UICN desde 1980, y más de la mitad de ellas lo lograron por medio de acciones de conservación dirigidas a la protección y gestión de su hábitat. Por ejemplo, la especie Peltophryne lemur de Puerto Rico, pasó de estar En Peligro Crítico en 2004 a estar En Peligro en 2020, gracias a un programa de reproducción en cautiverio y reintroducción a su hábitat, un esfuerzo similar al que realiza el Proyecto de Rescate y Conservación de Anfibios (PARC) en Panamá con doce especies de ranas altamente susceptibles a la extinción.
“Estos documentos no solo son un llamado a la acción, sino también un recordatorio de nuestra responsabilidad como seres humanos de preservar y proteger la biodiversidad en todas sus formas”, dijo la Dra. Gina Della Togna, investigadora asociada de STRI, directora ejecutiva de The Amphibian Survival Alliance y una de las científicas panameñas que aportó al GAA-2. “Son una guía invaluable para la toma de decisiones y políticas nacionales e internacionales que impactarán directamente en el futuro de los anfibios y de nuestro planeta”.
En el caso de los TALs, como los tres sitios identificados en Panamá, la recomendación va más allá de asegurar la protección de estos hábitats. Se hace un llamado a integrar soluciones adicionales, como la gestión, la restauración y la reconstrucción del hábitat, así como el manejo de enfermedades, la cría en cautiverio y la reintroducción de especies, el control de especies invasoras, las restricciones al comercio de vida silvestre y estrategias para la mitigación del cambio climático.
“Hoy, más que nunca, debemos unirnos en un esfuerzo global para salvaguardar a estas especies amenazadas”, dijo Della Togna. “Tenemos el poder de marcar la diferencia y asegurar un futuro sostenible para todos. Que estos documentos sean un faro de esperanza y una inspiración para todos aquellos que luchan incansablemente por la conservación de los anfibios y la protección de nuestro preciado entorno natural.”
Además del Dr. Roberto Ibáñez, el MSc. Ángel Sousa-Bartuano, y la Dra. Gina Della Togna, otros científicos nacionales como el Dr. Abel Batista, el Lic. Jorge Guerrel, Prof. César Jaramillo, Dr. Daniel Medina, Lic. Luis Elizondo, Lic. Orlando Garcés, el Lic. Marcos Ponce y la Lic. Michelle Quiroz contribuyeron con su experiencia y datos al GAA-2.
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Good evening, my fellow Americans. We’re facing an inflection point in history — one of those moments where the decisions we make today are going to determine the future for decades to come. That’s what I’d like to talk with you about tonight.
You know, earlier this morning, I returned from Israel. They tell me I’m the first American president to travel there during a war.
I met with the Prime Minister and members of his cabinet. And most movingly, I met with Israelis who had personally lived through horrific horror of the attack by Hamas on the 7th of October.
More than 1,300 people slaughtered in Israel, including at least 32 American citizens. Scores of innocents — from infants to elderly grandparents, Israelis, Americans — taken hostage.
As I told the families of Americans being held captive by Hamas, we’re pursuing every avenue to bring their loved ones home. As President, there is no higher priority for me than the safety of Americans held hostage.
The terrorist group Hamas unleashed pure, unadulterated evil in the world. But sadly, the Jewish people know, perhaps better than anyone, that there is no limit to the depravity of people when they want to inflict pain on others.
In Israel, I saw a people who are strong, determined, resilient, and also angry, in shock, and in deep, deep pain.
I also spoke with President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority and reiterated that the United States remains committed to the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and to self-determination. The actions of Hamas terrorists don’t take that right away.
Like so many other, I am heartbroken by the tragic loss of Palestinian life, including the explosion at a hospital in Gaza — which was not done by the Israelis.
We mourn every innocent life lost. We can’t ignore the humanity of innocent Palestinians who only want to live in peace and have an opportunity.
You know, the assault on Israel echoes nearly 20 months of war, tragedy, and brutality inflicted on the people of Ukraine — people that were very badly hurt since Putin launched his all-out invasion.
We’ve have not forgotten the mass graves, the bodies found bearing signs of torture, rape used as a weapon by the Russians, and thousands and thousands of Ukrainian children forcibly taken into Russia, stolen from their parents. It’s sick.
Hamas and Putin represent different threats, but they share this in common: They both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy — completely annihilate it.
Hamas — its stated purpose for existing is the destruction of the State of Israel and the murder of Jewish people.
Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people. Hamas uses Palestinian civilians as human shields, and innocent Palestinian families are suffering greatly because of them.
Meanwhile, Putin denies Ukraine has or ever had real statehood. He claims the Soviet Union created Ukraine. And just two weeks ago, he told the world that if the United States and our allies withdraw — and if the United States withdraw, our allies will as well — military support for Ukraine, it would have, quote, “a week left to live.” But we’re not withdrawing.
I know these conflicts can seem far away. And it’s natural to ask: Why does this matter to America?
So let me share with you why making sure Israel and Ukraine succeed is vital for America’s national security. You know, history has taught us that when terrorists don’t pay a price for their terror, when dictators don’t pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos and death and more destruction. They keep going, and the cost and the threats to America and to the world keep rising.
So, if we don’t stop Putin’s appetite for power and control in Ukraine, he won’t limit himself just to Ukraine. He’s — Putin has already threated to “remind” — quote, “remind” Poland that their western land was a gift from Russia.
One of his top advisors, a former president of Russia, has called Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania Russia’s “Baltic provinces.” These are all NATO Allies.
For 75 years, NATO has kept peace in Europe and has been the cornerstone of American security. And if Putin attacks a NATO Ally, we will defend every inch of NATO which the treaty requires and calls for.
We will have something that we do not seek — make it clear: we do not seek — we do not seek to have American troops fighting in Russia or fighting against Russia.
Beyond Europe, we know that our allies and, maybe most importantly, our adversaries and competitors are watching. They’re watching our response in Ukraine as well.
And if we walk away and let Putin erase Ukraine’s independence, would-be aggressors around the world would be emboldened to try the same. The risk of conflict and chaos could spread in other parts of the world — in the Indo-Pacific, in the Middle East — especially in the Middle East.
Iran is — is supporting Russia in Ukraine, and it’s supporting Hamas and other terrorist groups in the region. And we’ll continue to hold them accountable, I might add.
The United States and our partners across the region are working to build a better future for the Middle East, one where the Middle East is more stable, better connected to its neighbors, and — through innovative projects like the India-Middle East-Europe rail corridor that I announced this year at the summit of the world’s biggest economies. More predictable markets, more employment, less rage, less grievances, less war when connected. It benefits the people — it would benefit the people of the Middle East, and it would benefit us.
American leadership is what holds the world together. American alliances are what keep us, America, safe. American values are what make us a partner that other nations want to work with. To put all that at risk if we walk away from Ukraine, if we turn our backs on Israel, it’s just not worth it.
That’s why, tomorrow, I’m going to send to Congress an urgent budget request to fund America’s national security needs, to support our critical partners, including Israel and Ukraine.
It’s a smart investment that’s going to pay dividends for American security for generations, help us keep American troops out of harm’s way, help us build a world that is safer, more peaceful, and more prosperous for our children and grandchildren.
In Israel, we must make sure that they have what they need to protect their people today and always.
The security package I’m sending to Congress and asking Congress to do is an unprecedented commitment to Israel’s security that will sharpen Israel’s qualitative military edge, which we’ve committed to the qualitative military edge.
We’re going to make sure Iron Dome continues to guard the skies over Israel. We’re going to make sure other hostile actors in the region know that Israel is stronger than ever and prevent this conflict from spreading.
Look, at the same time, Prime Minister Netanyahu and I discussed again yesterday the critical need for Israel to operate by the laws of war. That means protecting civilians in combat as best as they can. The people of Gaza urgently need food, water, and medicine.
Yesterday, in discussions with the leaders of Israel and Egypt, I secured an agreement for the first shipment of humanitarian assistance from the United Nations to Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
If Hamas does not divert or steal these shipments, we’re going to provide an opening for sustained delivery of lifesaving humanitarian assistance for the Palestinians.
And as I said in Israel: As hard as it is, we cannot give up on peace. We cannot give up on a two-state solution.
Israel and Palestinians equally deserve to live in safety, dignity, and peace.
You know, and here at home, we have to be honest with ourselves. In recent years, too much hate has been given too much oxygen, fueling racism, a rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia right here in America.
It’s also intensified in the wake of recent events that led to the horrific threats and attacks that both shock us and break our hearts.
On October 7th, terror attacks have triggered deep scars and terrible memories in the Jewish community.
Today, Jewish families worried about being targeted in school, wearing symbols of their faith walking down the street, or going out about their daily lives.
You know, I know many of you in the Muslim American community or the Arab American community, the Palestinian American community, and so many others are outraged and hurting, saying to yourselves, “Here we go again,” with Islamophobia and distrust we saw after 9/11.
Just last week, a mother was brutally stabbed, a little boy — here in the United States — a little boy who had just turned six years old was murdered in their home outside of Chicago.
His name was Wadea — Wadea — a proud American, a proud Palestinian American family.
We can’t stand by and stand silent when this happens. We must, without equivocation, denounce antisemitism. We must also, without equivocation, denounce Islamophobia.
And to all of you hurting — those of you who are hurting, I want you to know: I see you. You belong. And I want to say this to you: You’re all America. You’re all America.
This is in a moment where there’s — you know, in moments like these, when fear and suspicion, anger and rage run hard, that we have to work harder than ever to hold on to the values that make us who we are.
We’re a nation of religious freedom, freedom of expression. We all have a right to debate and disagree without fear of being targeted at schools or workplaces or in our communities.
And we must renounce violence and vitriol, see each other not as enemies but as — but as fellow Americans.
When I was in Israel yesterday, I said that when America experienced the hell of 9/11, we felt enraged as well. While we sought and got justice, we made mistakes. So, I cautioned the government of Israel not to be blinded by rage.
And here in America, let us not forget who we are. We reject all forms — all forms of hate, whether against Muslims, Jews, or anyone. That’s what great nations do, and we are great nation.
On Ukraine, I’m asking Congress to make sure we can continue to send Ukraine the weapons they need to defend themselves and their country without interruption so Ukraine can stop Putin’s brutality in Ukraine.
They are succeeding.
When Putin invaded Ukraine, he thought he would take Kyiv and all of Ukraine in a matter of days. Well, over a year later, Putin has failed, and he continues to fail. Kyiv still stands because of the bravery of the Ukrainian people.
Ukraine has regained more than 50 percent of the territory
Russian troops once occupied, backed by a US-led coalition of more than 50 countries around the world all doing its part to support Kyiv.
What would happen if we walked away? We are the essential nation.
Meanwhile, Putin has turned to Iran and North Korea to buy attack drones and ammunition to terrorize Ukrainian cities and people.
From the outset, I have said I will not send American troops to fight in Ukraine.
All Ukraine is asking for is help — for the weapons, munitions, the capacity, the capability to push invading Russian forces off their land, and the air defense systems to shoot down Russian missiles before they destroy Ukrainian cities.
And let me be clear about something: We send Ukraine equipment sitting in our stockpiles. And when we use the money allocated by Congress, we use it to replenish our own stores — our own stockpiles with new equipment — equipment that defends America and is made in America: Patriot missiles for air defense batteries made in Arizona; artillery shells manufactured in 12 states across the country — in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas; and so much more.
You know, just as in World War Two, today, patriotic American workers are building the arsenal of democracy and serving the cause of freedom.
Let me close with this. Earlier this year, I boarded Air Force One for a secret flight to Poland. There, I boarded a train with blacked-out windows for a 10-hour ride each way to Kyiv to stand with the people of Ukraine ahead of the one-year anniversary of their brave fight against Putin.
I’m told I was the first American president to enter a warzone not controlled by the United States military since President Lincoln.
With me was just a small group of security personnel and a few advisors.
But when I exited that train and met President Zelenskyy, I didn’t feel alone. I was bringing with me
the idea of America, the promise of America to the people who are today fighting for the same things we fought for 250 years ago: freedom, independence, self-determination.
And as I walked through Kyiv with President Zelenskyy, with air raid sirens sounding in the distance, I felt something I’ve always believed more strongly than ever before: America is a beacon to the world still. Still.
We are, as my friend Madeleine Albright said, “the indispensable nation.”
Tonight, there are innocent people all over the world who hope because of us, who believe in a better life because of us, who are desperate not be forgotten by us, and who are waiting for us.
But time is of the essence.
I know we have our divisions at home. We have to get past them. We can’t let petty, partisan, angry politics get in the way of our responsibilities as a great nation.
We cannot and will not let terrorists like Hamas and tyrants like Putin win. I refuse to let that happen.
In moments like these, we have to remind — we have to remember who we are. We are the United States of America — the United States of America. And there is nothing — nothing beyond our capacity if we do it together.
My fellow Americans, thank you for your time.
May God bless you all. And may God protect our troops.
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There have been five wars fought between Israel and its neighbors in the last fifteen years. Over that time, and before, there have been thousands of diplomats from around the world working on a variety of plans to bring peace and stability to the region, and hundreds of conferences. They have all failed.
Today, the situation in the area is more horrific, more brutal, more inhumane, and more dangerous than ever before. I wish I could tell you that I had some magic solution, or five-point plan to resolve this never-ending crisis. I don’t. But this I do know.
The barbarous terrorist act committed by Hamas against innocent men, women, and children in Israel was a horrific act that must be strongly condemned by the entire world. There is absolutely no justification for shooting down hundreds of young people at a music festival, killing babies in cold blood and taking hostages. In my view, the state of Israel has the absolute right to defend itself against Hamas’s terrorism.
It is also clear that this attack will only embolden the extremists on both sides who see violence as the only answer. It also creates the immediate possibility of a wider war in the area with unforeseen and dangerous consequences.
But in the midst of the terrorism, the missiles and bombs being exploded daily, and a hospital in Gaza being destroyed, there is another humanitarian disaster that is unfolding. Today, as a result of an Israeli evacuation order, hundreds of thousands of innocent and desperate people in Gaza are facing inhumane and life-threatening conditions. These are people who have been driven from their homes, who have no food, water, or fuel, who don’t know where they are going or who will accept them or if they will ever again return to their homes. And I would remind you that half of those people are children.
Last night, on the floor of the Senate, I blocked an effort on the part of some Republicans to prevent desperately needed humanitarian aid from the United Nations and other relief agencies from getting to these Palestinians.
In these very difficult times, we cannot turn our backs on these innocent men, women and children who are desperately trying to survive. That is not what this country must ever be about.
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