'Abandonment of morals': Analysis reveals how GOP candidates are 'rationalizing bigotry and cruelty'

01 November 2023

In late October, Israeli defense forces launched a ground offensive as part of their anti-Hamas operation in Gaza. President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have expressed their solidarity with Israel but are careful to address the humanitarian crisis that non-Hamas Gaza residents are facing.

Some of Biden and Blinken's GOP critics, meanwhile, are claiming that their support for Ukraine is hampering military aid to Israel — a claim the Biden Administration finds ridiculous. The U.S., Biden officials maintain, needs to support Ukraine and Israel.

In an article published by the conservative website The Bulwark on November 1, journalist Will Saletan calls out Republican candidates who are expressing "bigotry" against non-Hamas Palestinians in Gaza and emphasizes that military support for Israel and "humanitarian aid to Gaza" are not mutually exclusive.

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"I'm Jewish," Saletan writes. "I believe in Israel, and I'm aghast at what Hamas did to so many innocent people on October 7. I strongly support the use of force against the killers. But as thousands of innocent people die in Gaza — not as targets, but as victims of relentless bombardment in a war they didn't choose — I can't accept the bigotry, zealotry and callousness these candidates are espousing."

The Bulwark journalist adds, "They aren't standing up against ruthless religious violence. They're promoting it."

The Republicans Saletan calls out include former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence, all of whom, he laments, are opposing humanitarian aid to Gaza. Pence said there should be "no aid delivered to Gaza until all hostages are free."

Saletan laments, "This is how you rationalize depriving innocent people of food and medicine."

The Bulwark writer also slams former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and others who are calling for Israel to abandon all "restraint" in its anti-Hamas offensive.

"What the Republican candidates are advocating, in sum, is an abandonment of morals," Saletan warns. "They're rationalizing bigotry and cruelty — withholding humanitarian aid, barring child refugees, bombing Gaza without limits — and they're grounding America's loyalty to Israel in Jewish and Christian scripture. This isn't the way to build an alliance against terrorism. It's the way to feed a religious war."

Read Will Saletan's full article for The Bulwark at this link.

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