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442226 |
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Date: October 11, 2024 at 10:58:14
From: old timer, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Harris faces new battles with expanding Middle East conflict |
URL: Harris faces new battles with expanding Middle East conflict |
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Harris faces new battles with expanding Middle East conflict
BY BRAD DRESS AND ALEX GANGITANO - 10/11/24 6:00 AM ET
Vice President Harris is struggling to confront a rapidly worsening crisis in
the Middle East as she seeks to balance unwavering support for Israel
with appeals to progressive and Arab American communities.
In a tight race for the White House, Harris is facing increasingly difficult
questions about the Biden administration’s handling of the Middle East
crisis, which expanded at the end of September into a larger conflict when
Israeli troops invaded Lebanon to fight against the Iranian-backed militant
group Hezbollah.
Israel is also weighing a retaliation strike against Iran that could target
nuclear facilities and trigger an escalation, leading to concerns about a
direct war between the two bitter enemies.
In a Monday interview with “60 Minutes,” Harris was criticized for dodging
a question about whether the U.S. has lost leverage over Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The work that we do diplomatically with the leadership of Israel is an
ongoing pursuit around making clear our principles,” she said. “We’re not
going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear
about where we stand on the need for this war to end.”
She also danced around a question on whether Netanyahu is a close ally,
instead saying the U.S. has a close relationship with Israel. President
Biden and Harris spoke with Netanyahu on Wednesday in what the White
House described as a direct and productive discussion, while Israel
calibrates its expected retaliatory strike against Iran.
But perhaps more significant than the stumbles has been Harris’s refusal
to break with Biden on the war and propose tougher action on Israel,
despite a growing conflict that has increasingly angered voters on the left
who want Israel out of Gaza and now Lebanon.
Harris has repeatedly been met with protests at campaign stops and,
outside her residence in Washington, D.C., on Monday, protesters sought
to drown out her remarks for the Oct. 7 anniversary alongside second
gentleman Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish.
There is historical precedent for breaking with a sitting president on the
campaign trail. Hubert Humphrey, who was the vice president for Lyndon
B. Johnson while running for president in 1968, broke with his boss on the
Vietnam War.
Gil Barndollar, a nonresident senior fellow at Defense Priorities, said
Harris would benefit from putting daylight between her position and Biden
by drawing a harder line on Israel, though he added it “takes political
guts.”
“Fundamentally, it’s a lack of courage or creativity,” he said. “Her
incoherence and inability to answer these questions really reflects the
state of someone who is speaking for a fractious Democratic Party on this
[issue] and is trying to appease everybody and satisfy no one.”
The Biden administration has also pushed for months to reach a cease-
fire in Gaza, where more than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed since
Hamas sparked the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel,
killing some 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages.
But the U.S. has seen efforts for a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of
the 100 remaining hostages stymied by both Hamas and Netanyahu.
On the campaign trail, Harris has spoken about the suffering in Gaza in a
way that Biden has not, but she has failed to win over anti-war protesters,
which could hurt her among progressives, young voters and Arab
Americans.
The “Abandon Harris” group, which was behind the push to cast protest
votes against Biden in the Democratic primary, endorsed the Green
Party’s Jill Stein in the presidential race Monday.
Hudhayfah Ahmad, a spokesperson for the movement, hit back on
criticism that voting for a third party will only help former President
Trump, who is strongly pro-Israel, explaining the objective was “holding
the party that is currently in power accountable for the atrocities that we
have been witnessing.”
“We’re also working to uplift those who we feel embody the message that
we have, the values that we have,” he said. “Harris has the power to break
away from Biden’s foreign policy today.”
Critics have slammed Harris for a Saturday post on the social platform X
that pledged millions in aid for the people of Lebanon.
“Harris’s messaging on the escalation that’s been taking place has been
horrific,” Ahmad said. “The way she speaks about what’s going on,
particularly in Lebanon, you’d think she’s talking about a natural disaster.”
There are also concerns about Harris among Israel’s supporters.
Michael Makovsky, president and CEO of the Jewish Institute for National
Security of America, said both Trump and Biden have stronger pro-Israel
records than Harris.
“I suspect that Trump might get a historic amount of Jewish support,” he
said. “Whatever issues some Jews might have with him, he has a very
pro-Israel record and he’s been out there condemning antisemitism.”
Makovsky expressed concern that Harris would be overly sympathetic to
Palestinians, or overly critical of Israel, if elected. And he noted Harris
didn’t pick Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) as her running mate, which
he suggested could have helped her with the Jewish vote.
“There’s a real concern that Biden might be the last real, strong Zionist
that’s elected Democratic president. I hope that’s not true, but there’s
certainly, I think, a concern about it, given where the party has been
going,” he said.
Like Biden, Harris has strongly backed Israel’s right to defend itself while
also acknowledging the suffering in Gaza, a balancing act on display
Tuesday night when she appeared on “The Late Show” with Stephen
Colbert.
“There is pain. Pain and suffering that is happening in that region of the
world,” she said, adding that the U.S. “must work and not lose hope and
not throw up our hands around the role we must play in urging and
seeking and building toward a resolution.”
Alp Sevimlisoy, a millennium fellow at the Atlantic Council, said Harris
would benefit from a simpler, refined message to voters that is focused on
defending American interests, arguing she should “double down on
patriotism” and take from the Republican playbook.
“Her approach has to become less of a we are protecting certain, specific
countries, and it needs to become more of, Americans are under threat
here; American interests are under threat,” he said. “This is a much
clearer message for the electorate. It resonates much better.”
But that message is unlikely to satisfy progressive and Arab American
voters, and Harris is less than a month away from Election Day, with polls
showing her in a close match-up with Trump.
One of the most closely watched swing states is Michigan, which has a
large Arab American population. In the primary, when Biden was still
running, more than 100,000 Michigan voters voted “uncommitted” instead
of the president in a protest vote for his handling of the Gaza war.
A poll released last week showed Trump ahead of Harris among Arab
American voters, an example of the eroding support from a group that
more often leans Democratic.
Harris met with Muslim and Arab American community while in Flint last
week to discuss their perspectives on Gaza and Lebanon, and her running
mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), participated recently in a related
virtual event with Engage Action.
Still, the outreach efforts are hampered by the fact that the fighting
continues to escalate, and that U.S. calls to stop the fighting have failed.
The Biden administration had urged Israel against a Lebanon campaign
and to accept a three-week truce with Hezbollah, but the U.S. is now
saying it backs Israel’s plans for a limited operation.
Critics have frequently pointed to the fact that despite critical public
comments and statements from the Biden administration, it has not used
any leverage, such as withholding or conditioning weapons that Israel
relies on, to hold back Netanyahu.
Research published Monday showed the U.S. has spent more than $17
billion to support Israel throughout the more than yearlong war, the
highest level since direct U.S. security aid began around 1959.
Brian Katulis, a senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at the Middle East
Institute, said Harris is struggling to defend Biden’s policies “because the
administration is struggling to actually handle their own policy and then
communicate what they’re trying to get done.”
“She and her team candidly suffer from this common affliction that you
see among Democrats when it comes to the politics of foreign policy,” he
said. “They’re constantly sort of trying to move things by millimeters in
their messaging to appeal to different constituencies, and the message
ends up sounding quite muddled.”
But Democrats still say her message is preferable to Trump’s.
John LaBombard, former communications director to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema
(I-Ariz.) and other Democratic senators, said “winnable voters who will
decide this election understand that the world is a dangerous place.”
“And the vice president’s demonstrated steady, thoughtful approach can
help convince those voters that she’s the right person for this difficult job
compared to the reckless, chaotic approach to the world stage they saw in
former President Trump,” he said.
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[442237] [442243] [442230] [442245] [442232] [442236] [442249] [442235] [442250] [442238] [442247] [442241] |
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442237 |
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Date: October 11, 2024 at 12:08:02
From: akira, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Harris faces new battles with expanding Middle East conflict |
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“The work that we do diplomatically with the leadership of Israel is an
ongoing pursuit around making clear our principles,” she said. “We’re not
going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear
about where we stand on the need for this war to end.”
the idea of listening to this kind of stuff for 4 years sounds like fun.
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442243 |
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Date: October 11, 2024 at 12:14:14
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Harris faces new battles with expanding Middle East conflict |
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certainly better than the alternative (russia, if you're listening...)...
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442230 |
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Date: October 11, 2024 at 11:09:14
From: ao, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Harris faces new battles with expanding Middle East conflict |
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"Harris is struggling"
And it goes on. All day every day.. an endless stream of nonsensical posts
from an angry old man trying to prove his 'manliness' while hoping Trump
grabs his..
You do remember how in prior elections the right wing media flooded space
with lies of better than real polling.. always talking red waves that never
come.. yeah yeah yeah.. you're a loser brah.
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[442245] [442232] [442236] [442249] [442235] [442250] [442238] [442247] [442241] |
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442245 |
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Date: October 11, 2024 at 12:17:48
From: Redhart, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Harris faces new battles with expanding Middle East conflict |
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Yeah...others here remember like you, ao..and know not
to fall into the trap.
OT's just pushing the talking points like a good little
maga soldier.
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442232 |
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Date: October 11, 2024 at 11:22:27
From: old timer, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Harris faces new battles with expanding Middle East conflict |
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you realize i don’t write for thehill? that i’m just sharing these news
articles from political journalists/analysts?
what are your thoughts on the expanding middle east conflict and the
increasingly difficult questions about how the crisis has been handled?
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[442236] [442249] [442235] [442250] [442238] [442247] [442241] |
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442236 |
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Date: October 11, 2024 at 11:39:52
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Harris faces new battles with expanding Middle East conflict |
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no, you're not just sharing...you're pushing an agenda...that is quite clear...
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442249 |
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Date: October 11, 2024 at 12:45:40
From: old timer, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Harris faces new battles with expanding Middle East conflict |
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pushing an agenda? look dude just because i don’t conform to your views
doesn’t mean i’m pushing a damn thing. i’m sharing articles that you
yellow do democrats would never post
personally i thought this article was informative on how the
escalating conflict in the middle east is impacting the upcoming election.
isn’t that exactly what the national board is for?
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442235 |
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Date: October 11, 2024 at 11:39:06
From: ao, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Harris faces new battles with expanding Middle East conflict |
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ME crisis? It's horrible. But Iran/Hamas/Hezbollah brought it on and as soon
as Israel deals with it it'll pass.. until everyone rearms themselves and it
happens all over again.
As it is.. everyone there is in their perfect place.. some come to kill some
come to be killed.. same ol same ol thing.. mankind's tragic bullshit playing
out over and over again.
But you? I think you're an idiot to go on and on endlessly about the same
things without ever getting anywhere. You are addicted to bitching. You love
your suffering. You indulge in it as sure as a Hamas fighter indulges in raping
Israeli women. It's your role and you love it. You suck it up.. and cry for an
audience just like akira does.. she thinks she's changing the world when in
fact she's wallowing in her very own pity party.. just like you.. wallow here so
we can see you wallow.. hooray for OT! Go OT go.. wallow bro.
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442250 |
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Date: October 11, 2024 at 12:51:19
From: old timer, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Harris faces new battles with expanding Middle East conflict |
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“ As it is.. everyone there is in their perfect place.. some come to kill some
come to be killed.. ”
that’s fucking disturbing dude. a very cold way to describe women and
children dying and with the war expanding many more deaths will occur.
but that is more a topic for the international board
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442238 |
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Date: October 11, 2024 at 12:08:18
From: chaskuchar@stcharlesmo, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Harris faces new battles with expanding Middle East conflict |
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investigations show there were no rapes by hamas. quit
using that lie.
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[442247] [442241] |
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442247 |
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Date: October 11, 2024 at 12:35:06
From: ao, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Harris faces new battles with expanding Middle East conflict |
URL: Sexual and gender-based violence in the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel |
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You’re fun Chas. You spend your entire life believing in fairytales.. what’s
one more, eh? But for real, who said what?
From the link above..
During the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, dozens of Israeli women,
girls, and men were reportedly subject to sexual violence, including rape
and sexual assault by Hamas or other Gazan militants
What I’m curious about is.. have you traded in your old fairytales for one
of Trump’s latest?
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442241 |
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Date: October 11, 2024 at 12:12:22
From: shadow , [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Harris faces new battles with expanding Middle East conflict |
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OMG..."investigations show"...investigations by whom?
"There were no rapes by Hamas..."
Are you actually going to sit there and tell me you BELIEVE
that???
~!!!~
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