I wrote to the White House weeks ago about the U.S.' unequivocal support for Israel, and got a vague, minimal reply. Of course. This travesty of foreign policy may indeed cost Biden the election, and if it does, he'll deserve it.

I was glad to read just now that South Africa has filed a case with the U.N., accusing Israel of genocide. I wouldn't be surprised if the U.N. takes up the case and rules against Israel. But that would be a moral victory only, naturally. What is the U.N. going to do to remedy the situation, especially in light of U.S. policy?

Denise, I have been working on my high school buddies trying to get them to escape the trance Israel has worked on Americans for our entire lives. They are intelligent and moral men but their stubborn favoring of Israel in spite of the history and facts has convinced me of the stubbornness of the mind. Emotion will trump reason easily, even in people who consider themselves quite unemotional and rational.

In this case there is always a knee-jerk reaction of "both sides are equally at fault, a po…

I applaud your efforts, Clif.

At the risk of sounding like your buddies, however, I do believe there is fault on both sides. Hamas (not to be confused with civilian Palestinians) was not right in carrying out a terrorist attack. Period. And Israel has been over-the-top wrong for decades in its unconscionable treatment of Palestinians. Ordinary Gazans are caught between a militia they don't want and can't control; and the Israeli juggernaut. Meanwhile, the U.S. refuses to parse the situation (hmm…

"Ordinary Gazans are caught between a militia they don't want and can't control..."

December 21st:

npr.org/2023/12/21/1217…

RAMALLAH, West Bank — More than two months into Israel's war against Hamas, the militant group's popularity appears to be rising dramatically among Palestinians in the West Bank. Surveys conducted since Oct. 7 appear to reflect the surge of support for Hamas in the West Bank.

"Three months ago ... we had 12% support for Hamas in the West Bank, and today it is 44%, so that's mo…

I'm not a big believer in polls. Absent documentation on their methodology, vehicle for communication, targeted demographic (and process for determining same), wording of questions, and so on, they don’t mean much. As infrastructure in much of Gaza has been destroyed, it's not clear to me how polls could even be taken.

Here in the U.S., as just one example, polls conducted via landlines invariably reach almost exclusively elderly, stay-at-home people. And many people won't answer cell calls from…

SURVEY's are different than anonymous POLL's Denise.

A lot of the methodology used here was interviewing representative people in the street. Mixing with the displaced people of Gaza.

Listening to the local scuttlebutt. Talking to folks in shelters, hospitals, and first responders.

If you want to know the truth - ask a Taxi driver! LOL