14 Comments

Thank you for bringing this excellent history lesson to the Naperville City Council. I hope that the progressive people I knew when I lived there are still represented in that council.

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Excellent speech.

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May 25Liked by Qasim Rashid

Excellent snapshot and speech. Great idea to set the stage ( The Historical Element ) and then bring the Palestinian issue in its perspective. I will use the template. Thanks for creating it .

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May 24Liked by Qasim Rashid

I called the White House when I reallized that Israel's indiscriminate bombing was killing so many innocent Palestinian citizens. Of course that's a "War Crime'! My message was -the USA MUST stop supply Israel with weapons or we are complicit in those crimes.

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author

Thank you for raising your voice, Nancy.

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May 24Liked by Qasim Rashid

I am neither anti-Jewish nor anti-Muslim. I am anti-deliberate killing of noncombatants. I brokered peace must be obtained now.

I most decidedly do NOT want the USA supplying weapons to a combatant country that is committing war crimes.

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Excellent template of precedence, Russian divestment, and holocaust deterrence to educate city councils to divest from the genocidal actions recognized in The Hague.

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author

Thank you!

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Qasim, I agree that senseless killing of civilians is always wrong, such as with Russia and Ukraine, the situation here is different. Russia invaded a soverign nation. Hamas attacked Israel during a concert. They murdered people, including infants, children, women, students, men. They tortured and raped many of them. They took hostages. The citizens of Gaza aided and abetted them by hiding and imprisoning the hostages. The children are taught to hate and kill Israelis in school from a young age. Hamas chooses to hide behind women, children, the sick, and elderly by building its stronghold beneath city buildings and infrastructure including schools and hospitals. Then they scream when the Israelis are forced to attack buildings to get to Hamas terrorists. Israel supplies water, electricity, and food for Gaza. Gaza wants self governance.

Gazan has received billions in aid and the offer of help from the Israelis to build cities with independant water, electricity infrastructure and farming capacity. They have refused. All Hamas has to do to stop the fighting is release all the hostages, give up their terrorism and commit to a peace process. Why don't you advocate for that solution?

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May 25Liked by Qasim Rashid

You are getting your information from scam sources. From the beginning of Netanyahu's reign, the citizens of Gaza have been herded off their land, randomly attacked, crowded into a miserable overcrowding, denied the freedom to live freely on their own land. The current mass killing is Netanyahu's sweet dream coming true. GENOCIDE has been his goal all along.

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May 25Liked by Qasim Rashid

Rachel , two wrongs do not make a right. If the fight is between Israel and Hamas why kill 35,000 Palestinians and destroy their cities , commit a genocide and now a famine. I strongly protest and informed my legislators ( Both Federal And State ) that Calling this a War Between Israel and Hamas is an Eyewash when you the see the reality on the ground and its historical perspective.

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Rachel there's unfortunately much fundamentally incorrect with your assumptions. First, our tax dollars aren't funding Hamas or defending Hamas. Our tax dollars are funding Israel as they're committing documented war crimes. This is a violation of Leahy Laws and a number of international human rights laws. Second, I've called for a ceasefire and return of all hostages since day 1. Israel has rejected at least 10 ceasefire offers because they were calls for permanent ceasefire. Even Israeli hostage families are calling out Netanyahu for obstructing peace. Third, you cite claims that Hamas "chooses to hide behind women etc" without a shred of evidence. The raid of Al Shifa was supposed to produce an underground command center. Nothing. The raids of other hospitals were to produce the same. Nothing. Instead we see mass graves at those hospitals. Moreover, israel has banned all western media and killed 100+ journalists, so we have no way of verifying their claims as they in discriminately bomb civilians. Finally, the aid being blocked to Palestinians right now is not by Hamas, as attested to by US officials and on the ground NGOs. It's being blocked by the Israeli military as well as extremist settlers.

And your comments ultimately ignore the entire history before 10/7. I'd ask you, in good faith, to read up on that history as I've detailed it here: https://qasimrashid.substack.com/p/the-history-prior-to-107-that-media

Peace will come through justice and upholding international human rights law. Otherwise we have no hope in peace, and this violence will continue.

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May 24Liked by Qasim Rashid

This is actionable leadership

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author

Thank you. That's the goal. We need a mass movement of citizens committed to justice and willing to take productive action.

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