As a state legislator, I pay attention to world events, United States events, and of course, Wisconsin events. On Oct. 17, world events were front and center on the Senate floor of the Wisconsin State Legislature as we took up a resolution regarding the attacks by Hamas on Israel. What I heard on the floor that day from one of the Democratic members of the body was shocking.
Yes, there were the obligatory statements providing “cover” for the speaker, but the underlying message was clear – equivocation of the actions of Israel and Palestine.
One has to have a very warped worldview to even begin to equivocate the situation. The outright atrocities and unspeakable acts committed against the Jewish people has not been seen since the days of the Nazi Holocaust. Equivocation? Frankly, one needs to be a racist or a bigot against Jews to even go there.
This pontification on the Senate floor made mention of a “ceasefire.” Israel was attacked in the most heinous way. Israel must respond – not to “even the score,” but in a manner that will ensure future generations in Israel will have safety, security and peace of mind – and it will be no small task when for decades, this enemy has stated Israel is to be wiped off the map, and for generations, Jews have been the target of extermination by these radicals.
The instability in the Middle East has undeniably increased exponentially under the Biden administration. The influence of Iran must be acknowledged by our federal government. The Obama/Biden approval of appeasement to the radicals in the Middle East must end. We are where we are at today due to this appeasement.
On the home front, like the speech on the Wisconsin Senate floor, too many of our people and our institutions have been unduly influenced by the propaganda spewed by the perpetrators of this evil. The bias in the media has always been shocking, but it has really been laid bare as of late – i.e., the immediate blame of Israel for the loss of life at the Palestinian hospital that actually resulted from a Hamas rocket. And the pro-Hamas rallies at many of our highest institutions of learning in the country is sickening. Many of the universities have completely lost their way.
Israel is a United States ally. They are the only democracy in the Middle East. Stability in the Middle East is imperative to the national security of the United States. Reflecting upon the comments made on the Wisconsin State Senate floor, we all need to take a deep look at where our country is today, and what direction we are going in the future.
The United States has always been a stabilizing force of freedom, liberty and democracy in the world. It is time as a country we re-commit to these values.
Commentaries published by the Chronicle, like this one, are not necessarily representative of the opinions of the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle.