Rep. Scholten says she is working hard to make sure US Imperialism wins the day in Gaza

In her most recent weekly newsletter for November 17th, Rep. Scholten once again included some comments about Israel, Palestine and US policy. The Congresswoman began her comments about this most pressing foreign policy matter with the headline: The Israel-Hamas War: Hearing your concerns. 

Once again, Rep. Scholten mislabels what has been happening, since there is not a war between the state of Israel and the Palestinian political faction known as Hamas. Wars can only happen between two countries. In addition, the most important thing is that the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 did NOT start anything. Israel has been illegally occupying Palestinian land for decades, which the international community recognizes. 

What follows is the narrative from Rep. Scholten’s weekly newsletter in italics. I will offer my own responses to each of the three paragraphs.

“Even as we continue our critical work on other important issues in Washington and West Michigan, I want you to know that I am deeply engaged in and paying attention to the ongoing conflict in Gaza and Israel. This week, I attended a high-level classified briefing for members of Congress and was updated on the status of the Israeli operation to recover hostages and dismantle Hamas’ military capabilities, the civilian casualties and the humanitarian aid being delivered. I also called the White House to impress on the President how critical it is that the United States not minimize the loss of human life as we work with Israel to regain these hostages, and emphasize that we must do all we can to return those hostages as soon as humanly possible.”

First, it is important to point out that Rep. Scholten was at a classified briefing regarding the Israeli army’s plan to “recover hostages and dismantle Hamas’ military capabilities.” We can look at a recent example of how the Israeli army operates, specifically the military raid on Al-Shifa, the largest hospital in Gaza.

The Biden Administration and the Israeli government have made the claim that Hamas has been using the Al-Shifa hospital as a command center, which is below the the hospital. However, there has been no concrete evidence that after the hospital raid that Hamas had a command center underneath, as has been reported by the Electronic Intifada and by a recent post on Common Dreams, entitled, Probe Demanded Over ‘Absurd’ Israeli Narrative About Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital.

In the second paragraph Rep. Scholten states:

“Like so many of you, I cannot watch the constant images of death and destruction, the loss of precious and vulnerable human life, hear from the families of hostage victims longing to see their loved one again, and not be stirred to action. Every day, I am working to make sure we can negotiate the safe return of over 240 hostages (including American citizens), remove Hamas from power, and establish a viable two-state solution for shared peace and prosperity between Israel and Palestine.”

In this paragraph, Rep. Scholten never mentions the fact that as of this writing, the number of Palestinians who have been killed by the Israel assault on Gaza is up to 13,000 in just 5 weeks. The second point, which is pretty alarming, is that Rep. Scholten says she is working to “remove Hamas from power.” Rep. Scholten, nor the Biden administration, has the right to remove Hamas from political power, and even to suggest that the US can play this role smacks of imperialism. 

In the final paragraph, Rep. Scholten engages in misinformation lofty sentiment, stating:

“Whenever I face a challenging moment of deep division, I always do the same thing–I close my eyes and refocus on the fundamentals that unite us. In listening to so many different voices on this issue, one thing that rises to the top for me is that at the heart of this issue, everyone truly wants the same thing. From our neighbors here in West Michigan, to the overwhelming majority of my colleagues in Congress, and our leaders in the White House, we all want the same thing–a return of the hostages, an end to the violence, and lasting peace and prosperity for Israelis and Palestinians. I will continue to work toward these things every day.”

Everyone does not want the same thing. Many of the people who have been organizing in West Michigan and across the US want Rep. Scholten and the Biden Administration to demand an immediate ceasefire and an end to US military aid to Israel. In addition, Rep. Scholten is either engaging in self-deception or is lying to those of us who live in the 3rd Congressional District when she says that she is working to put an end to the violence. Rep. Scholten has stated repeatedly that she does NOT support an immediate ceasefire and an end to the Israeli assault on Gaza. On top of that, saying you are working towards peace is just a lie. No member of Congress or the Biden Administration can say they want peace and prosperity for the Israelis and the Palestinians, when they only provide military aid to one side, the Israelis. On top of that, the Biden Administration wants to send an additional $14.3 Billion is US military aid to Israel. Providing massive amounts of military aid to Israel will never result in peace it will only mean the deaths of thousands more Palestinians. 

Rep. Hillary Scholten needs to stop sentimentalizing what she thinks people want to hear and actually start listening to what most Americans are actually saying, which is for the Biden Administration to push for an immediate ceasefire. As Jeremy Scahill recently wrote, “As Israel intensified its attacks on Gaza last week, including strikes against multiple hospitals, and presided over a forced exodus of hundreds of thousands of civilians from their homes, President Joe Biden was asked about the chances of a Gaza ceasefire. “None,” Biden shot back. “No possibility.” The resistance continues………..