HOSTAGES AND HOSTAGES

This past week, approximately 1,500 hostages were released, yet only three were transferred from Hamas to Israel. Adds up? Depends on how you define “hostage.”

Israelis welcomed home three young women dragged off on October 7, 2023: Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher. Where does the above number come from?

Last Monday, Donald Trump pardoned roughly 1,500 people convicted of, or awaiting trial related to, taking part in the January 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol. Some will have their sentences commuted to time served. A sizable number committed acts of violence against law-enforcement officers. Back the Blue? Trump gave his cult followers a free get-out-of-jail card.

According to Trump, these people were hostages of a corrupt—read Democratic—government. He insisted that they peacefully protested as Congress undertook the formality of confirming the Electoral College’s tally that awarded the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden.

Hamas’s actions and Trump’s represent a viciousness that defies any pretense of decency.

I won’t waste words describing what the world saw on October 7 and heard after. That’s like trying to prove that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. You see it, you know. But what could be more callous and vile than Hamas operatives giving “gift bags” to the three Israeli hostages, as they were placed in a vehicle to await transfer to the Red Cross and Israeli officials?

If you can’t come up with something, don’t blame yourself. The viciousness displayed by Hamas towards the hostages, the people it killed and raped, and its own residents of Gaza knows no bounds.

Donald Trump’s quest to revise history fits right in. I watched January 6 play out on TV. I saw the violence. I also noted Trump’s lack of concern with law and order, as he watched the situation unfold in the Oval Office dining room, never lifting a finger. Trump continues to insist that January 6 was a love fest. George Orwell’s “1984” lives.

Republican leaders, who sought shelter in the Capitol on January 6 made clear Trump’s culpability. Then-House minority leader Kevin McCarthy said, “The president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters.” On February 13, 2021, then-Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell stated, “Former President Trump’s actions that preceded the riot were a disgraceful dereliction of duty… There is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day.”

It seems that something bad did happen on January 6. Of course, it played out on live TV and was recorded for posterity. The House special committee that investigated January 6 thoroughly assessed the situation. 

But integrity in Washington represents a scarce commodity. McConnell and McCarthy supported Trump’s successful 2024 election bid. Current leading Republicans ignored the pardons.

Israel has much work to do to chart a path towards peace with the Palestinians. I’ll say again, only a two-state solution will achieve that.

America will tread just as rugged a path towards maintaining our democracy and regaining national dignity. If Trump’s first days in office, following his campaign rhetoric, are an indication, that road may wander far from the ideals the nation’s Founders espoused, even if imperfectly.

More and more, our “Leader’s” pronouncements of “America First” sound like “Deutschland Über Alles.”

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