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Obama calls for end of ‘occupation,’ security for Israel, state for Palestinians
Former President Barack Obama called the Israel-Hamas conflict a “moral reckoning for all of us” at an event hosted by his foundation Friday.
Obama spoke at the Obama Foundation’s Democracy Forum on Thursday, where he called for a two-state solution and an end to the “occupation,” while not clarifying what occupation he meant.
“All of this is taking place against the backdrop of decades of failure to achieve a durable peace for both Israelis and Palestinians,” the former president told the forum audience.
HAMAS TRYING TO SNEAK INJURED FIGHTERS OUT AMONG CIVILIAN EVACUEES: US OFFICIAL
He continued, “One that is based on genuine security for Israel, a recognition of its right to exist, and a peace that is based on an end of the occupation and the creation of a viable state and self-determination for the Palestinian people.”
Palestinian governing authority Hamas launched a terrorist attack against Israel on October 7 that killed over 1,400 Israeli citizens.
Since then, more than 9,000 people have been killed in Gaza as Israeli Defense Forces continue their ground incursion of the region, the Gaza Health Ministry claims.
AVERAGE PALESTINIAN IN GAZA SURVIVING ON ONLY 2 PIECES OF BREAD PER DAY: UN HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICIAL
The death toll is expected to rise once buildings are cleared and rubble is taken away.
“Now, I will admit, it is impossible to be dispassionate in the face of this carnage,” Obama said Thursday. “It is hard to feel hopeful. The images of families mourning, of bodies being pulled from rubble, force a moral reckoning on all of us.”
Obama admitted that the war has exposed differences inside the Obama Foundation.
“We’ve had to sort through our anguish, our outrage, our fears and our differences on the issues,” he said. “I had a conversation with a group of you around this issue, and you were passionate and pushed me around some of the public statements I’d made.”
“And the issue is not a wish for different outcomes – an end to the killing, peaceful coexistence between two sovereign and free peoples – but rather different assessments of the path that we need to take in order to get there,” the former president continued.
The United States does not officially support a cease-fire, as President Biden has repeatedly affirmed Israel’s right to self-defense against Hamas. Biden has recently shifted his tone, amid pressure from progressive groups and world leaders, to express support for a humanitarian “pause.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that a pause in Israel’s ground invasion would give time for Hamas to reorganize or plan other attacks.
Fox News’ Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.
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Exclusive — Daniel Cameron: ‘I’m the Law and Order Candidate. Andy Beshear Is the Catch and Release Candidate’
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FNC’s Turley: Trump Gag Order ‘Unconstitutional’
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Dem Rep. Phillips: It’s ‘Very Difficult’ to Be a Jew in the Democratic Caucus, There’s ‘Seemingly a Lack of Progressive Love’
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Barbara Lee: Ceasefire Is ‘Crucial to the Release of Hostages’
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Omar rips US policy toward Israeli PM, saying it ‘doesn’t add up’
Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar (D) ripped U.S. policy towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Saturday.
“U.S. policy is essentially that Netanyahu has no achievable goals in Gaza and a ground invasion risks regional war, including potential US troops,” Omar said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “And also we should give him $14 billion in weapons with no restrictions, and say there are no red lines as he bombs refugee camps.”
“See how this doesn’t add up?” Omar added.
Omar has called for a cease-fire in the current conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, alongside other progressive lawmakers.
President Biden called for a “pause” in the fighting Wednesday after the White House had said it would consider a “humanitarian pause” to get aid into Gaza. However, it has pushed back against calls for a cease-fire.
Netanyahu told Secretary of State Antony Blinken (D) in a meeting Friday that his country “refuses a temporary cease-fire that does not include the release of our hostages. Israel will not enable the entry of fuel to Gaza and opposes sending money to the Strip,” according to The Times of Israel.
Omar’s comments come shortly after her House colleague Rep. Rashida (D-Mich) criticized Biden Friday in a video posted to X, saying he “supported the genocide of the Palestinian people” in relation to his administration’s support for Israel amidst its conflict with Hamas.
The current conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas began with a Hamas attack on Israel in early October that left more than 1,400 people dead. Israeli air campaigns and a recent ground offensive in response have left more than 9,200 Palestinians dead, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
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Hutchinson booed for over a minute after claiming ‘significant likelihood’ Trump will be found guilty
GOP presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson was booed Saturday when he told a Republican summit that there is “significant likelihood” that former President Trump will be found guilty of a felony next year.
The former Arkansas governor told the Florida Freedom Summit in Kissimmee, Florida, that such an outcome will make it harder for Republicans down the ticket to win their races if Trump, who is leading in the polls, wins the 2024 Republican nomination.
Trump is facing dozens of felony counts in multiple cases, including accusations of falsifying records related to alleged hush money payments, the removal of national security documents from the White House and election subversion following the 2020 election. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has repeatedly claimed that the prosecutions are politically motivated.
GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, TRUMP CRITIC WILL HURD BOOED OFF STAGE
Hutchinson cited his own experience as a prosecutor to say that “there is a significant likelihood that Donald Trump will be found guilty by a jury on a felony offense next year.”
“That may or may not happen. Before you vote in March, and it might not make any difference to you, but it will make a difference for our chances to attract independent voters in November. It will make a difference for those down-ticket races for Congress and Senate, and it will weaken the GOP for decades to come. As a party, we must support the rule of law,” he said.
The claim was met with boos from the crowd, one of a number of instances where anti-Trump statements by Republican candidates. Both former NJ Gov. Chris Christie and former Rep. Will Hurd have been booed for making perceived anti-Trump statements.
CHRISTIE JEERED AFTER CRITICIZING TRUMP AT FAITH EVENT
“We cannot win as a country without integrity in the White House,” Hutchinson said on Saturday. “And while some will ignore that destructive behavior of the former president, I assure you we ignore it at our own peril. The next generation will not look favorably back on this time.“
A Quinnipiac national poll this week shows that Trump stands at 64% support in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 15% and former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley at 6%.
The survey indicates Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, Christie and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy each at 3%, with everyone else at 1% or less.
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
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Looming migrant caravan re-ignites Republican demands for changes at the border: ‘Brace for the impact’
As another caravan consisting of thousands of migrants makes its way to the U.S.-Mexico border, Republicans in the House and Senate are renewing their calls for additional border security, calling on the Biden administration and Congress to change U.S. policies to stop more entries.
Organizers have told media outlets that there are an estimated 7,000 people in the caravan moving from southern Mexico to the United States, up from 5,000 earlier this week. One of the organizers had estimated that they were mostly from Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras and Venezuela.
The Associated Press reported that migrants have complaints that processing for refugee and exit visas in Mexico had taken too long. It marks the largest caravan since the summer of last year, although with historically high numbers crashing into the border each week — September saw record-high encounters of over 269,000 — it marks a fraction of the numbers agents will likely encounter over a month.
Caravans have been a regular feature at the border in recent years, heading to the border in both the Trump and Biden administrations. They often break up on their way to the border, with migrants either seeking relief in Mexico or moving to the U.S. border to seek entry in smaller groups. But the images of the enormous numbers of people heading to the border offer a snapshot of how many have surged into the U.S. under the Biden administration.
Republicans, who have accused the Biden administration of fueling the crisis with its rollback of Trump-era border policies and releases of migrants into the U.S. interior, blamed the latest caravan on the Biden administration.
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, told Fox News Digital that what he said was a failure to secure the border “has signaled to bad actors across the globe that exploiting our borders comes without consequence.”
“As we brace for the impact of yet another massive caravan heading towards our country, the situation at the border is dire. Sadly, it was made abundantly clear in this week’s hearing with DHS Secretary [Alejandro] Mayorkas that this administration lacks all control and leadership when it comes to addressing the border crisis they created, putting Americans’ safety at risk.”
The Biden administration has said it is restoring asylum pathways that were dismantled during the Trump administration and that it is dealing with a historic Hemisphere-wide crisis while expanding lawful pathways and implementing “consequences for illegal entry.” It has called on Congress to pass immigration reform legislation to fix a “broken” system, and for additional border funding — including a recent $14 billion request.
The funding would also allow for the increased use of expedited removal of those in the country illegally and would hire additional staff including Border Patrol agents, attorneys and processing coordinators. That includes $1.3 billion for “Safe Mobility Offices” and to support “host communities and legal pathways” in the region.
“This funding package would allow us to more effectively combat the scourge of fentanyl, stem the impacts of historic migration, and accelerate work authorization for eligible noncitizens,” Mayorkas told the Senate Homeland Security Committee this week. “This funding will, in short, make a critical difference in our department’s operational capacity and in our national security.”
Republicans have been skeptical of the calls from the Biden administration and pushed their own package, which would increase Border Patrol agents while limiting the ability of the administration to release migrants into the interior and increasing enforcement.
House Homeland Security Counterterrorism Subcommittee Chairman August Pfluger told Fox News Digital that the caravans know that there are “no consequences for illegal entry into the U.S.”
“The President’s policies have incentivized millions of illegal crossings, and I am extremely concerned about the heightened risk of terrorism due to the wide-open southern border. President Biden must enforce our existing laws to secure the border, disincentiveize illegal migration flows and safeguard our national security,” he said.
“The Biden administration has rolled out the welcome mat for migrants heading to the U.S., allowing for eight million to illegally cross under his watch so far,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said. “Now thousands more have set foot toward our country because according to the caravan’s leader, ‘Biden has lost control of the border.’”
Blackburn highlighted recent concerns about terrorism at the border, including record numbers of terror watchlist encounters: “This is an unacceptable national security and humanitarian crisis. With a 75% increase in terror watchlist apprehensions, we cannot afford to go another day with a wide-open and out-of-control southern border.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, who introduced the Senate version of the House-passed border and immigration legislation, said that the response by the upper chamber should be to pass that legislation “to build a wall and protect Americans from the ‘caravan’ of unvetted illegal aliens attempting to flood our border.”
“With the radical Islamic terrorism sweeping the Middle East, border security is now more important than ever. Just last year, 736 people on the terrorist watch list tried to get into our country — and those are just the ones we know about,” he said. “The Biden Border Crisis is threatening Americans, and this caravan is just the latest disaster in the long list of Biden’s failures.”
Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
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Muslims disillusioned by Biden face difficult choice with Trump
Muslim voters disillusioned with President Biden’s position on Israel are facing the prospect of a difficult choice in 2024.
Voters The Hill spoke with said they feel betrayed, angry and disappointed with the way Biden has stood steadfastly with Israel despite its bombardment of Gaza.
Yet the Republican candidate facing Biden at this stage seems likely to be former President Trump, who famously issued a travel ban on predominantly Muslim nations in his first days in office. Trump, who is leading his GOP rivals in polls, has vowed to reinstate a travel ban if elected.
Biden has forcefully backed Israel’s right to defend itself, arguing it should do what it needs to do to defeat Hamas, which controls Gaza and is responsible for an Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians.
The president has urged Israel to take steps to limit civilian casualties and has sought to draw a line between innocent Palestinians and Hamas, but many Muslim voters are angered by how strongly he has sided with Israel.
“I think for this point, he’s sealed his fate. I have no interest. There’s nothing he can do to get my vote,” said one Muslim voter in New York City, who asked that their name be withheld given the sensitivity of the topic.
Ameerah Al-Zahrani, a Pittsburgh, Pa. voter who is Muslim, said she feels “extremely discouraged” about the 2024 election and is considering a vote for Cornel West, the Harvard professor and longtime critic of Israel who is challenging Biden from the left.
“I certainly will not be voting for [Biden], Kamala [Harris] or Trump. I know many fellow critical thinkers who are filled with humanity from our communities and allies, whether Palestinian, Arabs, Muslims or our anti-Zionist Jewish siblings, who will not vote for them either,” she said.
A voter in Dearborn, Mich., which boasts one of the largest Muslim American populations in the country, was torn over their possible 2024 decision.
“I’ve been concerned for some time about our choices in November next year. I am not a supporter of Donald Trump’s, never have been, never will be,” said the voter, who also asked that their name be withheld given the charged politics surrounding the war.
“I’m also pragmatic enough to know that every president deals with a decision like that, especially when we’re dealing with allies and international issues,” the voter said of Biden and his handling of the war. “I don’t throw the baby out with the bath water when it comes to politics.”
The loss of even a small number of voters could be critical for Biden or Trump, assuming they are their party’s nominees in the presidential race that is a year away.
Biden won the 2020 race over Trump in a tight contest determined by slim margins in a handful of states.
In a memo released Thursday, Biden campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodriguez said her team feels “well-prepared to defeat whoever emerges from the extreme MAGA Republicans’ primary field,” but “this will be a very close general election.”
Biden won 64 percent of the Muslim vote in 2020, and Trump won 35 percent, according to exit polling by The Associated Press.
Besides the Muslim travel ban policy, Trump also made the controversial move to relocate the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and declare it Israel’s capital, which infuriated Arabs in the region.
Still, political strategists in the Muslim community say Biden faces an obvious political danger with U.S. Muslims.
“Will there be political consequences? Based on the numbers that I’m seeing and based on the conversations that I’m having with young people and Arab Muslim Americans across the country, there is not a shred of doubt in my mind,” said Abbas Alawieh, a senior progressive strategist currently working in Dearborn.
Most U.S. Muslims identify as Democrats, according to the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), though about 40 percent identify as independents.
“The large politically independent segment of Muslims also suggests that many Muslims may not feel squarely at home in either party,” said ISPU executive director Meira Neggaz. “This group was already sort of primed to not be beholden to either party, so with widespread anger and frustration with what’s happening over Gaza, now what’s going to happen with that group of independents?”
Alawieh noted that on the ground in Michigan, the Republican party is working hard to attract Muslims who may align with the GOP on wedge social issues.
“I don’t think they’ve won back this community — a community that voted Republican in much higher numbers pre-9/11,” he said.
“But I think they have been putting a fair amount of work and in a moment like this, the president’s failure to call for a cease-fire that saves the lives of Palestinian children is exactly the kind of thing that has the potential to open the flood gates of people abandoning the long streak of supporting Democrats.”
New polling this week showed Biden’s support among Arab American voters plummeting to just 17 percent, down 42 percentage points compared to 2020. The Arab American Institute, which conducted the poll, said it marks the first time in 26 years of polling Arab Americans that the majority did not claim to prefer the Democratic Party.
Democrats are largely shrugging off worries for now, noting the election is a year away and saying Trump will turn off many voters.
A former Biden aide, who is Muslim, described the hurt and pain in the Muslim community but was confident the White House can improve its standing.
“I think it is now going to be incumbent on the White House to assure these voters that they do indeed have their back,” the source said. “To show empathy, to be there for them. If there’s any president, any White House, who can do it, it’s this White House.”
The White House this week announced it is developing a strategy to counter Islamophobia.
When questioned on whether the Islamophobia strategy is too little too late, the White House has stressed it’s a “very genuine effort” that stems from thinking that predates Oct. 7.
The New York City voter, however, argued there’s no home for Muslims in either major U.S. party.
“We have the power as voters to hold our elected officials accountable and I think until they show us that they are interested in our freedoms and our people, then we will,” the voter said. “The faith that people of color have in the American democratic system is also just severely in question right now.”
Go to Source: Administration News | The Hill