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Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro Commends Harris’s Debate Performance, Praises Her ‘Vision for the Middle East’
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) holds a rally in support of US Vice President Kamala Harris’ Democratic presidential election campaign in Ambler, Pennsylvania, US, July 29, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Rachel Wisniewski
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), one of the most prominent Jewish voices in American politics, praised US Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential debate answers on the Israel-Hamas war on Tuesday night.
Shapiro, a surrogate of the Harris campaign, commended the Democratic presidential nominee’s debate performance. He also stated that Harris made an “effective case” on how to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Look, I thought the vice president had a great night,” Shapiro told reporters after the debate. “I thought that not only did she lay out her vision for what she wants to do in this commonwealth, in this country, but I thought what she also did is prosecute the case effectively against Donald Trump, show him to be the unhinged person that he is.”
Shapiro argued that Harris was “right to say that Israel has the right to defend itself after the horrific attack by Hamas on October 7, murdering 1,200 Israelis, taking nearly 250 people, including Americans, hostage, raping women.”
In agreement with Harris, Shapiro stated that although Israel has a right to use military force to dismantle the Palestinian terrorist group, “how they prosecute that war does matter.”
“I also think what she did is lay out a vision for the Middle East, one of Israelis and Palestinians living peacefully side-by-side,” he added. “I think that’s critically important.”
The Pennsylvania governor asserted that Palestinians need to “make clear that violence has no part in their relationship with Israel, that Israel has a right to exist.”
Shapiro, a practicing Jew, has positioned himself as a staunch supporter of Israel. In the days following Hamas’s brutal slaughter of civilians across southern Israel on Oct. 7, Shapiro issued statements condemning the Palestinian terrorist group and gave a speech at a local synagogue. The governor also ordered the US and Pennsylvania Commonwealth flags to fly at half mast outside the state capitol to honor the victims.
Shapiro has condemned protests against Israeli- and Jewish-owned businesses in Pennsylvania as “antisemitic” and resisted demands to call for a “ceasefire” in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. The governor revised the state codes of conduct to bar government employees from participating in “scandalous or disgraceful” behavior.
During an April interview with CNN host Jake Tapper, Shapiro forcefully condemned the pro-Hamas protests on university campuses, questioning “whether or not we would tolerate this if this were people dressed up in KKK outfits or KKK regalia, making comments about people who are African American in our communities.”
Shapiro, a popular governor in a critical swing state, was previously considered to be the frontrunner for the vice presidential slot on the Democratic ticket. However, Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), raising questions as to whether his Jewish identity or support for Israel impacted the selection process. Shapiro emphatically denied these rumors, asserting that antisemitism played “no role” in his failure to secure the vice-presidential nominee.
The post Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro Commends Harris’s Debate Performance, Praises Her ‘Vision for the Middle East’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Treasure Trove: An Israeli stamp reflects the complex mix of emotions about Oct. 7
Michelle Shalmiev was born in a village in the Caucasian mountains and immigrated to Israel and settled on a kibbutz when she was 14. Her series “Putting Your Stamp on History” […]
The post Treasure Trove: An Israeli stamp reflects the complex mix of emotions about Oct. 7 appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Download a special Oct. 7 print edition of The Canadian Jewish News
Printable obituaries of eight Canadian victims and more of our original coverage.
The post Download a special Oct. 7 print edition of The Canadian Jewish News appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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The Jewish People Perform Another Miracle
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is seen addressing supporters, in Beirut, Lebanon. Photo: Reuters.
JNS.org – This Oct. 7 will not only be an anniversary of tears, of pure contrition, even if the memory is burning as the people of Israel live. As to how, it wasn’t at all obvious. Our whole history is made of miracles—from the splitting of the sea to escape from the Egyptians to the Inquisition to the pogroms to the thousand other genocidal attacks to which the Jews have been subjected. In every case, the results are always incredible and surprising, especially for how we have emerged active, faithful to our Torah tradition and committed to the return to Jerusalem until we made it happen.
The War of Independence in 1948 was fought by concentration-camp veterans, yet we defeated all the Arab armies, united in hatred, who marched against us. Later, in 1967, 1973 wars were won by a hair’s breadth with miraculous strokes of imagination and leaders who gave birth to ideas that people would have expected. No one would have ever bet a euro, penny or shekel on the idea that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and his entire hierarchy could be eliminated, petrifying Iran, especially since we have already reduced its other favorite proxy, Hamas, to pieces. And now we have bombed Iran’s other proxy, the Houthis, some 2,000 kilometers away, destroying the airport from which they receive their weapons and aid from the ayatollahs. The Islamic Republic’s leader, Ali Khamenei, is reportedly hiding underground, the Iraqi and Syrian Shi’ites are waiting to see if they are next, and cities controlled by Tehran are shaking.
As President Joe Biden said, it is a measure of justice, but one that Israel has undertaken in an impossible fashion, defending its citizens amid a thousand prohibitions with determination and without fear. Only in this way can a 76-year-old young state, which has been attacked from all sides, defend itself. The country’s existence is the latest chapter in the history of a people born many millennia ago in the Land of Israel, who are finally back home and defending their state.
The war is certainly not over, as Hezbollah reportedly had 100,000 fighters. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows that he must see this fight through to the end, despite the international pressure to which Israel has been subjected for nearly a year. Israel’s leadership understands that its very existence is at definitive risk if there is no “new Middle East” in the aftermath of Oct. 7.
While previous generations and Israeli leaders hoped that peace agreements would establish peace in the region, today’s leaders know that there is also a need for battle to stop those who, dominated by absurd fanatical and religious beliefs, wish to kill you. (After all, what do the Houthi rebels in Yemen have to do with the Jews and Israel?)
This is the lesson of our time—not just for Israel and the Jewish people but for everyone. The Jewish people are writing a new page in history, one in which the free world must write and fight alongside them, as it is a battle for the survival of Western ideals. Israel has eliminated the two most dangerous terrorist groups in the world—Hamas and Hezbollah—with operations that will set a precedent for decades. And it challenges Iran. I would like to hear the applause, please.
The post The Jewish People Perform Another Miracle first appeared on Algemeiner.com.