A Proposed Hamas Resolution
Hatred of America and Israel on Display
Monday evening, I was a first-hand witness to a group of Hamas supporters displaying their hatred for this country. The occasion was a meeting of the Richmond, Virginia, City Council. It was first such political meeting I have ever attended.
THE PROPOSED RESOLUTION
One of the items on the agenda was a pro-Hamas resolution. Its supporters characterized it as a “cease fire” resolution, but it was more than that. The full text is available here.
Some quick highlights are that it claims, among other things, (my bracketed comments and bolded emphasis) that:
“Experts describe the Israeli bombing of Gaza as among the most intensive, destructive, and deadliest in history.” [Some “experts” need a refresher course in military history.]
“Israel forces have targeted and killed more than 100 journalists, 241 medical workers, scores of teachers and other professionals since October 7th.” [Hamas
reportspropaganda has been shown to be inflated and inaccurate.]“Israeli’s weaponization of anti-Semitism and violence inflicted on the Palestinians are fueling antisemitism and leaving Jewish people here in the United States and elsewhere less safe.” [It is the unscrupulous Jews’ own fault that their lives and livelihoods are being threatened because they brought it on themselves.]
And the remedies that it wants the Richmond City Counsel to weigh in on?
“To call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire; the release of all hostages, including Palestinians arbitrarily detained by Israel; the unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza; the restoration of electricity, water, food, and medical supplies to Gaza; an end to the siege and blockade of Gaza; an end of the occupation; an end to US aid to Israel; and respect for international law by all parties.” [As discussed below, a permanent ceasefire is impossible because of Hamas’ declared intention to continue the war, “again and again.” Note also that this demand for an end to all aid to Israel combined with the demand for more aid to Hamas, goes far beyond a “mere” call for a cease-fire.]
That “the City of Richmond severs all relations with Israeli businesses until a permanent ceasefire is implemented; humanitarian aid is delivered to the people of Gaza and the West Bank; and until UN mediated progress is made to end Israel's illegal occupation of Gaza and the West Bank and progress is made to establish equal rights for all Palestinians and sovereignty for Palestine.” [This is, in effect, a demand for severance of all contacts with any Israeli business, forever.]
THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING
No Council member has sponsored the proposed Resolution. The pro-Hamas forces are attempting to convince someone to do so. Several were allowed to speak for that purpose.
Supporters of Hamas and Israel showed up in roughly equal numbers. Generally, the pro-Hamas group was seated on the right side of the meeting room. Most of the supporters of Israel (and the United States) were on the left, although there was some commingling due to a capacity crowd.
The Hamas supporters were predominantly, younger, millennial–aged people with a sprinkling of older adults. Most could be identified by their uniforms, black and white keffiyehs and ubiquitous face masks. My estimate was that at least half of the pro-Hamas crowd were wearing face masks. Several people with whom I spoke noted that there was no real reason for so many people to be masked, except to help hide their identity.
THE MEETING OPENS WITH A PRAYER AND THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The meeting opened with a prayer followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Everyone I saw appeared to be respectful during the prayer. However, that was not the case during the Pledge. While looking at the flag during the pledge, I was not looking at the Hamas supporters on the other side of the aisle. But I when I saw them in my peripheral vision, I was struck by what I saw. I then looked at the entire Hamas group, which occupied virtually all of the right half of the large meeting room. Although there were a few in the first two or three rows who were standing during the Pledge, the great majority – I would say 80% or more -- remained seated, refusing to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Hamas supporters (on the right) show their disrespect for the Pledge of Allegiance
Happily, one of the pro-Israel speakers also saw and commented on their disrespect during his presentation a few minutes later. He noted that it was ironic indeed, that the pro-Hamas group was there to ask the government to act for them, but at the same time they were refusing to pledge allegiance to the country, or even to stand while others were reciting the Pledge.
My own reaction was that this intentional disrespect was a window into the Hamas supporters’ thinking: They despise this Country. For the most part, these are not just well-meaning people who are worried that civilians are caught up in an existential war. They have a blind hatred for the United States and its traditional values. If Hamas had not launched its October 7 horrors, sparking the current campaign, they would latch onto some other liberal Marxist cause as a vehicle to vent their hatred.
THE SPEAKERS
Six members of the public had been pre-approved to speak for a maximum of three minutes each following the Pledge. Four of the speakers were pro-Hamas and two were Israel supporters. In an effort to keep the meeting orderly and on time, a Council spokesman reminded everyone of the rules at the outset of the meeting: Attendees were required to remain quiet, no applauding, cheering, cat-calling, or other audible support or opposition to any of the speakers. As far as I could see everyone in the pro-Israel group were polite and followed these rules. The pro-Hamas team, however, did not. Both of the pro–Israeli speakers were frequently interrupted with cries of “Shame! Shame!”
A Hamas supporter politely makes her most eloquent argument.
The first of the four pro-Hamas speakers was Sa’ad El-Amin, formerly known as JeRoyd Wiley Greene and JeRoyd X Greene. El-Amin always has been a highly controversial figure. A now-disbarred lawyer, he surrendered his law license in 2002 as a result of a reported forty-seven misconduct complaints before the Virginia State Bar. A graduate of Yale Law School, El-Amin converted to Islam and moved to Chicago in the 1970’s to work as an attorney for Lewis Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam. El-Amin is a skillful advocate and, like the three who followed him, made the case for Hamas with now-familiar arguments. In a nutshell they are that Israel is committing genocide, is deliberately targeting civilians including children, the innocent Gaza civilians are being starved and denied medical care, and there must be a “permanent cease fire.” No one can disagree because their positions are, in their words, “not arguable points.”
To me, the most notable thing missing from their comments was what they did not say: There was no mention of the sub-human atrocities perpetrated by their heroes on October 7, the raping and killing of Israeli hostages, Hamas’ use of human shields to increase the number of civilian casualties, and their hiding military facilities and hostage prison cells under hospitals, mosques, schools, and UN facilities for the same purpose.
And, of course, none of the Hamas supporters mentioned that their non-negotiable demand for a permanent cease fire is impossible because Hamas’ senior leadership has promised to continue the fight to exterminate Israel after the current campaign is over: In an October 24, 2023 Lebanese TV appearance, Ghazi Hamad of the Hamas political bureau justified the barbarism of October 7, saying: “Everything we do is justified.” He also made clear that any talk of Israel agreeing to a permanent cease fire was nonsensical because come what may, Hamas would continue the war until Israel was exterminated: "We must teach Israel a lesson, and we will do this again and again. The Al-Aqsa Flood is just the first time, and there will be a second, a third, a fourth, because we have the determination, the resolve, and the capabilities to fight. Will we have to pay a price? Yes, and we are ready to pay it. We are called a nation of martyrs, and we are proud to sacrifice martyrs.”
When it came their turn, the first of the two pro-Israel speakers noted, among other things, that the Jewish community nationwide is now “experiencing a category 5 hurricane of anti-Semitism.” This apparently was funny to some – it was met with raucous laughter by the Hamas crowd.
The second pro-Israel speaker was Rabbi Dovid Asher, whose parents were in Israel when the October 7 attack occurred. He spoke of his concern for them being under continuing threat from Hamas rocket fire. He made a powerful point with his observation that Hamas had fired over 16,000 rockets that truly are indiscriminate and that “every rocket is an attempted murder of innocents.” During his allotted three minutes, he was twice interrupted by a young woman shouting “That’s a f***ing lie!”
I spoke with Rabbi Asher after the meeting and asked his reaction to the other group remaining seated during the Pledge. He said, “If a segment of the public has a core opposition and an antagonistic approach to the flag, to patriotism, and to the Country, then policy makers should consider that in deciding how much weight to give to their opinions.”
The calculated and coordinated, disrespect, even hatred, of the country evidenced by the Hamas supporters’ refusal to stand, much less recite, the pledge of allegiance shows that the phony efforts to appear even-handed in the proposed resolution are exactly that – phony.
A NATIONAL AGENDA
Although this Council meeting occurred in Richmond, Virginia, this literally unpatriotic and propagandistic display of hostility to this Country is not an isolated incident. The so-called cease fire resolutions are a nationwide phenomenon among activists and “progressives.” Reuther reports that as of January 31, “[a]t least 48 cities had passed symbolic resolutions calling for a halt to Israel's Gaza bombardment….”
Examples of the refusal to say the Pledge of Allegiance also abound. Here is one from the webpage of an outfit called “Here 4 the Kids,” which touts having “regional hubs” in over 18 cities and states across the country, including Richmond, and in Canada:
“The Pledge of Whiteness. Hey white folks, pledging to liberty and justice for all in a nation where one in every three Black boys can expect to go to prison in his lifetime is not patriotism. It’s white supremacy gaslighting.”
The article boils down to, ‘pledging allegiance to a “polyester flag” is dumb and you shouldn’t let your kids do it.’ “Here 4 the Kids” is part of what they and others term the modern “abolitionist” movement whose goals, among other things, include “defunding the police, abolishing the carceral system of jails and prisons, and attacking the systems and symbols of racism and white supremacy.” Abolishing the Pledge of Allegiance is part of that agenda.
The “Here 4 the Kids” agenda is just one of many. Parents, pay attention to what your kids are being taught in school.
Enforce the anti-masking law! (An anti-Klan law passed in the supposedly deeply racist, systemically racist!, South.
18.2-422
The kids are brainwashed useful !d!ots.
I watched a clip of the movie "Strategic Air Command" with Jimmy Stewart today, it was made in the 1950's and harkens back to a time when the United States was at the peak of its power and influence in the world. It was like a world in another galaxy. The contrast between the America of my youth and today's reality is really dispiriting.
Can you imagine the majority of American citizens of the 1950's putting up with the sort of America hatred John observed at this meeting? Honestly, I'm starting to feel like Clint Eastwood's character in Gran Torino...a cranky old man figuratively yelling "Get out of my Country" at the scum who seem to be taking over.
How did we ever allow things to get to this point?