It doesn't happen often, but when someone in the Biden administration gets it right, it's worth a mention - especially when the issue is the Israel-Hamas war and is related to spurious and incendiary allegations of war crimes that have no basis whatsoever in reality.
In the six-plus weeks since the Hamas-instigated war started, Israel has been hit with allegations from the Hamas Caucus and radicals who share their point of view that it has been engaging in "ethnic cleansing/genocide." The "evidence" of this routinely consists of unconfirmed videos/reports being shared by random Twitter users on the social media platform, some of which include known Hamas crisis actors.
During the Monday press briefing, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby fielded a question from a reporter about anti-Israel demonstrators who refer to President Biden as "Genocide Joe" over his stated support for Israel.
In his response, Kirby first noted that though they were free to call Joe Biden whatever they wanted to because they have First Amendment rights, the record needed to be corrected to show that it was actually Hamas who were proponents of genocide, not Israel:
Kirby: I said this the other day: Again, people can say what they want on — on the sidewalk and that — and we respect that. That’s what the First Amendment is about.
But this word “genocide” is getting thrown around in a pretty inappropriate way by lots of different folks. What Hamas wants, make no mistake about it, is genocide. They want to wipe Israel off the map. They’ve said so publicly on more than one occasion — in fact, just recently.
And they’ve said that they’re not going to stop, what happened on the 7th of October is going to happen again and again and again. And what happened on the 7th of October? Murder. Slaughter of innocent people in their homes or at a music festival. That’s genocidal intentions.
Yes, there are too many civilian casualties in Gaza. Yes, the numbers are too high. Yes, too many families are grieving. And yes, we continue to urge the Israelis to be as careful and cautious as possible. That’s not going to stop, from the President right on down.
But Israel is not trying to wipe the Palestinian people off the map. Israel is not trying to wipe Gaza off the map. Israel is trying to defend itself against a genocidal terrorist threat. So, when we’re going to start — if we’re going to start using that word, fine, let’s use it appropriately.
Watch:
Kirby on protestors calling Israel acting in self-defense “genocide”:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) November 20, 2023
"This word 'genocide' is getting thrown around in a pretty inappropriate way...what Hamas wants – make no mistake about it – is genocide...Israel's trying defend itself against a genocidal terrorist threat. So… pic.twitter.com/isOlo7g6JW
I know people are going to take issue with him saying Israel should be as "cautious and careful" as possible but that's something his boss wants him to say to appease The Squad. But outside of that, he was spot on and it's a correction that needs to be made in the context of what's happened over the last six weeks because the longer the war drags on, the more The Usual Suspects are going to demand a ceasefire and say Israel is purposely killing Gaza civilians.
Every time they do so, the record should be corrected. Also, staunch ceasefire proponents need to continually be reminded not only of who started this but also of what would happen if Hamas and not Israel were to emerge as the victors. As Kirby said in his above remarks and previous ones, Hamas has been very open about what they want to do to the Israeli people and Jews worldwide should they (Hamas) get the upper hand.
When all is said and done, the Useful Idiots will remain useful idiots no matter how you try and convince them otherwise. But that shouldn't stop people including members of the Biden administration from calling out evil for what it is publicly - and very loudly.
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