I agree. The October 7, 2023 attack on Israel was extremely brutal, though upon further investigation, there appears to be little to no evidence supporting the initial claims of mass systemic rapes or beheaded babies. Horrendous as October 7th was, it is vastly outweighed by the daily violence inflicted on Gaza and the West Bank by the IDF and the settler movement. The vast majority of the victimization stems from Zionist aggression against Palestinians, which has been ongoing since the movement began a century ago in a grab for power and resources, particularly given the Middle East’s vast oil and gas reserves.
Though the concept had been bandied about for decades, the Zionist Project officially began with the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which sought to establish a homeland for the Jewish people and was largely supported by the British government. However, the clause stating that "nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine" was ignored. Instead, the project functioned like the proverb of the camel sticking its nose into the oil-rich Arab tent, eventually occupying the entire space. Basically, the endeavor remains a Western power grab against the Middle East, heavily funded in recent decades by American tax dollars and fueled by AIPAC’s significant influence over members of Congress.
It is worth noting that following the horrors of 9/11, General Wesley Clark revealed a Pentagon plan to destroy seven Middle Eastern countries. Today, Iran and Lebanon are the last remaining targets. This aligns with the United States’ decades of endless regional conflicts, often driven by Israeli aggression. Now, we have tragically taken on Iran while Israel targets Lebanon.
Ultimately, war mania stems from a supremacist complex that stands in stark opposition to the U.S. Constitutional promise of equal rights. This dynamic has driven our foreign policy for decades, culminating in Trump’s policies and the current conflict with Iran. Hopefully, the majority of the country is finally beginning to understand this reality and will turn toward a renewed commitment to peace in the future.
See also the following chronologically-ordered Wild Reed posts:
• October 7, 2023: “Nothing About Today Is ‘Unprovoked’”
• Phyllis Bennis: “If We Are Serious About Ending This Spiraling Violence, We Need to Look at Root Causes”
• In the Midst of the “Great Unraveling,” a Visit to the Prayer Tree
• Eric Levitz: Quote of the Day – October 11, 2023
• Something to Think About – October 12, 2023
• Prayer of the Week – October 16, 2023
• Voices of Reason and Compassion on the Crisis in Israel and Gaza
• More Voices of Reason and Compassion on the Crisis in Israel and Gaza
• Ta-Nehisi Coates: Quote of the Day – November 2, 2023
• Jehad Abusalim: Quote of the Day – December 8, 2023
• Christmas 2023 – Reflections, Activism, Art, and Celebrations
• Sabrina Salvati: Quote of the Day – January 2, 2024
• Michael Fakhri: Quote of the Day – February 27, 2024
• Phyllis Bennis: Quote of the Day – March 28, 2024
• Josh Paul: Quote of the Day – March 28, 2024
• “A Genocide Has Been Normalized”
• “This Is a Genocidal Project”
• Outrage and Despair
• Naomi Klein’s Powerful Words on Israel’s and the West’s Ongoing Gaza Genocide
• Judith Butler on the Ongoing Student Protests Against the Gaza Genocide
• Kyle Kulinski: Quote of the Day – May 23, 2024
• Something to Think About – June 28, 2024
• Nina Turner: Quote of the Day – July 24, 2024
• Phyllis Bennis: “We Can Never Give Up Hope”
• John Cusack: Quote of the Day – July 26, 2024
• Progressive Perspectives on the Presidential Nomination of Kamala Harris
• Breaking Down Kamala Harris’s DNC Speech on Gaza
• Yousef Munayyer: Quote of the Day – August 30, 2024
• “It’s a Systematic Slaughter That We’re Funding”
• Protesting Weapons Manufacturer and Genocide Enabler General Dynamics
• Something to Think About – September 26, 2024
• “A Year of War Against Children”
• Anti-Genocide Presidential Candidate Jill Stein Reflects on the First Anniversary of Israel’s Genocide in Gaza
• Liam Cosgrove Confronts U.S. State Department Spin Doctor Matthew Miller: “People Are Sick of the Bullshit”
• “This Is a Tragic, Heartbreaking Moment in the History of Humanity”
• Progressive Perspectives on Kamala Harris’ Faltering Presidential Campaign
• Progressive Perspectives on Where Democrats Went Wrong in the 2024 Presidential Election
• Hope and Courage – Christmas 2024
• Chris Hedges: “Israel Has No Intention of Halting Its Merry-Go-Round of Death”
• The Lamentable Legacy of the Biden Administration
• Caitlin Johnstone: Quote of the Day – January 22, 2025
• Butch Ware: Quote of the Day – January 30, 2025
• The Only Difference
• Progressive Perspectives on Cory Booker’s Marathon Speech
• Silence on Gaza Genocide Is “More Than a Mere Moral Abdication; It Is Lethal”
• The Theft of One’s Soul: Omar El Akkad on the “Lesser of Two Evils” Argument
• How Genocide Becomes Ordinary
• Thomas Friedman: Quote of the Day – May 27, 2025
• “A Holocaust, Live-streamed”
• Why What’s Happening in Palestine – and Our Response to It – Is So Important
• “Life Comes First”: An Interview with Thiago Ávila
• Truth-telling in the Face of Systemic Power That Is Silent on Genocide
• Caitlin Johnstone: Quote of the Day – July 23, 2025
• U.S. Labor Leader Chris Smalls Joins the Crew of the Handala
• Israel’s Actions in Gaza: “A Clear and Present Moral Collapse”
• Protesting Israel’s “Starvation Campaign” in Gaza
• Chris Smalls: Quote of the Day – August 5, 2025
• Anas al-Sharif, 1996-2025
• A Call to Divest from Israel
• Idrees Ahmad: Quote of the Day – August 25, 2025
• Michael Sala: Quote of the Day – August 29, 2025
• A Poem That Remains Painfully Relevant
• Memes of the Times
• An “Illusion of Action”
• Two Years of “Indescribable Horror”
• No Justice, No Peace
• Progressive Perspectives on Hillary Clinton’s Comments on Pro-Palestine “Propaganda” and TikTok
• Phil Rockstroh: Quote of the Day – December 14, 2025
• Qasim Rashid: Quote of the Day – December 29, 2025
• “It Is Up to Us”
• The Architecture of Settler Colonialism
• Kym Staton: Quote of the Day – March 3, 2026
• Omid Safi: Quote of the Day – March 7, 2026
• Do Nation States Have the “Right” to Exist?
• Chris Hedges: “The Genocide in Gaza Is the Beginning. Welcome to the New World Order”
• Jonny Rashid: Quote of the Day – August 10, 2026
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• “The Mistreatment and Discrimination Against Palestinians Is Not Unprecedented. It’s Baked Into the Foundation of the Political System in Israel”
• “Essential Viewing for All Who Care to Understand the Plight of the People of Palestine”
• Progressive Perspectives on the Ongoing Israeli-Palestinian “Nightmare” (2021)
• Something to Think About – July 29, 2018
• Noura Erakat: Quote of the Day – May 15, 2018
• For Some Jews, Israel’s Treatment of Palestinians is Yet Another Jewish Tragedy
• Remembering the Six-Day War and Its Ongoing Aftermath
• David Norris: Quote of the Day – August 12, 2014
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