As war wages on in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, Representative Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) answered questions regarding his trip to Israel and provided some new perspectives concerning how to address the dire situation.
He mentioned that he thought the world was past the amount of widespread anti-Semitism, and that the attack on Israel “rocked the Country to its core.”
"You know, I think that this attack rocked the country to its core. I think that they thought they were past this point. After making peace with a lot of countries in the area – past the point where people really wanted to eliminate the country from the map. I’m talking about regular people,” said Rep. Moskowitz.
He continued, stating “We’re right back to Germany in the early 40s.”
“I think the fact that [Hamas] took all these hostages has really, really rocked the country. I think they’ve seen the anti-Semitism around the world in response, which has just also shocked them to the core that we’re right back to Germany in the early 40s,” said Moskowitz.
Upon returning from Israel, the Florida congressman relayed the notion that we as a society are “looking at this in a wrong way.”
“One of the ways we’re looking at this is that Israel has a right to defend itself from Hamas, and that’s true, they do. But we also have to liberate the Palestinian people from Hamas,” said Moskowitz. “Because Hamas didn’t just take Israeli hostages, they’ve taken all the Palestinian hostages. They’re not letting them leave. They’re using them as human shields. They’re shooting them as they try to get away. And so, the largest danger to the Palestinians is not Israel, it’s Hamas.”
Along the same line of reasoning, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) – as well as other opponents of Hamas – have said that calls for a ceasefire are improper, asserting that Hamas broke the ceasefire up until Oct. 7, the day of the attack.
The Floridan sat down with Senator Rubio to discuss the war against Hamas.
“There was a ceasefire. Hamas and Israel were in a state of ceasefire until they decided to cross the border and butcher 1,600 people and take hostages. That ended the ceasefire. So, I get it. They kill 1,600 people then they run back into their tunnels and then they want it all to stop,” said Rubio.
However, shortly after the “Rabbis for a Ceasefire” press conference, The Floridian spoke to Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) who said that she and other House Democrats have condemned Hamas for the attack on Oct. 7.
At the same time, she appeared to defend Hamas by questioning Sen. Rubio’s assertion that Hamas broke an existing ceasefire with Israel.
“Is he ok? I mean, truly, seriously,” Omar said of Rubio. “The fact that these people behave as if we are not watching the slaughter of human beings and children is insanity to me. What are they rooting for?”
She continued, “We provide all this training. The United States provides all this training and weaponary (sic) to Israel. They cannot figure out how to go after Hamas? They have to kill civilians? It’s ridiculous,” said Omar.
Israel recently stated that until all the hostages were released, there was no possibility of a ceasefire. Israel did however agree to 4-hour pauses in military operations.
