SAN DIEGO (SDJW) — Vice President Kamala Harris called for an immediate 6-week ceasefire in Gaza during an appearance in Selma, Alabama, on Sunday. In Tucson, Arizona, protesters interrupted a speech by First Lady Jill Biden during a stop on her “Women for Biden-Harris” tour. Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet, arrived in Washington for meetings on Monday with Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
In San Diego, UC San Diego officials alerted students, staff, and faculty that a planned demonstration on campus Wednesday, March 6, would be met with extra security precautions. This followed appeals from Jewish professors that the march be outright cancelled.
These developments in the United States played out against a backdrop of American cargo planes air dropping 38,000 meals to Palestinians civilians on a Gaza beach, and Israel announcing that it would not attend a ceasefire conference in Cairo, Egypt, until Hamas specified how many Israeli hostages are dead and how many are alive.
Kamala Harris – During a traditional stop for Democrats observing the anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” when Alabama state troopers in 1965 attacked Black voting rights marchers attempting to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the vice president stressed that “too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. …Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks, which is what currently is on the table. This is what will get the hostages out and a significant amount of aid in. This would allow us to build something more enduring to ensure Israel is secure and to respect the right of the Palestinian people to dignity, freedom, and self-determination.”
Jill Biden – Discussing women’s reproductive health issues during a Tucson stop, Biden commented that “extremist Republicans led by Donald Trump are passing laws that prevent women from getting the health care they need, including IVF (in vitro fertilization).” But she was interrupted four times by pro-Palestinian protesters, including one who shouted “It’s a genocide, Jill!” before the demonstrator was escorted away by the First Lady’s security team. Reaction in the audience was mixed. Some applauded the protesters, while others answered the protests with chants of “Four more years.”
Benny Gantz – A former Defense Minister and a political rival of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Benny Gantz was invited to join Israel’s “War Cabinet” following the Oct. 7 massacre of 1,200 Israelis by Hamas forces. Now, without coordinating with Netanyahu, he met in Washington D.C. with the leaders of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on Sunday and has scheduled meetings with top American officials on Monday to discuss ceasefire negotiations and how Gaza will be ruled following a presumed Israeli victory.
UC San Diego – Tension is building over a planned demonstration on the UC San Diego campus called for Wednesday by Students for Justice in Palestine, especially because an SJP demonstration at UC Berkeley recently turned violent with windows broken and Jewish students threatened. (See related story)
Air Drop – Three military C-130s dropped a total of 66 pallets for a total of 38,000 packages of what the military calls Meals Ready to Eat, with each package containing sufficient calories for a day. The airdrop fulfilled U.S. President Joe Biden’s promise to increase America’s humanitarian aid to Gaza, but drew criticism from GOP members of Congress. “We didn’t send aid to Germany and Japan in 1944. Let Israel finish the fight with Hamas and then send aid. Sending aid now helps Hamas,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska). Rep. Jim Banks (R-Indiana) said Biden is “basing his foreign policy on a Michigan election that he is going to lose,” referring to threats by Arab-Americans and their supporters to sit out the presidential election in November, which may tip Michigan’s electoral votes to former President Donald Trump, the presumed Republican nominee.
Negotiations – No Israeli delegation will go to Cairo for ceasefire negotiations, with Israeli officials saying Hamas has been unresponsive to Israeli demands for an accounting of which hostages are alive, which are dead, and what ratio of hostages Hamas proposes to trade for Palestinian prisoners.
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SDJW compilation of reports from news services.
the prospect of a change in the US presidency, specifically the possibility of Vice President Harris assuming the top job in the event something happens to President Biden, has generated concern among those of us who believe that the relationship and support of the United States towards Israel could be negatively affected. RABBI DR. BERNHARD ROSENBERG