Objections to an Unconditional Endorsement of Harris-Walz by Lebanese Americans

The October 19, 2024 endorsement of the Harris/Walz Democratic ticket for the Presidency and Vice Presidency by over fifty Lebanese Americans (perhaps some reluctantly) reads as if the Biden Bombs for Israel are not daily destroying more of Lebanon and its civilians with an emerging genocidal pattern as seen in Gaza over the past year. Israel’s terrorism against innocent civilians, health facilities, cafes, residential areas, schools, agricultural terrains, transportation routes, and even banks, are receiving so far the full, cruel support of the Biden/Harris Administration. So where is the storied Lebanese tradition of tough negotiation or bargaining?

The statement failed to condition this support on the White House’s making immediate enforceable demands on Israel to stop this mass annihilation, including women, children, the elderly, and hospital patients, immediately. There is no indication of any reciprocity, simply a plea without any display of political power on behalf of the Lebanese American community. After all, there are over a million Lebanese American voters that the Democratic Party should be keeping in mind.

The statement failed to condition this support on the White House’s making immediate enforceable demands on Israel to stop this mass annihilation, including women, children, the elderly, and hospital patients, immediately.

The letter should have given Bibi-Biden a sense of urgency by informing him that over 80,000 Americans reside in Lebanon and that there are two major educational institutions there – the American University of Beirut (AUB) and the Lebanese American University (LAU) with extensions in the Bekaa Valley, along with other American business, cultural and charitable enterprises. Any day now, Netanyahu’s murderous bombing raids against a totally defenseless country will claim the lives of Americans there. (Israel has already bombed the ancestral village of one of the signers of the letter.) The Washington Post reports that Israel has already bombed several Christian villages. What is Joe Biden going to do? The Lebanese American community should let Biden know he and Democratic candidates will pay a political price should he not put a stop to this indiscriminate air and ground attack on its ally and the additional violence against the United Nations peacekeepers in the south.

The letter has long-term proposals for peace and a rebuilding of Lebanon’s economy and governing institutions which are well taken. But as Martin Luther King Jr. once exclaimed: “THE URGENCY OF NOW” is on the table. History reminds us that Hezbollah was created in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, dominating and abusing the unprotected Shiite Lebanese in the south. The Israeli practice of collective punishment and limitless civilian destruction over the years is now underway again in this small country. (The Washington Post reports 1.2 million Lebanese have been displaced in just one week).

The letter does not do justice to this slaughter that is going on right now with full Biden/Harris backing. It should have a follow-up addendum immediately for an emergency demand that Biden pressure Netanyahu to cease attacking an American ally. With consequences if denied. Now!

Don’t you think the bombarded Lebanese people expect at least that much from the signatories?

Postscript: One of the signers is Ralph Nader of New York City. The gentleman is no relation. There should be no confusion of names here.