Hey, Kids April 9, 2024April 9, 2024 You have to admire college kids’ empathy for the horror that innocent Palestinians have suffered and are suffering . . . though I’d give anything for them to read Palestinian-sympathizer Noa Tishby’s Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth. I’ve been railing against Netanyahu for some time (putting him on this list a year ago, for example). That said, had the Gazans chosen to build a prosperous country after the Israelis voluntarily pulled out in 2005, and chosen to live in peace instead of building a 300-mile underground war machine with the stated goal of destroying its neighbor, none of this would have happened. Indeed, it’s likely that because Israel and Saudi Arabia were close to a historic deal that would have included statehood for Palestine that Hamas chose to slaughter, rape, and kidnap more than 1,000 Israelis when it did, to derail that deal. What must come out of this tragedy for the Israelis and Palestinians is an overarching peace deal, complete with the long-sought, long-offered two-state solution, internationally policed, and — someday — a couple of highspeed non-stop rail lines connecting Gaza to the West Bank, which would be about a 20-minute ride. There is some hope that a deal will be made, with massive aid to help rebuild a prosperous Palestine. But what do the kids who support the Palestinians think about Ukraine? About Putin’s unprovoked invasion . . . its bombing of schools and hospitals . . . its planting of millions of land mines? Surely they know Ukraine did not attack Russia as Hamas attacked Israel. Yet if they support Trump (or some third-party candidate) in protest of Biden’s support for Israel, they are allying themselves with Putin against the innocent civilians of Ukraine. Do they know that the only thing Trump touched in the 2016 Republican platform — the only thing that mattered to him — was the provision expressing military support for Ukraine. Isn’t that odd? Trump disclaimed any knowledge of that, blaming it on his campaign manager, Paul Manafort. But even if that were true (the way it was true, say, that E. Jean Carroll was not his type), isn’t it odd that Manafort, with his ties to Russia, was selected as his campaign manager? Or that, even after having been convicted and sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, Manafort would again be under consideration for a role in Trump’s campaign? Do the kids who support Trump think, just because they won’t read the 199 pages of the Mueller report connecting Trump to Russia, or the subsequent 182 pages detailing his multiple indictable obstructions of justice that prevented even more damning information from coming out . . . that Trump isn’t a Putin ally? If they care about the plight of the Palestinians — as we all should (and as Biden and his team do) — should they not be at least as concerned about the plight of the Ukrainians? And protesting the Republicans in Congress who, at Trump’s insistence, have blocked desperately needed assistance for so many months? Just as, at Trump’s insistence, they have blocked the solution to the border crisis? Iran’s Supreme Leader, who, along with North Korea’s dictator, are supplying Russia with weapons to kill Ukrainians . . . and Putin . . . are thrilled so many well-intentioned American college kids are on Trump’s side, or Jill Stein’s side, or Cornell West’s side, or RFK Jr.’s side. But if those students really care about the Palestinians or the Ukrainians (or the cost of college or the climate crisis or gun safety or reproductive rights or their LGBT friends or tax fairness or voting rights or continued prosperity*), they should be working to turn out a huge blue wave in November — and should be part of it themselves. Volunteer! Dip into your trust fund! * Although last updated in 2016, it comes from Fox Business News. And remains true today.