(UPDATED) Arizona’s Reaction to the Hamas Terrorist Attack on Israel

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Photo from Consuelo Hernandez Facebook Page

Dear Readers

Below is a sample of some of Arizona’s leaders, both Democrat and Republican, who have strongly condemned the unprovoked Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.

It is important to show that Arizona’s leaders speak with one voice in supporting our longest and sole Democratic ally in the Middle East and condemn those who would commit monstrous acts that threaten innocent lives, including children and the most vulnerable, in Israel, Gaza, and the Occupied Territories.

In a bipartisan statement with 12 other State Attorney Generals, Kris Mayes stated:

“We are aghast and outraged at the wanton, calculated attacks on civilians going about their daily lives. The carnage, perpetrated by Hamas and its supporters, has directly led to the loss of hundreds of innocent lives and horrific kidnappings. We grieve with our Israeli siblings, and with the loved ones of all those innocent lives lost in Israel and Gaza because of this surprise attack. The targeting of civilians by Hamas as well as the thousands of rockets it has fired indiscriminately at civilian targets are acts that cannot be tolerated or rationalized. Violence and terror are not the ways to achieve a lasting and meaningful peace in this conflict. Only the rule of law, mutual respect and understanding can help all sides realize true security, freedom, justice, and peace.”

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63 thoughts on “(UPDATED) Arizona’s Reaction to the Hamas Terrorist Attack on Israel”

  1. This quote is from an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. It would be fun to categorize BfA blog commentators into its categories. Here is the quote:

    “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” chant the useful idiots at elite institutions and parades in the West. Who are these people? Atheists who support theocratic lunatics, democrats who endorse medieval tyrants, feminists who defend misogynists who parade with the desecrated corpses of women, gays who defend maniacs who would joyfully hang them or toss them off the roof of a tall building.

    Liza is a category 3. Unfortunately, there is no not-so-sharp Sharpie category so he gets a pass. Any comments?

    • Johnny, I believe this is your first attempt at humor.

      As for me, I avoid humor in my writing because I’m not good at it.

      So I have no response.

      • It was a serious post, so please reply. Hamas is anathema to what liberals believe. Why don’t you stand up for the rights of feminist and LGBTQ plus people in Gaza and support Israel’s driving them out? They are murderers and baby killers. They are horrible people and nobody should have to live under their rule. Could you explain where you stand on this issue?

        • No one here supports Hamas. Hamas is bad.

          Why is this so hard for you to understand?

          You can be against the treatment of the Palestinian people by the country of Israel and still support Jewish people.

          You can be against the treatment of the Palestinian people and be against Hamas.

          Why is this so hard for you to understand?

          You clearly have limited knowledge of the current history of the region, you should spend some time with a book and less time with Fox News.

          BTW, you may want to check in with your handlers, the leader of your party, T4ump, is saying Hamas is smart and criticizing Israel.

          Also, learn to spell Palestinian. You’ve been posting with a mis-spelling. Detracts from your credibility on the subject if you can’t spell it.

          Thanks at least for not doing the MAGA thing and blaming Soros. You truly are not MAGA, good for you.

          You are clearly trying to get some kind of gotcha’ reply here, which is sad. But you guys never let a crisis go without trying to spin it for your gain.

          Israel has told the UN to evacuate 1,000,000 people in the next 24 hours. You’re going to get your blood, John.

          It will make things worse, there is no answer, none, zero, at this time for the issues in the Middle East.

          Your desire for war is exactly what Hamas wants. You’re doing their work.

          I’m trying to give a straight answer, but the urge to call you the Tommy Tuberville of Arizona is so strong….

    • As I said in a comment as yet pending moderation, but should be posted any minute now…..

      John Government Checks Kavanagh heard children are being slaughtered and his first thought was to run to his keyboard and troll AZBlueMeanie.

      So he can “pwn teh libs”.

      He’s demanded AZ reply multiple times over the last day or two.

      So thirsty!

      John, one insider tip for you, no one is here on call for your comments. Sometimes they get lost in the mix, and sometimes people just have other things to do in their lives.

      Such is the life of an Arizona politician I guess. Nothing better to do.

      RaicesTexasDotOrg

      • This is not a direct reply to “Sorry, John Kavanagh” but the next comment. Apparently, the Israelis are dropping leaflets telling the civilians to head south. The Hamas leadership is telling them to stay put. Tell me again who is looking out for the Palestinian civilians. Now the Israelis should give more time for the civilians to depart and Egypt (who does not want the potential refugees) should open up their border to let people in.

          • Liza

            I do wish you would read all I write. “Now the Israelis should give more time for the civilians to depart and Egypt (who does not want the potential refugees) should open up their border to let people in.”

          • I read your comment. I still think the UN is more knowledgeable about the situation than we are. They have stated that the evacuation is impossible without “devastating humanitarian consequences.” I guess we’ll find out, right?

        • On a scale of admirable things to do, I suppose dropping flyers saying “get out before we kill you all” is something.

          If Hamas says stay and Israel invades and bombs them anyway the blood is still on Israel’s. hands.

          War is not a solution.

          Never-ending war is the problem.

          Tracking down the actual bad guys and prosecuting them is the only sane thing to do.

          Did we learn nothing from 9/11? Bin Laden said he did it to bankrupt the US by getting us to spend our wealth chasing “the last jihadi to the ends of the earth”.

          4 trillion dollars, 5,000 dead Americans, and over 100,000 dead Iraqis and Afghanis later I’d say he won.

          We allowed our leaders to emotionally manipulate us into war.

          Hamas learned from our behavior and is getting exactly what they want.

  3. I lifted this segment of an opinion piece from the Wall Street Journal and thought putting BfA blog responders into their respective categories would be fun. Here is the quote that has the categories:

    “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” chant the useful idiots at elite institutions and parades in the West. Who are these people? Atheists who support theocratic lunatics, democrats who endorse medieval tyrants, feminists who defend misogynists who parade with the desecrated corpses of women, gays who defend maniacs who would joyfully hang them or toss them off the roof of a tall building.

    Liza is a Category 3 member, but I could be wrong. They do not have a category for not-so-sharp sharpies, so who knows.

      • Israel has already given notice that all civilians should leave certain areas that they presumably will be bombing. They’ve been saying that for at least two days so the warning has been given already. I have read that Hamas is preventing people from leaving because Hamas loves to use civilians as shields. That is why Hamas locates their headquarters and other military facilities in the basements of hospitals and residential buildings. That is why Hamas fires its missiles from residential neighborhoods. They use men, women, and their own children as shields, which makes them cowards.

    • Sanders calling for restraint by Israel is the same thing as saying they should turn the other cheek and just wait until the next attack. The Hamas terrorists are animals, they will never recognize Israel, they will always try to kill Israelis and Israel has every right to defend itself by going into Gaza and eliminating Hamas. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 giving them autonomy. What Israel got in return was a terrorist state that sneaks in thousands and thousands of missiles to attack Isreal. As a human being, a Jew, and an American, Sanders should be ashamed.

      • Arizona’s lamest blog troll telling other people to be ashamed. FFS.

        No one here supports Hamas, John Government Checks. What is wrong with you?

        Everyone here is beyond horrified and wants the bad guys brought to justice. It’s weird that you don’t understand this.

        But this is rich coming from you, a Putin invasion supporter.

        Russia has been murdering children and raping for over a year and you say NOTHING.

        And I don’t recall you doing jack-squat when a gunman murdered over 50 people at a concert in Las Vegas.

        You’re just seeing polls showing your party fading and are desperate to find some gotcha on the libs but you just look sad.

        Trying to use a human tragedy for political points.

        What a creepy dude you are.

        RaicesTexasDotOrg

        • What have I ever said or written that makes you think that I do not support American support of Ukraine? Please referece your source?
          I generally do not reply to your posts because you are a juvenile idiot but I am making an exception to call out your lie.

          • For starters, I’m not a “juvenile” idiot, I’m a grown-ass senior discount age idiot and heckler of bad people with an occasionally witty, always irreverent style who is often overly long winded in his replies.

            But I digress.

            I may have just assumed you’re pro-Putin because MAGA is pro-Putin.

            The MAGA spokes-goblins in DC are saying they won’t approve any funding bills that include money for Ukraine.

            Are you not MAGA, John?

            Will you say that here?

            If you are not MAGA I apologize. You know, the Ass-U-Me issue.

            You did say Biden was drawing us into a war with Russia over Ukraine, here:

            https://blogforarizona.net/russia-expert-predicts-major-war-in-europe-over-russian-aggression-in-ukraine/

            FYI, it’s “Ukraine”, not “the Ukraine”.

            Saying “The Ukraine” is like saying “The Canada”, or “The Japan”.

            FYI, my comments on your comments are not just trolling you, they’re more for anyone reading your comments.

            I have a strict “Do Not Let Evil Go Unanswered” policy.

            If you didn’t come here lying, spinning, and just looking for trouble in general I’d have a bit more respect for y… ah, forget it, I can’t pretend.

            Funny thing about you, you heard children are being slaughtered so you ran to your keyboard and started demanding AZ reply to you about Ukraine.

            Thirsty lil’ racist, ain’t cha?

            Using war crimes and horrors to try to own the libs is on brand, though.

            What is fun is that you don’t refute my other statements about you. 🙂

            RaicesTexasDotOrg

  5. This is the worst attack on Jews since the holocaust. And it is similar to the Holocaust because much of it is driven by anti-semitism. And just like after World War II when the Nazis were defeated, the Hamas government in Gaza must be taken out. We did not allow the Nazi government to continue in Germany and we should not allow Hamas to continue to govern Gaza. The actions of Hamas were war crimes. Raping women, killing civilians and kidnapping people are war crimes. Israel must remove their current offensive capabilities and hunt down their leaders as war criminals and baby killers.

    • And yet, Johnny, right here in the USA you and the political party you are affiliated with obstruct common sense gun reform legislation and a ban on assault weapons. The people who die or suffer horrible injuries in these mass shootings are also innocent civilians. Dead children are being identified by their clothes because their faces have been liquefied. Your outrage is shallow and contradictory.

        • John, I don’t know the best way forward and apparently no one else does either.

          In a perfect world I think we would have been focused on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank that has been going on for decades and continually getting worse.

          But since you asked, I will just say that those who create problems like this are generally not able to solve them. And there is much blame to go around.

          Maybe the next generation will do better.

          • The only way forward for Israel is to eradicate Hamas. They have no choice. They gave Gaza back to the Palistanians so they are not occupiers. Hamas used all the humanitarian aid they received to build weapons and tunnels. They must be eradicated for the good of Israel and decent Palistians.

    • Hey Johnny Government Checks, now do Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

      Tell us how you’re going to take out Putin for his war crimes.

      Just want to be sure you’re consistent and not a hypocrite.

      RaicesTexasDotOrg

  6. The Israeli/Palestinian conflict is a religious Gordian Knot created by the British and America and there is no Alexander with a sword able to change hearts and minds.

    There are no good guys, we can play the “yeah but what about” game all day long, the horrors committed by both sides are endless.

    There are people on both sides in 2023 who think their Skydaddy gave them holy land, FFS, there are arms dealers making a killing, pun absolutely intended, and oil companies, the most powerful group in modern history, all tied up in the knot.

    Shady politicians like Netanyahu have made a career stoking the fires (and in his case, live a very nice if not 100% legally funded lifestyle)l.

    There are too many opposing forces, religion, oil, politics, arms dealers.

    Here’s a fun fact, I have no idea why the US sends Israel money!

    Israel is a very wealthy country.

    There’s a government supported sect in Israel that treats women like dirt, old testament rules, no rights, so why do Dems support them?

    And abortion is free and easily available in Israel, so why do Republicans support them?

    More political knot. It’s all knot.

    And we support the Arab side every time we fill up the gas tank.

    And we have a lot of gas tanks.

    We fund both sides.

    More knot.

    To tighten up that knot even more, in what must be history’s biggest WTF moment ever, Israel is the warden of history’s biggest prison camp.

    Somewhere Irony is downing sleeping pills and chugging Jack Daniels and screaming “That wasn’t me! Even I wouldn’t do that”!

    I deplore violence and war, but I’m not sure what I’d do if I was one of those 2,000,000 prisoners.

    And I’m not sure what I’d do if Hamas just bombed my grandkids.

    There are no good guys and no winning. See the last 100 years.

    There’s also a few dozen other wars going on and always have been, many of them with US forces involved, but sure, let’s all stare at this one and start political fights here that also go back decades and can’t be won but drive Americans further apart.

  7. The narrative being pushed is this is Israel’s 9/11 though the 1968 Tet Offensive may be more apt. There is one tragic instance where 9/11 applies. Apparently the Egyptian intelligence services warned Netanyahu there was a major Palestinian action coming and rather than focusing attention in the South Netanyahu had most IDF forces protecting the Northern settlements, the settlers who have been pretty abusive towards the Palestinians. I fear Netanyahu will follow the Bush the Lesser administration’s example and shamelessly milk the attacks for all their political worth. Especially with trying to escape responsibility for his negligence, just like Bush!

    And, of course MAGAs are quick to blame the Biden Administration as the conservative go-to move to blame any calamity on anyone or anything they don’t like.

    • Via Charlie Pierce:

      “Trying to keep up with what’s going on in Israel and in Gaza, I am consistently amazed by how much of the Israeli press nonetheless has been harshly critical of the Netanyahu government, and of the man who leads it, and how strongly and immediately they have demanded that the government be held accountable for its contributions to the massive intelligence failure and for its attempt to thwart the possibility of a two-state solution by playing footsie with Hamas. Haaretz has been absolutely merciless in its criticism of Netanyahu. In an editorial one day after the attacks, Haaretz wrote,

      The disaster that befell Israel on the holiday of Simchat Torah is the clear responsibility of one person: Benjamin Netanyahu. The prime minister, who has prided himself on his vast political experience and irreplaceable wisdom in security matters, completely failed to identify the dangers he was consciously leading Israel into when establishing a government of annexation and dispossession, when appointing Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir to key positions, while embracing a foreign policy that openly ignored the existence and rights of Palestinians...

      Above all, the danger looming over Israel in recent years has been fully realized. A prime minister indicted in three corruption cases cannot look after state affairs, as national interests will necessarily be subordinate to extricating him from a possible conviction and jail time. This was the reason for establishing this horrific coalition and the judicial coup advanced by Netanyahu, and for the enfeeblement of top army and intelligence officers, who were perceived as political opponents. The price was paid by the victims of the invasion in the Western Negev.

      And, on Sunday, the Times of Israel chimed in,

      For years, the various governments led by Benjamin Netanyahu took an approach that divided power between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank — bringing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to his knees while making moves that propped up the Hamas terror group. The idea was to prevent Abbas — or anyone else in the Palestinian Authority’s West Bank government — from advancing toward the establishment of a Palestinian state. Thus, amid this bid to impair Abbas, Hamas was upgraded from a mere terror group to an organization with which Israel held indirect negotiations via Egypt, and one that was allowed to receive infusions of cash from abroad."

      I cannot help but think back to 2001, and the absolutely supine reaction of the American press to the attacks of 9/11. The flag pins. The abandonment of any skepticism that allowed the Bush Administration to dodge its responsibility for the biggest US intelligence failure since Pearl Harbor. The fog of patriotic bombast that allowed the mini-Caesars and laptop bombardiers to drag us all into a war in Iraq based of lies and stovepiped intelligence. Imagine a major American news operation that wrote as ferociously about the Bush administration’s failures on September 12, 2001 as Haaretz wrote on this past Sunday.

      As always Charlie Pierce hits the nail on the head. For the rest:

      https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a45499605/haaretz-times-of-israel-netanyahu-critiques/

  8. Oh and thanks for reminding us that the British or some other western European nation is at most two degrees removed from most if not all of the world’s problems.

  9. Those Palestinians, always complaining when IDF shoots teenagers, unarmed teenagers, enslaves the population of Gaza, steals Palestinian land since ’48, they should be grateful.

    This will not end like this, but not a dime of US treasure, you support Israeli genocide, you pay for it.
    Not me.

  10. Any thinking person condemns war. It is not good for anything and solves nothing. But “unprovoked”? What has Israel been doing for the last many years but killing Palestinians especially children, bulldozing their houses, and putting Israeli settlements on prohibited land. This is not the way to fix that problem but I can imagine some people would think they had no other choice. Let’s apply the same rules to everyone.

    • Hi Dianne

      Please forgive if this sounds harsh but what have Palestinian terrorist leaders been doing for the last many years but killing Israelis, including children and kidnapping them while hiding and let their people bear the brunt of Israelis reprisals . Please remember that Hamas and other terrorist groups from there and Southern Lebanon have routinely launched rockets and killed innocent civilians since Israel left those areas after occupying them. You are right that settlements in the West Bank should not be allowed and fringe lunatic settlers to the tune of three attacks a day on innocent Palestinians in the West Bank should be brought to justice. You should read the second part of my second sentence more carefully. But to think this is a case of Israel bringing this on themselves is not particularly well informed.

      • What exactly is this about, David?

        https://apnews.com/article/water-climate-change-drought-occupation-israel-palestinians-30cb8949bdb45cf90ed14b6b992b5b42

        As Israeli settlements thrive, Palestinian taps run dry. The water crisis reflects a broader battle
        BY ISABEL DEBRE
        Updated 11:16 PM MST, August 16, 2023
        Share
        JIFTLIK, West Bank (AP) — Across the dusty villages of the occupied West Bank, where Israeli water pipes don’t reach, date palms have been left to die. Greenhouses are empty and deserted. Palestinians say they can barely get enough water to bathe their children and wash their clothes — let alone sustain livestock and grow fruit trees.

        In sharp contrast, neighboring Jewish settlements look like an oasis. Wildflowers burst through the soil. Farmed fish swim in neat rows of ponds. Children splash in community pools.

        The struggle for water access in this strip of fertile land reflects a wider contest for control of the West Bank — and in particular the Jordan Valley, which Palestinians consider the breadbasket of their hoped-for future state and Israelis view as key to protecting their eastern border.

        “People are thirsty, the crops are thirsty,” said Hazeh Daraghmeh, a 63-year-old Palestinian date farmer in the Jiftlik area of the valley, where some of his palms have withered in the bone-dry dirt. “They’re trying to squeeze us step by step,” Daraghmeh said.

    • “What has Israel been doing for the last many years but killing Palestinians especially children, bulldozing their houses, and putting Israeli settlements on prohibited land.”

      Thank you for your brave comment, Dianne.

      Israel’s provocations are not reported very well in the US because we’re supposed to believe that there aren’t any.

      Palestinians live in an open air prison. Their median age is 19.6 years. They have nothing, no security, no hope for a future.

      This war is horrible, to be sure, but people will fight to be free.

      • “What has Israel been doing for the last many years but killing Palestinians especially children, bulldozing their houses, and putting Israeli settlements on prohibited land.”

        Not to mention murdering Rachel Corrie with a bulldozer.

        • What have Palestinian terrorist leaders been doing for the last many years but sending brainwashed suicide bombers and hijackers to kill Israelis, including children and kidnapping them while hiding and let their people bear the brunt of Israelis reprisals.

          • You’re equating Rachel Corrie with Palestinian suicide bombers? Those brainwashed bombers inflicted horrendous casualties on innocent victims while Rachel Corrie was protesting the IDF leveling Palestinian homes, many of whom had nothing to do with the suicide bombers. Repression breed resistance.

      • Liza

        Please tell that to the many innocents at the Music Festival for peace that were slaughtered on Saturday or the four and two year old babies kidnapped by Hamas Terrorists and taken back to Gaza.

        • You would think using that money to better take care, educate, and build a better home for their people and pursue peace would be better than constantly using the funds to buy weapons of death. Remember Israel withdrew from Southern Lebanon. What did they get? Rockets fired into their territory to this day. Israel withdrew from Gaza. What they get? Rockets fired until this day. And you are right. There should be a two state solution and that second state already exists. It is called Jordon. For the people not historically aware, that was eastern portion of Palestine that the British gave to the Arabs in the original land for peace deal after World War One in the 1920’s. The country has a majority Palestinian population.

          • Yes, history matters. How did this start?

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakba

            The Nakba (Arabic: النكبة, romanized: an-Nakbah, lit. ’the “disaster”, “catastrophe”, or “cataclysm”‘),[1] also known as the Palestinian Catastrophe, was the destruction of Palestinian society and homeland in 1948, and the permanent displacement of a majority of the Palestinian Arabs.[2][3] The term is used to describe both the events of 1948 and the ongoing occupation of the Palestinians in the Palestinian territories (the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip), as well as their persecution and displacement in the Palestinian territories and in Palestinian refugee camps throughout the region.

          • Actually Liza, it started in 1919. I would highly recommend reading Margaret McMillan’s Paris 1919. With regards to 1948, no one ever mentions that Egypt occupied Gaza from 1948 to 1967 and Jordan occupied the West Bank in the same period. No one pitied the Palestinian cause then. Furthermore, as I mentioned in an earlier reply, ethnically speaking, there is already a Palestinian state. It is called Jordan and its population is majority Palestinian. It was part of the original Palestinian mandate but the British cut it off on the first land for peace deal in the 1920’s where the Arabs were supposed to get the land east of the Jordan River and the Jews the western part. Everyone always forgets that.

          • “There should be a two state solution and that second state already exists. It is called Jordon.”

            Well, by jiminy, there it is. The Palestinians are supposed to vacate the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and move to Jordan. Problem solved.

            You’re defending the indefensible, David. And as long as people such as yourself espouse the belief that Israel can do anything with impunity and people who fight back are terrorists, then this horrible violence will never end. People will fight.

            Vietnam lost over three million lives to get rid of the Americans. People will fight for their freedom and their survival.

          • You apparently missed my earlier reply that I agreed with you on what is happening in the West Bank is terrorism in another form and needs to stop.

          • One can be both pro Israel and pro Palestinian and be anti terrorist no matter who is perpetrating it. As to the people being not as stupid and uninformed, have you seen the Trump supporters. As to Mr. Gallego, I guess you can support Senator Sinema. When I published the piece, she had not commented on social media.

          • That is not true Liza. I have read from and spoken with Democrats who do not approve of extremist Israelis positions. What I am astounded by is that in all your posts, you have not condemned the many barbaric acts Hamas did on Saturday including the murder of innocent children and civilians. What is wrong with this picture?

          • “…you have not condemned the many barbaric acts Hamas did…”

            Dianne Post said, “Any thinking person condemns war. It is not good for anything and solves nothing.”

            I agree with this statement.

            It’s interesting that you are trying to make this about me. We are about one minute short of you calling me anti-Semitic.

    • Dianne, thank you for this comment. When the news reports that this is unprovoked it only shows a complete lack of historical knowledge. And then, right after they report on the number of civilians that were killed by Hamas, they report that Israel is bombing hospitals and schools and apartment buildings–of course all of those places are filled with civilians as well. And to make it worse, our tax dollars make it all possible. You are not alone in your thoughts, thanks for expressing them here.

      • What you forget is that Israel is historically known to warn civilians to evacuate these areas before being bombed but Hamas uses these innocents as human shields like the 150 hostages they took over the weekend, including a four year and two year old, and took back to Gaza.

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