By Anne Carl and Al Anderson, Ed. MDB – our friends in Cochise Co., Anne and Al, asked me to publish this op-ed for them. Anne Carl was the Democratic Candidate for Cochise County Recorder in the 2024 election.
Those who foment discord and disorientation rarely serve the common good. A small but vocal faction which attacks Democrats with overly simplistic narratives over differing approaches to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict exemplifies this. If the critics of Democrats want to be taken seriously, they should get out from under ideological rocks where Trump hopes they’ll stay. Focus instead on helping to win the CD7 Congressional Election on Sept. 23rd, and the midterms in 2026.
Their public speech in Pride and July 4th parades and local newspapers, e.g., that Democrats aren’t woke enough and that the war in Gaza = the Holocaust, is of course their right. But rather than advancing justice or peace, it only confuses people and strengthens Trump’s agenda. Trump sows disorder while pitting the most vulnerable against one another, achieving his seventh bankruptcy – our nation’s: morally, socially, economically, and institutionally.
With no shortage of fronts to fight on, why would any so-called progressives undermine the rest of us and our collective strength?
We need one another to win. In addition to learning from past mistakes, we must be unmistakably clear about what we stand for and who we’re fighting for. Particularly in rural areas, we must avoid issues that are hard to understand or that require whitewashing to explain because – well – when explained fairly, they risk alienating more voters than they galvanize. Voters won’t trust, understand, or want to fight alongside us if we don’t prioritize our shared values and break through the noise.
The war in Gaza is tragic and serious. No one dismisses that. On the contrary, we promote a ceasefire, work to elect leaders who prioritize a two-state solution, educate that not all Palestinians, nor even Hamas members, are militants, etc. Like wars in Ukraine, Sudan, etc., innocents are being killed, maimed, left orphaned and starved. Democrats care. Both Presidents Carter and Clinton worked hard to make credible breakthroughs. We do too.
At the same time, we will not oversimplify that conflict or its centuries of competing histories. We won’t curate evidence that overlooks context, or appeal to those with only the bandwidth to learn about one perspective or side of history. That is not what we do, and it would be counterproductive.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict resists simple moral binaries that mislead. It is not like the Holocaust, when six million Jews, along with millions of others (non-Jewish Poles, Gypsies, the disabled, LGBTQ+, etc.) were exterminated without provocation and simply for being alive.
No facts excuse every Israeli action. Nor is Netanyahu some Churchill. Far from it. He should be behind bars for so many reasons. But those who draw a Gaza-Holocaust comparison suggest that Hamas is blameless. They ignore October 7th atrocities, and before and after. They would not suggest that Jews caused the Holocaust by kidnapping and murdering Nazis, so why this? Isn’t Hamas’ ongoing use of Palestinians (and Israeli hostages) as human shields wrong? Or Hamas’ murder of brave Palestinians who speak out against Hamas?
Along with Iran, Qatar, Turkey, Hezbollah, etc., Hamas bears responsibility for starting and executing this war, while its cowardly leaders hide in neighboring countries, and teach that all Palestinians, fighters or not, are expendable, and that Israel and America must be eliminated completely.
Getting mired in this also means stalling in what most Cochise County and other rural voters cannot easily (and therefore mostly won’t) relate to. They have a lot to deal with already. Many, for reasons like this, think Democrats are “out of touch” from their realities. And no good ever came anyway from feeding the black-hole of Facebook, etc. with rhetoric that divides, wastes time and achieves nothing.
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Thanks for an important post and discussion.
My takeaways:
1. We need collective strength. Reclaiming the Arizona, America, and world that we want will take all of us, working together to elect fair-minded capable leaders. That is again, all of us including young Democrats, especially, and rural and urban middle-aged and old folks like me.
2. Responsibility for acts belong to those who commit them. In conflicts we have too many people on all sides suffering unfair, unjust harm. Calling attention to an imbalance of power or to unjust acts on either side of a conflict should not be considered causing disunity in itself. Just like any other act, it can be done fairly or not.
3. Respecting and encouraging our diverse voices might help increase our enthusiasm for collective action.
4. No one is too confused or too distracted to not be able to relate to issues of fairness and justice.
In response to “Well Meaning, But Misguided”
Anne and Al: Ill-informed – uninformed – misinformed – outdated Zionist tropes?
Our nation has lost its moral compass (or maybe never had one). Trumpism has always been part of our culture in one form or another. Racism – used to divide us; Islamophobia – to rubber-stamp endless wars in the Middle East for oil, territory and military expansion. When you take a deep look at it, Israel is an extension of our own settler colonialism; both using apartheid and genocide to steal and occupy from indigenous populations. Today we are not so different —from our ICE raids to the settler violence on the West Bank of Palestine.
Started in the late 1800s, eventually leading to the Nakba in 1948 when Zionists used terrorism and propaganda to illegally evict 750,000 Palestinians and then repopulate with Northern European Jews who had no legal or historic claims to Palestine. This still continues today with its insane land grabs and ethnic cleansing to achieve what Netanyahu calls their goal for a ‘The Greater Israel,’ all while dragging the United States into endless wars to achieve those goals. We have given our wealth, bodies, and souls to this genocidal, insane bunch of criminals; and still, we’re expected to vote for the Democratic Party—a party that is definitely not anti-war, profits off war, and takes Israeli PAC money, then turns around and votes for more and more weapons and money (our tax money) sent back to commit genocide, etc. etc. etc.
The Democratic Party is dying; and so is the Republican Party-maybe its time. The new, younger voters are looking for candidates they can trust—not someone who takes money from special interests, foreign or domestic. I suggest starting with Track AIPAC; get to know your candidate’s actual allegiances. Understand more about Israel. Start with the movie “Israelism”, and look up “Nakba 1948”.
Things won’t change in this country until people start voting with their conscience and picking the best candidates, especially during the primaries. And please, don’t just vote for somebody just because they aren’t Trump.
Note: it’s already been well established that many Jews do not support Israel. And throwing around the accusations of being “anti-semetic” if you criticize Israel it is first ridiculous, then chilling when it stifles free speech. (example: new laws in the UK where you can actually be sent to prison)
So it is not Anti Semitic to criticize actions of the Israel government. It is Anti Semitic to criticize the existence of Israel. Your narrative fails to include the fact that the Arab countries rejected the UN patrician in 1948 and immediately attacked Israel. But, your narrative supports the Hamas terrorist narrative. You don’t address the info the initial post that Hamas attacked Israel on 10/7, brutally raping and murdering Jews and other civilians. (of course, your silence may indicate you see 10/7 as legitimate resistance). Hamas has consistently rejected the ceasefire plans because the want to remain in power to they can carry out their vow to repeat 10/7 “over and over” I never understand how folks like you have empathy for everybody else except the Jews and others raped and murdered on 10/7
Opposing Genocide Is a No Brainer
I noticed a curious guest editorial in the July 17th edition of the Bisbee Observer and now reposted here on the Blog for Arizona. I found myself happily scolded by a pair of establishment Democrats. For some reason they failed to identify themselves as the president of the Mule Mountain Democratic Club and his wife, a member.
I’m sadly aware that the text reflects the response of many democrats right now to the horrors Israel is perpetrating in the Gaza strip and elsewhere, using our tax dollars to do so.
For those unaware, the Mule Mountain Democratic Club has an On Palestine Committee. I joined the work of that committee to express my outrage at our Democratic Party establishment’s joining Republicans in support of the genocide and forced displacement being carried out by Israeli forces in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
While our Arizona Democratic Party senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego both vote to continue arming Israel, I don’t feel alone in my opposition. While still a minority, 18 US senators and over three dozen House of Representative members oppose and vote against arms to Israel.
Our committee will continue to proclaim WAKE UP DEMOCRATS, Stop Arming Israel, and be present at numerous Bisbee activities as we were in the recent July 4th parade and the July 17th protest as well as the No Kings Day in June.
If it is “misguided” to oppose genocide against any peoples, then I am proud to be just that.
Sincerely,
Circles Robinson
circlesrobinson@gmail.com
It doesn’t seem like you took in the point if this article. Your comment ignores the Hamas atrocities that lead to this current war, and their holding innocent hostages for over a year and a half in conditions of starvation and rape.
Bravo to Anne Carl and Al Anderson for speaking the truth, the cold, hard truth!!!
These are good words of caution from Anne and Al. In my view, Democrats, as well as Republicans, Libertarians, and any of those opposed to the authoritarian takeover of our beloved country need to focus–yes, like a laser–on just that: the authoritarian takeover of our beloved country. We need to preserve (restore?) a government system in which disagreements over issues, such as foreign policy, can be aired in ways that do not dilute the vital resistance to fascism or embolden the fascists. Let’s stay united. We need all hands on deck or the Good Ship USA will surely sink.
How can we oppose fascism if we already support it. Zionism equals fascism
Bravo, Anne and Al! Thank you for speaking the truth, the cold, hard truth. The County of Cochise, AZ. amongst so many others across the South is being destroyed by destruction of any sense of “community.” There is no community, only division. Top, too bottom. All Right Wing or all Left Wing. It’s time Americans, it’s never too late to check your hearts for answer’s. Now, in 2025 that’s as obvious choice to make, or, take your hate to the grave. Some of you will, those of us not born yesterday see things quite a bit differently than those lost in “populism, flags and banners.” Empathy is the glue that makes us work as humans, it’s the simple. Check your hearts people, you need to check yourselves big time.
An Israeli-American scholar and professor of Holocaust history and genocide just called this a genocide:
https://www.democracynow.org/
2025/7/17/omer_bartov
DGT just had an event about getting young people involved, and you will find it difficult to get us involved if you fail to recognize the genocide in Gaza for what it is.
What is ironic is that the NYT so called Genocide scholar never mentions Hamas as having any fault in the current conflict. Exactly the point this article is making. Are you OK with Hamas continuo hold hostages they kidnapped on 10/7? Have you ever called for their release?
I don’t think anyone with integrity and ethical standards seriously questions whether the Israelis are carrying out what amounts to a genocide, or at he very least, intentional ethic cleansing, under international legal definitions. The real question is what the international community, and the American government, is going to do about it. If Trump and the MAGA movement have their way (and controlling all three Federal branches of government, they likely will) they will do nothing and deny the reality on of the situation. That’s the real enemy is the point of Anne and Al’s op-ed, I believe.