Debra Doxer

Author of Where Butterflies Go, Harsh, Breaking Skin, the Candy Series, Play of Light, and the Remedy Series

[Dan Rather @DanRather]

If I may, there’s something I need to get off my chest.

As democracy remains under siege, it has been frustrating to watch how the press covers politics these days.

I am reminded by lessons that came to me during the Nixon years as a CBS News correspondent, which I’ll add here:

1. Enough with Both-sides-ism

When one side lies intentionally and repeatedly, they are no longer entitled to the benefit of the doubt. They should be held to account, right away. Do not simply repeat the narratives they spew.

2. Prioritize Live Fact-Checking

Rigorous and robust fact-checking is the best defense against misinformation, intentional lies, and deflection.

If Trump says the sky is green, the story isn’t that the sky is now green; the story is that the sky is still blue and Trump got it wrong.

3. Ask Lawmakers Hard Questions

Ask about the fundamental principles of democracy. Push them to go on the record that Biden won the 2020 election.

Ask if they support the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

This writing is not to offer any claim of knowing it all. Your correspondent has made his share of mistakes, but after more than seven decades I believe I have picked up a few useful guideposts.

Good journalism is always worth it. Our democracy depends on it.

↓

For the rest of my list, please see my the latest post of my independent newsletter – the link is in my Twitter biography.

[Bianna Golodryga @biannagolodryga]

Good on @DanaBashCNN to continually press @RepJayapal on condemning Hamas’ horrific sexual violence against Israeli women. Jayapal repeatedly said she spoke out specifically against the sexual violence but has apparently not done so, at least on X. (1/2)

[Yashar Ali 🐘 @yashar]

Hillary Clinton on the Israelis and the Palestinians today on The View.

Covers everything from Hamas to humanitarian pauses to Yasser Arafat to Anwar Sadat.

[European Jewish Congress @eurojewcong]

Our love will triumph over their hate.

After antisemites marked Jewish homes with Stars of David in Paris, artists created a beautiful mural in support of lsrael.

[Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie @BMWE_]

It's almost four weeks since the horrific terrorist attack on #Israel. A lot has happened, the public debate has become heated and confused. Find thoughts from Vice-Chancellor Robert #Habeck in the video, putting the events in context. 📣With English, Hebrew and Arabic subtitles.

[Debra Doxer @DebraDoxer]

https://t.co/TYaYZISJAV

[CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil @CBSEveningNews]

WATCH: @NorahODonnell moderated a bipartisan discussion Thursday with former U.S. Secretaries of State James A. Baker III and @HillaryClinton.

On the Israel-Hamas war, @HillaryClinton said, “People who are calling for a ceasefire now do not understand Hamas. That is not possible.”

She also said Israel has a “right to defend itself” against the terrorist militant group Hamas and that they have an “obligation to limit civilian deaths and casualties of all kinds.”

FULL PANEL: https://t.co/DJXYepR7Zl

[Peter Horovitz @Horror1403]

I’m an Australian Jew and I’m not ok
A thread
I’m 61 years old ,born in Melbourne and I love this country. But I’ve never been so concerned as I am now about the safety and well being of our Jewish community 2/

[Bring Hersh Home @BringHershHome]

“I’m not a diplomat. I’m not a politician. I’m not a military strategist. I’m a mom."

Read Hersh's story shared by The Wall Street Journal https://t.co/ThPrR2DrZb

@WSJ

[Nicholas A. Christakis @NAChristakis]

If universities had not previously released statements on everything from BLM to climate change to SCOTUS rulings, and if they had instead been abiding the Kalven Report, then they would not be in position of having to explain why they didn't denounce Hamas, which is a no-brainer.

[ד״ר עינת וילף Dr. Einat Wilf @EinatWilf]

My piece in The Telegraph (Part 1)

Abu Daoud, the man who planned the 1972 massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, remained unrepentant to his dying day. In an interview in 2006, he expressed pride in the act, calling it a “strategic success”, because “we were able to force our cause into the homes of 500 million people”.

And yet, decades after this “strategic success”, the Palestinian “cause”, despite continuing to enjoy global support and attention, seems to have gone nowhere. The reason is that the “cause” has never been the one so many Westerners created in their minds.

Almost always, when foreign commentators or diplomats seek to justify the latest Palestinian attack against Israel, they will use phrases that begin with “a people fighting for its freedom…”, or “given the years of occupation…”, or “in a desire to end the blockade…”, blithely assuming that those are the goals for which most Palestinians are fighting and which explain the most recent act of violence.

I empathise. It is understandable that the West wants to believe that many Palestinians engage in violence because they seek “freedom from occupation”, or are “angered by settlements”, or “want to improve conditions in Gaza”. Those are rational, limited, and understandable goals that Westerners can feel good about supporting. But they are projected goals, inventions of a Western mind.

The vaunted Palestinian “cause”, of which Abu Daoud spoke, and which Hamas has dutifully pursued, has never been about any of those goals. Its followers have made it clear, for more than a century, in words, actions, and strategic decisions, that their “cause” was always one: the prevention, and then the destruction of a Jewish state in any part of the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Hence “Free Palestine” and “From the River to the Sea”.

Had Palestinian leaders ever sought only an independent state in part of the land, had they only wanted to end Israel’s military occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank (which began in 1967, whereas the organisation to “Liberate Palestine” was established in 1964), had they wanted to improve living conditions in Gaza, had they truly pursued the rational goals the West had projected on them, they would have achieved them a long time ago. The Palestinians could have been celebrating 75 years of independence next to the Jewish state of Israel.

But the Palestinian “cause” was always singularly and consistently about nothing less than ensuring that the Jews have no state in any part of the land.
This western tendency, which I have come to call “westplaining”, seeks to explain away what many Palestinians clearly say, so as to avoid having to deal with the consequences. It is the reason that the chant heard in rallies for decades “Itbah al-Yahud”, slaughter the Jews, has been translated to the more palatable “resist Israelis”. It is why BBC scripts translate a Palestinian saying “Yahud” as Israelis.

“Westplaining” rests above all on an inversion of cause and effect. Israel’s extended military presence in the West Bank becomes the cause of Palestinian violence – “occupation” – rather than the outcome of an ideology that refuses any agreement that would end Israel’s military presence in the West Bank if it means accepting the legitimacy and permanence of free Jews living in their own state in the remaining part of the land. The maritime partial blockade of Gaza becomes the cause of Palestinian violence, rather than its outcome.

(Continue to part 2)

[David Atherton @daveatherton]

Why my sympathies are with Israel.

In 1972 I switched on the Munich Olympics, expecting to see a plucky Brit just out of the medals. Instead I saw Black September Palestinian terrorists at the start of their massacre of 12 Israeli athletes. This included weightlifter Yossef Romano, who was castrated & his testicles stuffed in his mouth.

In 1973 Thames TV produced The World At War, a 26 part history of WW2. Episode 20 was "Genocide (1941–1945)" the story of the murder of 6 million Jews & others.

Throughout the 1960s & 1970s Palestinian terrorism was ubiquitous. In 1967 during the Six Day War Israel faced Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, with minor involvement from Lebanon & Pakistan.

The Yom Kippur War of 1973 saw Egypt & Syria with the support of 10 other countries invaded Israel. They included expeditionary forces from Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Jordan, Iraq, Libya, Kuwait, Tunisia, Morocco, Cuba, & North Korea.

Both times the invaders were soundly beaten.

Since 1948 Israel, have in my opinion, offered peace terms in good faith with the Palestinians. Twelve times the Palestinians have walked away. One of the worst examples was at the 2000 Camp David negotiations with Yasser Arafat & Bill Clinton.

Clinton, blaming Arafat remarked: "I regret that in 2000 Arafat missed the opportunity to bring that nation into being & pray for the day when the dreams of the Palestinian people for a state and a better life will be realized in a just & lasting peace."

Today's Palestinian leaders live in literal 5* luxury in Doha, Qatar. They have no interest in peace, only the destruction of Israel & its people. "Free, free Palestine from the river to the sea".

It is why the Abraham Accords, began by Donald Trump, where Arab countries normalise relationships with Israel have happened. So far Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan & the United Arab Emirates have agreed.

Saudi Arabia, a complete game changer being the home of Islam, was next on the list. It was all too much for the bigots in Iran who incited the violence in Israel.

The 1988 Hamas Charter includes the Bukhari Hadith.

“The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews) when the Jew will hide behind stones & trees. The stones & trees will say: O Muslims ..here is a Jew behind me, come & kill him."

Constructive comments invited.

[Ken Burns @KenBurns]

Episode 1 of #USandTheHolocaustPBS airing on @PBS now and all episodes streaming at the link below.

We have never made a more important film.

Thank you for tuning in.

https://t.co/TPG2pFyUGq

[Hillary Clinton @HillaryClinton]

Marking Holocaust Days of Remembrance feels more important with every passing year. Let's remember the millions of Jewish people murdered and displaced, speak truth in the face of denial, and reaffirm our commitment to fighting hate everywhere.

[Debra Doxer @DebraDoxer]

Listen to a sample of Where Butterflies Go. The #audiobook is available now from @TantorAudio 🎧https://t.co/kFp2xH5LWK

[Debra Doxer @DebraDoxer]

One week from today, Where Butterflies Go releases on audio!
https://t.co/YJXgoZQiEt

[Debra Doxer @DebraDoxer]

Me and the kiddo love this stuff!

[ARCHIVED - NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover @NASAPersevere]

LIVE NOW🔴
Tune in to see what to expect from the most difficult Mars landing ever attempted. I’m the most massive and technologically advanced rover to date, and one day from the most harrowing part of my trip: Entry Descent and Landing. https://t.co/UvlXztaw29 #CountdownToMars

[Debra Doxer @DebraDoxer]

@ChicksandRogues @ElisabethHobbes @SamMichaelsGG Oh wow! Thank you. 🙏