Indiana Daily Student
OPINION
Editor Abby Malala opinion@idsnews.com
Monday, July 15, 2019 idsnews.com
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POLITICAL POWERS
ILLUSTRATION BY MADELYN POWERS | IDS
BASSETT’S BANTER
The women’s World Cup rally was more patriotic than Trump’s Fourth of July frenzy James Bassett is a junior in political science.
“The land of the free, and the home of the brave.” These words illuminate the crux of American patriotism. Designed as a safe haven free from persecution, the United States serves as a global symbol of freedom and individual liberty. In reality, those words are nothing more than idealistic values and empty promises found in songbooks and sheet music practiced by elementary students learning the National Anthem. Millions of Americans have yet to experience a land that truly lives up to the promise of freedom. Nonetheless, we continue to set our sights on a shared vision of equality for all. President Donald Trump’s recent display of military might at his vanity project dubbed “Salute to America” on July 4 in our nation’s capital attempted to display the patriotic values we celebrate annually on Independence Day. There was a stark difference between Trump’s Independence Day celebra-
tion and the homecoming of the U.S. women’s national soccer team and their World Cup trophy. While the American Flag triumphed over the wind and rain during Trump’s event, true patriotism did not. It did make a glaring appearance on the streets of New YorkCity during the July 10 World Cup parade celebrating the World Cup victory of the U.S. women’s national soccer team. Trump’s event, comprised of military flyovers, tank displays, fireworks and a Presidential address, gave Americans a dark look at the absolutist and authoritarian nature of the Trump Administration’s approach to leadership and highlighted the deep divisions within the U.S. The event racked up a bill of $5.35 million and drained the Emergency Planning and Security Fund, which provides security responses to maintain safety in Washington, D.C. In contrast, the U.S. women’s national soccer team celebratory parade and rally in New York City gave the world a sense of the idealistic values of patrio-
tism we strive to welcome into reality. Red, white and blue confetti dropped from the sky as a float carrying the team rolled down Broadway. This patriotic display symbolized unity and the values of the U.S. in a way that Trump has yet to do during his presidency. Megan Rapinoe, the forward on the U.S. team, embodied a type of patriotism during the celebration in New York that is nowhere to be found in the Trump White House. Rapinoe preached the importance of acceptance, telling the crowd, “This is my charge to everyone: We have to be better, we have to love more and hate less. Listen more and talk less. It is our responsibility to make this world a better place.” Her words paint a picture of an America brimming with pride and acceptance, not an America riddled with resent. Her words at the celebration were met with signs held by attendees, advocating for equal pay and workplace equality. Attendees at Trump’s event would instead resort to campaign banners with “TRUMP” scribbled in bolded letters.
TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
USA women’s soccer player Megan Rapinoe cheers at the podium as New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, left, and other team members celebrate in front of the City Hall after the ticker tape parade for the women’s World Cup champions July 10, in New York City.
Rapinoe’s words and the atmosphere of acceptance that filled the streets of New York City during the World Cup celebration speak to a
country that’s free and patriotic, not one that’s held by the grip of tanks and jets flying overhead. The U.S. women’s national soccer
team is setting the example. It’s time for Trump to follow. jamesbasse@iu.edu
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Don’t blame Israel, blame Hamas The IDS published two op-eds by Bryce Greene in relation to Mayor Buttigieg’s stance on Israel. Instead of blaming Israel for the plight of Palestinians, the blame should be placed on the U.S. State Department-designated terror organization Hamas. Israel didn’t rebrand
Hamas as a terrorist organization; the Hamas charter blatantly calls for Israel’s destruction. Israel, like every other country, has the right to protect its citizens. Hamas promised children $83 if they were to be injured in the summer 2018 protests. Hundreds of rockets were fired into Israel. I
know first hand — I was living 35 miles from the Gaza border. Without the U.S.backed Iron Dome missile defense system, thousands of Israelis would have been slaughtered. I, a proud pro-Israel American, mourn the death of every Palestinian and Israeli alike. The economic
situation facing Gazans is atrocious. I call on Hamas to stop using the millions of dollars in aid Israel and the world gives to the Palestinians to help ensure dignity for the people. I call on Hamas to stop building terror tunnels into Israel. I call on Hamas to stop paying the families of suicide
bombers. I call on Hamas to stop launching rockets to hurt Israelis. Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005. There were no settlements there, yet there was no peace. The Palestinians were offered peace plans in 1947, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008 and once again at the 2019 Bahrain
Conference. Each time the Palestinian leadership refused. How can there be peace when Hamas and Palestinian Authority President Abbas, who is entering his 14th year of a 3-year term, refuse to cooperate? Rachel Aranyi
Recent letter to the editor on Israel was misleading Editor’s note: this letter is a response to the above letter. On Wednesday, the Indiana Daily Student published a letter to the editor that made several false assertions about the IsraeliPalestinian conflict. The letter was responding to two recent columns by Bryce Greene that made astute criticisms of South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The letter claims that during the Great March of
Return protests last summer, when Gazans demonstrated near the fence that traps them inside Gaza, “thousands of Israelis would have been slaughtered” by rockets if not for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. Yet, according to data compiled from Israeli government sources and Israel’s leading human rights organization B’Tselem, in the full decade before Iron Dome was installed, a total of 17 Israelis died from the thousands of primitive projectiles launched by Pales-
tinian militants. However, in just the first six months of the protests, Israel shot dead 150 demonstrators, including 31 children, and injured over 10,000 others. During the same period, one Israeli soldier was injured and one killed near the Gaza fence. The letter also said Hamas offered children $83 to get injured in the protests, a claim whose only sources are the Israeli military and Israel’s state media outlet Kan. The letter called on Hamas to stop building
“terror tunnels,” which is strange terminology seeing as not one terrorist attack has ever been carried out through the tunnels and Israeli intelligence says they’re aimed at military targets. The letter says “Palestinians were offered peace plans in 1947, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008 and once again at the 2019 Bahrain Conference.” I have no idea why 2002, 2003 and 2007 are listed — such offers simply never occurred. The mention of this year’s Bahrain
conference, where Jared Kushner unveiled part of his so-called “deal of the century,” is deceptive, because that proposal neither promises peace nor addresses any of the conflict’s core issues like borders and refugees. As for the other years, the claim is true but misleading. Yes, Palestinians were offered peace deals in 1947, 2000 and 2008. In fact, Palestinians could achieve “peace” at any time by simply submitting to Israel’s will. But the offers were re-
jected because they failed to sufficiently address Palestinians’ grievances over the loss of their homeland and the deprivation of their human rights. I feel no compulsion to praise Hamas, and nothing in this letter is written with that purpose. I simply believe that if we wish to have a serious discussion of Israel and Palestine, the first step is sticking to the facts. Matthew Waterman