Fairfax Alliance Notes and Resources: 10/10/2023 Meeting Notes

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On Tuesday, October 10th, the Braver Angels Fairfax County Alliance met to discuss aid to Ukraine and by extension American’s role in certain global conflicts. In response to more recent events, we changed our topic for the evening to an unstructured discussion of the attack on Israel by Hamas.

Here are some points that stood out from the conversation:

On the Hamas attack:

· We’ve become numb to the war in Ukraine after 18 months, but the Israel attack is new and shocking.

· Christian Arabs get lost in the mix; not all Palestinians belong to Hamas.

· I’m Jewish, but those of us who are liberals raised in the U.S. bristle at Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. However, this attack will unite Jews, at least temporarily.

· I’m shocked that we’re back to the barbarism of targeting civilians, both in Ukraine and Israel.

· Proportionately to their population, Israel’s loss of life is about 25 times what the U.S. lost on 9/11.

· “I fear for the human condition.”

· My friend who’s influential in the local Jewish community tells me there is a lot of fear of antisemitic violence here.

· There has also been a rash of anti-Muslim violence since the Hamas attack.

· It’s clear that Iran backed and enabled the Hamas attack.

· I was furious at Biden and Obama each releasing billions of dollars to Iran.

On Israel v. Palestine

· Hamas is trying to stop the U.S. from brokering a deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia. This demonstrates the fraying of American power and that we’re now in a multipolar world. We’re feeling the chaos of that shift. However, American power is still the best thing for the world, because we have the right moral values. Discussion Notes October 10, 2023.ty, Virginia

· Even though the U.S. has been pushing for a two-state solution, in practical terms we must back Israel, whether it’s right or wrong.

· Israel is still trying to figure out what it wants to be. I spoke with a rabbi in an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, and he saw no hope of reconciliation with the Palestinians.

· A solution requires will on both sides, but it isn’t there.

· If you give Palestinians Israeli citizenship, demographics would make Israel a non-Jewish state within a generation – negating the very reason it was formed after WWII.

· Neither side can win, so Israel and Hamas will have to come to an accommodation. But it will be a nasty 6-12 months first.

On Ukraine

· If Trump and the Republicans who oppose helping Ukraine have their way, then Putin wins. Then, when Putin eventually attacks a NATO ally, we’ll be forced into war. It’s far better to just help Ukraine instead.

· If Trump wins the presidency again, withdrawing from NATO will be on his agenda.

· The U.S. is one of the lowest donors to Ukraine, as a percentage of GDP.

· I see a lack of leadership in Congress. They should educate their constituents on why we must help Ukraine. Instead, they just vote for what keeps campaign money flowing to them.

· Elected officials are too close to their constituents. They are elected to represent, not replicate, the electorate.

· When traveling in Lithuania, you really sense the trauma that pervades their society – films, TV, monuments. The Ukrainians also have this trauma in their DNA, from their history of being subjugated by Stalin.

On American Geopolitics

· America is losing influence over Israel – we couldn’t even get them to help us in Ukraine or condemn Russia’s invasion.

· In my international work, I clearly see the deterioration of American influence abroad, and much of it is self-inflicted (vacant ambassador positions, turmoil in Congress, etc.). e of Fairfax

· This nation lacks the leadership to rally us to fight, so we don’t present a credible deterrent to atrocities like this.

· Only strength stops Russia. They have historically always been expansionist and are only stopped by force.

· The fact that Trump is a “package of uncertainties” gives him deterrent power. He boasts that he is the only post-9/11 President not to have the Russians invade another country on his watch. Trump’s killing of Qasem Soleimani showed him not to be the conventional type of leader Biden is.

· I felt that Trump ordered the killing of Soleimani to divert attention from his impeachment.

· I see Trump as simply a transactional decisionmaker.

· I know Trump supporters who are so fed up with dysfunction, they just want change.

· Many people outside the DC beltway are focused on crime, fentanyl, the economy, and other personal concerns. They don’t understand why we should spend money on foreign policy issues.

· The mindset that “America is bad” seems to be snowballing now.

· Russia uses offense as part of its defense. A Jordanian official said Russia is keeping the war in Syria to prevent it from being in the Caucuses. Putin sees Syria as his stronghold in the Middle East; if it falls, Eurasia will start to fall. Likewise, controlling Crimea for its key defensive position.

· There were four coups in Africa recently, and people are proudly displaying Russian flags. The Russians are supplanting the French in West Africa - a seismic shift.

· Russia is very skilled at propaganda that romanticizes itself.

· America is not doing a good job of communicating its own messages and objectives, including internally.

· Russia gained a lot of influence in Africa by letting Africans study with subsidized tuition in Russia. America doesn’t do this. Russia now has a very strong foothold in Africa.

· As a former government employee, I know firsthand that giving advice and training to foreign nations builds much goodwill

Here are some points that stood out from the conversation:

On the Hamas attack: