Third Way Statement on the American Response to the Crisis in the Middle East
There are times in our politics when heat brings light—when passionate advocacy clarifies complex issues and underscores important ideas. But in the debate over the US response to the recent horrors in the Middle East, zealotry has overtaken reason. The rhetorical extremes on both sides have devolved into a sickening cacophony of bigotry and hate in far too many quarters. Worse, elected officials have embraced ideas and language that should be beyond the pale for anyone who purports to represent American voters.
Third Way has spent almost twenty years fighting extremism in American politics. We stand strongly behind President Biden and other American leaders who have reacted to barbarism with resolve, to suffering with compassion, and to lunacy with sanity.
Let us be very clear: the extremism we condemn is not limited to that of street protesters, college students, or social media activists. We have seen it even in the halls of Congress. There, some on the far left are unable to criticize a savage assault on innocents, have dubbed the rhetoric of a terrorist group “an aspirational call for freedom,” and have defended slogans that champion the end of Israel and millions of Jewish Israelis living there. And some on the far right have reacted to the horrible acts of a terrorist organization with calls to “level” all of Gaza, with an overtly racist proposal to expel all Palestinians from the United States, and with the renewal of the xenophobic Muslim ban.
Our organization will leave detailed policy recommendations to others with deep expertise in this area. And Third Way is not of one mind on the present conflict or the appropriate American response. Our staff, Board, and supporters hold a wide range of nuanced, heartfelt positions. Some think the US should support Israel without reservation; others think America must use our influence to try to stop the war in Gaza; many fall somewhere in between. But all of us believe that the death of innocents on both sides is a tragedy and that nothing will be gained by dehumanizing those with whom we disagree.
What the world has witnessed in the last month is the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust and the deadliest military assault on Palestinians in generations. We are moved to weigh in now because extremist rhetoric and ideas always impede civil debate and coherent policymaking. American elected officials need not bring more heat to this wildfire of pain and emotion. Instead, what we all desperately need is a little more light.