So what difference does what is happening in Gaza make to Americans? | Eastern North Carolina Now

On October 7, 2023 a massive attack was perpetrated against Israel from Gaza.  The Hamas organizations was attributed to be the prime cause of the attack.  In response, Israel has launched an invasion of Gaza by its armed forces, pledging to “annihilate” Hamas. 

One might shrug this latest fighting off as simply a continuation of centuries-old conflict between Arabs and Jews in the Middle East.  Most Americans go about their daily activities without much concern about whether they have, or ever will have, a dog in this fight. 

The purpose of this article is to posit a thesis that every American indeed has a vested interest in this conflict halfway around the globe from most of us.  Moreover, we suggest that the very survival of our nation as conceived may well be at stake.  Consider:

Immediately following the October 7 attacks massive anti-Israel demonstrations broke out in several major cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Dearborn, Michigan, and in as score of other counties including England, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, Geneva, Turin and Dublin.  The recent demonstrations in New York City drew over 10,000 protestors according to officials.  There have been reports of numerous events on college and university campuses across America and the world.

The Border Patrol has documented over 75,000 immigrants flagged as having ties to terrorism or being a threat to national security.  And it is expected that this number will increase as refugees flea Gaza and other parts of the Middle East. These number are on top of those produced by migrants from South America entering the U. S. illegally with our open southern border.

Several European counties have experienced an increase in violence, including rapes and assaults and murder, connected to an influx of Muslim migrants into those countries.

Thus, the concern is that the situation in Gaza will impact the United States in a number of ways and the ability of our nation to absorb these masses of migrants is strained even further because of the 2.8 million migrants who have entered our country so far in 2023, already up from the 2.7 million in 2022.

As the economic and social conditions deteriorate in and around Gaza it is reasonable to expect that not only will the numbers seeking to enter the U.S. increase but the hostility we have already seen at some of these demonstrations will severely impact American society and our economy.

To bring the threat home more specifically, Congress is now consider renewing the Patriot Act.  That law was enacted in 2001 following the World Trade Center/Pentagon terrorists attacks.  The act was not intended, by its supporters at least, to be permanent and indeed some of the provisions have already expired, while others have not.  There has been significant opposition to extending any of the provision because of the abuse that has come to light in the way authorities and use the Act. 

So, what is very clear is that Americans lost many of our freedoms as a result of 9-11 and the double barrel threats of illegal Latino migrants being exacerbated by Middle Eastern migration, means that it is more unlikely now that the previous restrictions of our civil rights and freedoms will end as anticipated.   In fact, it is reasonable to assume there will be another wave of losses of our freedoms cause by Gaza.

It is indeed ture that our nation is a nation of immigrants.   But it is also true that the motives of the immigrants who founded and made this country great were entirely different from the motives of many of those crossing into our country today.  We must indeed take serious steps to eradicate terrorism but we must also begin to debate just how open our borders can be without the destruction of the reasons so many want to come to this country. 

We would commend to you, and perhaps organizations you participate in, two movies currently showing on Amazon Prime TV.   The first is The Covenant.  It is a story of an Afghan man who worked as a contractor with American forces during that war.  His family lived in constant fear that they would be punished because of the man’s working with the Americans.  The move is the story of how some of those Americans worked to get the family out of Afghanistan and settled in America.  What is distressing about the story is the inconsistency of our American policies in relation to foreigners who worked and sacrificed greatly to help the American cause and the difficulty many of them have had, and are still having, finding refuge in America contrasted with the millions who simply invaded our nation without having ever made any contribution to this country.

The other movie that lends itself to a serious consideration of the War on Drugs and the concomitant threat to all Americans’ freedom is also on Amazon Prime:   Sicario.

The obvious story of Sicario (“the hitman”) is that of Federal agents fighting the ruthless drug cartels along our southern border.  But the great long term implication is that it presents a very compelling argument for more government authority and less freedom or civil rights.  The specific mission of the group requires the use of war fighting rules rather than criminal procedures. 

Thus, Sicario makes us examine just how much we are willing to pay as a nation to deal with the Drug War, and indeed whether it is a war or not.  It does treat the subject such that one feels this mission was successful in the ongoing fight against drugs but calls into question the tactics that generate the success.  Amplified to a macro scale Sicario leaves us to grapple with the age old dilemma of whether the results are worth the price paid to achieve those results and if amplified enough just what the price will ultimately be for America and Americans’ freedoms.