Oct. 17: Alumni Weigh In on the Violence in Israel and Gaza

Retired Gen. David Petraeus *85 *87 said that the Hamas attack on Israel was proportionally worse than 9/11 was in the United States, and that he was surprised American and Israeli intelligence groups were caught off guard. — CBS News
 
Independent presidential candidate Cornel West *80 has been urging President Joe Biden and other officials to use restraint and avoid pushing for retaliation when discussing Israel’s reaction to Hamas. — Time magazine
 
Michael O’Hanlon ’82 *91, a senior fellow in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, discussed what comes next now that the “live and let live” era between Israel and Hamas is over: “The bottom line is, how well can Israel do at decimating Hamas?” — CNN
 
Writing from Israel, journalist Evelyn Gordon ’87 said Israel should keep a military presence in Palestinian areas, arguing it’s necessary for the country’s protection in the face of Hamas’ “single-minded focus on Israel’s destruction.” — Mosaic

About 100 Jewish faculty and students at Emory criticized their university for its lackluster support of Israel, including College of Arts and Sciences Dean Barbara Krauthamer *00, who had penned a letter about “the cultural, historical, political, and ethical dimensions of the region and this conflict.” — Rough Draft Atlanta
 
In an op-ed, National Review editor Ramesh Ponnuru ’95 criticized those “in certain corners of the left” who have blamed Israel for Hamas’ attacks, saying their “simplistic worldview” divides the world into oppressors and the oppressed. — The Washington Post
 
Illinois Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi ’95 wrote an op-ed criticizing former President Donald Trump for his “incoherent remarks” about Israel, writing that “Trump kicked an ally while they’re hurting.” — MSNBC
 
A public radio segment in Illinois featured a poem about the Hamas attack by Carol Obertubbesing ’73: “See, feel the humanity in each person/So the children can have peaceful days and starlit nights.” — Northern Public Radio
 
Former Cincinnati City Council Member P.G. Sittenfeld ’07 was sentenced to 16 months in prison and a $40,000 fine in a bribery and corruption case that will now go to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. — WXVU

“Our lack of civic strength here at home endangers the security of global commitments to human rights and victories already won against terrorism. And that in turn endangers us further at home.”

— Harvard professor Danielle Allen ’93, discussing the conflict in Israel and Gaza and how it relates to the polarization and dysfunction in the U.S. and its government. — The Washington Post

Investor Carl Icahn ’57’s $2.1 billion bet against U.S. shopping malls, which some called the Big Short 2.0, appears to have gone sideways. —  The Wall Street Journal
 
U.S. Senate candidate from Pennsylvania David McCormick *94 *96 is among the Republicans opposing a national ban on abortion, calling his stance a “compassionate position and a consensus position.” — The New York Times
 
In the American League Championship Series, Texas Rangers general manager Chris Young ’02 is up against Dana Brown, who signed him out of Princeton to the Pittsburgh Pirates and is now general manager of the Houston Astros. — The Athletic

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