Washington Post columnist dragged for claiming 'we cannot stand by and watch Israel commit atrocities'

Karen Attiah, an opinion columnist at the Washington Post, wrote on Friday that the U.S. cannot let Israel "carry out the collective punishment" against Palestinians.

Oct 15, 2023 - 12:44
Washington Post columnist dragged for claiming 'we cannot stand by and watch Israel commit atrocities'

Washington Post opinion columnist Karen Attiah was criticized on social media over a column published Friday in which she argued that, "we cannot stand band watch Israel commit atrocities."

Attiah wrote that Palestinians were "rightfully" pointing out "that their own pain and deaths under the actions of the Israeli state have been ignored for years" following Hamas' unprecedented terrorist attack against Israel. 

She argued that the U.S. can't let Israel retaliate and was criticized by many on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"It is also the reason the United States cannot stand by and allow Israel to carry out the collective punishment it has declared it will exact. It cannot stand by as Israeli officials engage in genocidal language and describe genocidal intent against Palestinians for the actions of Hamas," Attiah wrote. 

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The Spectator's Stephen Miller responded with a screenshot of one post noting Hamas' brutal attack against Israelis. 

"Every single protest you're seeing is because Hamas executed, raped, tortured, beheaded and kidnapped over a thousand innocent Jews including children and the elderly," he wrote. 

Attiah wrote that the attacks were "horrific" further down in her column.

"Hamas’s attack was horrific. To many of my Jewish friends, it represents a nightmare scenario," she wrote, adding that international human rights laws were "apparently being ignored by state and non-state actors alike."

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Others wondered why Attiah didn't condemn the "genocidal language" of Hamas. 

"I would hope that the ‘only democracy in the Middle East’ would learn from the United States’ mistakes and atrocities, end the occupation, oust the walking bag of right-wing corruption that is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and call for a cease-fire. If the sadistic status quo keeps up, the only winners of these cycles of violence will be the weapons dealers — while the rest of us lose our common, shared humanity," Attiah continued. 

The Heritage Foundation's Victoria Coates pointed out a lack of condemnation from Attiah with regard to the attacks against Israel. 

"Why? You stood by just fine when atrocities were committed against Israelis and Americans by Hamas on October 7th, Why are you so exercised now?" Coates wrote.

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The Israeli military urged Gazan civilians to flee southward along a specified evacuation route on Sunday, clearing out a 3-hour window in which the IDF would not fire on the route.

The IDF alerted Gazans of the window via social media and air-dropped flyers this weekend. Israeli forces are currently preparing for an all-out assault on Northern Gaza, planning to infiltrate from land, air and sea.

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Fox News' Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.