Former President Bill Clinton has sparked outrage for his comments at a Michigan rally for Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday, in which he suggested that Israel is justified in carrying out its genocidal slaughter in Gaza and echoed the eliminationist logic of some of Israel’s most extremist politicians.
In his remarks, Clinton suggested that the Hamas-led attack on October 7, in which roughly 700 Israeli civilians were killed, justifies Israel’s subsequent genocide in Gaza — where Israel has killed at least 43,000 Palestinians over the past year, though some estimates range as high as 330,000.
“The people who criticize it are essentially saying, ‘Yeah, but look how many people you’d killed in retaliation. How many is enough for you to punish them for the terrible things they did?’” said Clinton, after saying that he recognizes the sensitivity of the issue for Arab and Muslim communities. “Well that all sounds nice until you realize — what would you do if it was your family and you hadn’t done anything but support a homeland for the Palestinians and one day they come for you?”
“Well, you’ll have to forgive me, I’m not keeping score that way,” he went on. “They’ll force you to kill civilians if you want to defend yourself.”
Clinton’s comments echo the false and dangerous Israeli talking point that the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians starved, wounded and killed by Israel were all complicit in October 7.
His remarks also invoked the line of thinking, often promoted by Israeli politicians, that Israelis want to live in peace, while Palestinians only want violence — a dehumanizing, racist lie easily disproved by Israeli settlers’ violent pogroms against Palestinian villages or Israel’s indiscriminate extermination campaign in Gaza. Clinton further stoked hatred by suggesting, without evidence, that Hezbollah and Hamas are proof that Muslims are banding together to “run every Jew out of Israel.”
Neither Israeli leaders nor settlers have shown interest in a “homeland” for Palestinians; for instance, just in recent months, Israeli leaders have been a strong presence at rallies where the stated goal is to resettle and annex the entire Gaza Strip.
Clinton went on to claim that Hamas wants to “make Israel uninhabitable” — an ironic statement considering that Israeli forces have spent the last year razing homes and infrastructure in Gaza, making it completely uninhabitable. Then, in what some advocates for Palestinian rights flagged as the most disturbing part of Clinton’s speech, Clinton parroted lines from some of Israel’s most extremist factions who believe that they have a biblical right to Palestinian land.
“Well I got news for them: [Israelis] were there first before their faith existed, they were there. In the time of King David and the southernmost tribes had Judea and Samaria,” he said, referring to territories in the occupied West Bank.
Pro-Palestinian advocates pointed out that Clinton’s comments were especially heinous because they were made in Michigan — which has the highest concentration of Arab Americans in the U.S., and which Harris is at major risk of losing due to the U.S.’s sponsorship of Israel’s genocide.
The mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, home to the largest Arab American community in the U.S., condemned Democrats for platforming such speech in Michigan — especially from Clinton, whose presidency paved the way for Israeli subjugation of Palestinians and further seizure of Palestinian land.
“Rumor has it the Dems want to send Bill Clinton to Dearborn to rally the Arab vote this weekend. Do us a favor — stop sending surrogates who have no respect or regard for this community. You’re only inflicting more damage,” said Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud.
“Putting aside his blatantly ahistorical propaganda, we’re expected to believe this guy was an ‘honest peace broker’ between the Israelis and Palestinians. Like anything even remotely fair can result from this level of blind bias. And this is how they expect to win us over,” said writer Tariq Kenney-Shawa. “Clinton sees Israelis as Americans and Palestinians as subhumans and this view is not uncommon to those his age.”
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $104,000 in one-time donations and to add 1340 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31.
Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy