Brad Sherman; or, Israel’s Good Little Boy

How the local Congressman is complicit in the genocide of Palestinians. 

By: Gabriel Gomez, Copy Editor

Photo Illustration by Estefani Herrera Alvarado and Lourdes Rosales Lepe

Two long years and 70,000 acts of murder later, Congressman Brad Sherman (of California’s 32nd district, which borders our lovely Valley College,) is still steadfast in his support for meek and vulnerable David. He issued the following statement a few weeks ago: 

“Two years ago today, Hamas terrorists launched a barbaric and unprovoked attack that killed more than 1,200 innocent men, women, and children in Israel. It was the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust and a sobering reminder that Israel is surrounded by violent terrorist organizations that seek its destruction.We continue to mourn those murdered and pray for the safe return of all hostages still held in Gaza. The United States must remain steadfast in supporting Israel’s right to defend its citizens and dismantle Hamas so that their threats of ‘repeating October 7th until Israel is destroyed’ can never become a reality.” 

Brave oratory from the Knesset’s favorite parrot. 

Yet, something seems wrong. 

Who, exactly, is Hamas? Who was it that did the butchering on Oct. 7? Was it the hundreds of children shot in the head and chest by Israeli snipers in the past two years? The children are anti-semetic terrorists too, right, Brad? Or perhaps it was the 1,373 civilians blown up, shot, or executed waiting to receive food in the last five months? If not them, then the Hamas terrorists must have been the thousands killed in their homes, hospitals, mosques, or refugee camps… right? 

A few sentences later he adds: “Congress must continue to provide the resources Israel needs to defend itself, while also supporting humanitarian efforts that protect innocent civilians caught in the conflict.”  

What are the intellectual hoops one must jump through to believe that they are both protecting the innocent of a beleaguered people whilst simultaneously sending weapons and capital to the ones doing the battering? All the killing – all the tremendous and unfathomable grotesque horror that has been done in the name of American and Israeli partnership – how could one find any way to somehow justify it so late into a genocide?  One day, when the smoke clears the air and all the maimed bodies have been thrown into the sea, how will you remember the diplomacy, aid, political strategy, religious extremism, and every other haughty consideration you sounded forth? 

“Who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves?” asked Nietzsche (or as Mencken called him, the Prussian Anti-Christ). 

One might consider where Sherman’s loyalty lies. Is it to the goodness of Man? To the uplifting of his fellow human being? To the posterity of his constituents? Nay; I think it to the donors who keep his treasure chest full. Perhaps those hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Pro-Israel groups has affected the way he votes. 

Sherman, the bifoccaled hobgoblin, seems to be running cover for the atrocities of a foreign nation in a country growing increasingly weary of them. One must admire his vigorous defence of that apartheid state. I imagine the breakroom talk at the rotunda has been getting quite troublesome for him. 

As it is said in the Gospel of Matthew: “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” 

Brad – let me offer you a piece of advice: The times are changing, dear comrade, and you’re either on the bus or you’re off the bus.