The Pour Over Today - Bonus Episode: 2024 Election Topics - War in Gaza

Episode Date: August 20, 2024

In a special episode of The Pour Over Today, we’re diving into American views on the war in Gaza, including where VP Harris, RFK Jr., and former President Trump stand. This is the second episode of our Election Collection, designed to help us grow in understanding and compassion on key 2024 election topics. Please support our TPO sponsors! CSB: links.thepourover.org/CSB_Podcast_0701 Cru: give.cru.org/tpo Compassion International: compassion.com/TPO Upside: https://links.thepourover.org/Upside Every Woman's Bible: everywomansbible.com Life Application Study Bible: https://links.thepourover.org/LASB_Podcast The Bible Study: https://links.thepourover.org/TheBibleStudy Politics for People Who Hate Politics: https://links.thepourover.org/PoliticsForPeopleWhoHatePolitics Keola Fit: https://links.thepourover.org/KeolaFit_Pod

Today's episode is brought to you by our lead sponsor, Crew. In a special episode of The Poor Over Today, we're diving into American views on the war in Gaza, including where Vice President Harris, RFK Jr., and former President Trump stand. This is the second episode of our election collection, designed to help us grow an understanding and compassion on key 2024 election topics. First, some background. On October 7, 2023, Hamas militants broke through Israel's border, killed 1,200 people, and took 250 hostages back to Gaza,

a small strip of land roughly 25 miles long and 5 miles wide between Israel and the Mediterranean Sea. Israel immediately declared war and announced its objectives, destroy Hamas and bring home the hostages. People around the world and across political persuasions condemned Hamas' October 7th terror attack. Support for Israel's military response has been more divided and has shifted over time. The Gaza Health Ministry reports that over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began.

It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Critics doubt the accuracy of numbers reported by the Gaza Health Ministry because it's controlled by Hamas and accused of inflating both the total death toll and the percentage of casualties that are women and children. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 Hamas operatives.

It does not report civilian casualties. We'll be back with what Republicans and Democrats say after a quick break. With over 1,000 translations and every type of decorative edition, it's easy to forget how many people can't even get their hands on a single copy of the Bible in their native language. This is why we've partnered with Cru.

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The vast majority of Republicans have been staunchly pro-Israel, saying America's longtime ally has a right to defend itself against Hamas, which is explicitly on a mission to destroy the state of Israel through jihad, Islamic holy war. Republicans largely blame the high civilian death toll on Hamas, citing the group's strategy of operating out of civilian locations, such as hospitals and refugee camps. Democrats are more divided. From the onset, some progressives were critical of Israel, saying its mistreatment of Palestinians fueled the rise of Hamas.

As the conflict has dragged on, Democrats have largely blamed Israel for the civilian deaths and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, causing an increasing number to condemn Israel and call for an immediate permanent ceasefire. Moderate Democrats tend to support Israel's continued effort to destroy Hamas, while urging it to take greater precautions to protect Palestinian life. while urging it to take greater precautions to protect Palestinian life.

War and the evil it exposes are a terrible reminder that the world is not as it should be. Seek peace where you are and trust that the Lord will end all war in His perfect timing. Romans 12, 18-21 says, If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not avenge yourselves, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me. I will repay, says the Lord. Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good. And now, candidate stances. Vice President Harris supports Israel's war in Gaza but emphasizes the need to protect civilians.

After meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu in July 2024, she pledged unwavering commitment to Israel while also saying she would not be silent about Palestinian suffering. She and her husband, who is Jewish, have condemned the brutal terrorist organization Hamas. She also expressed empathy for pro-Palestinian student protesters. RFK Jr. supports Israel's war in Gaza and opposes a ceasefire, saying it would be used by Hamas to rebuild and then launch another surprise attack. He called Israel a moral nation, forced this war and said the US president should be contacting leaders in Russia, Turkey, and Egypt to help Israel and Hamas. Former President Trump supports Israel's war in Gaza but has said they need to quickly

finish what they started, arguing Israel is losing the PR war by allowing the conflict to drag on. He says the attack never would have happened if he were president, citing the Middle East peace deal, the Abraham Accords, brokered while he was in office. That's all we have for today. Thanks for listening. If you're listening in the Apple Podcasts app, give us a 5 star rating and drop a review. If you're listening on Spotify, give us a follow and hit the notification bell to never miss a new episode.

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