by Arvind Dilawar
Arvind Dilawar is an independent journalist whose work has appeared in Newsweek, The Guardian, Vice and elsewhere.

The ongoing war endangers Israeli hostages, Palestinian civilians and even Congressman Pat Ryan’s political future. Ryan represents Beacon in District 18. Formerly, he was the County Executive for Ulster County. He also served 2 combat tours in Iraq, where he earned 2 Bronze Stars.

“During the speech, however, Ryan did not mention the claims, reported in The New York Times and elsewhere the previous day, that 3 of those hostages had been killed by Israeli bombings. Nor did he mention the cease-fire that may still save the lives of the remaining hostages, as well as countless Palestinian civilians.”

On November 30, Congressman Pat Ryan delivered a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, appealing for the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. During the speech, however, Ryan did not mention the claims, reported in The New York Times and elsewhere the previous day, that 3 of those hostages had been killed by Israeli bombings. Nor did he mention the cease-fire that may still save the lives of the remaining hostages, as well as countless Palestinian civilians.

As Israel’s assault on Gaza enters its third month, the lives of more than a hundred Israeli hostages and two million Palestinian civilians hang in the balance. And according to a growing number of voters, so too do the political futures of Democratic politicians like Ryan, who continue to resist calls for a cease-fire.

“We Don’t Know if Our Family is Alive”

Due to the ongoing war, the reality on the ground in Gaza can only be approximated. According to Reuters, some 240 hostages were taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Of those, 108 have been released by Hamas, 1 freed by the Israeli military, and the bodies of 3 recovered by the same. Hamas has said that dozens of the remaining hostages, who are being held throughout Gaza, have been killed by indiscriminate Israeli bombings. The Israeli government rejects that claim, although it has declared at least 8 hostages “dead in absentia,” conceding that they have likely been killed.

“We were in tunnels, terrified that it would not be Hamas, but Israel, that would kill us, and then they would say Hamas killed you,” one freed hostage said. “So, I strongly urge that the prisoner exchange begins as soon as possible and everyone needs to return home.”

— Israeli Hostage Upon Release

Newly freed hostages themselves have said that they feared death from Israeli bombings more than from Hamas. Israeli news site Ynet received recordings of a meeting between freed hostages, hostages’ families and the Israeli government, during which multiple freed hostages described their experiences in captivity and urged for a cease-fire to resume the exchange of hostages for Palestinian imprisoned by Israel.

“We were in tunnels, terrified that it would not be Hamas, but Israel, that would kill us, and then they would say Hamas killed you,” one freed hostage said. “So, I strongly urge that the prisoner exchange begins as soon as possible and everyone needs to return home.”

The circumstances for Palestinians in Gaza have been no less horrific, as detailed by Al Jazeera. As of this publishing on 12/12/2023, ongoing Israeli assault has killed at least 18,205 Palestinians, including 7,729 children and 5,153 women; injured another 49,645; and left 7,780 missing.

Among those unaccounted for are the family and friends of Kamel Jamal, owner of the Palestinian restaurant Ziatun on Main Street in Beacon. Jamal’s parents belonged to the first generation of Palestinian refugees, displaced by Israel upon its founding in 1948. He was born in a refugee camp in neighboring Jordan and moved to the United States as a child in the late 1970s, but still has family and friends in Gaza.

“Every night we go to bed and we ask, ‘Are you alive?’” says Jamal. “Every morning we wake up, we ask, ‘Are you alive?’”

“Right now,” he continues, “we don’t know if our family is alive, as we have not heard anything in three days.”

“Never, Ever Voting Democrat Again”

To Jamal, the scale of death and destruction in Gaza makes the necessity for a cease-fire painfully obvious.

“If someone needs to think about a cease-fire,” he says, “really they shouldn’t have an opinion.”

Support for a cease-fire is shared by a majority of US voters — but not politicians. According to a recent poll by Data for Progress, 61% of all likely voters support a permanent cease-fire and de-escalation of violence in Gaza, including 76% of Democrats, 57% of independents and 49% of Republicans. However, of the 535 members of Congress, only 61 have thus far called for a cease-fire, per the Working Families Party.

The resistance to a cease-fire demonstrated by Democratic politicians like President Joe Biden and Ryan not only threatens the lives of Israeli hostages and Palestinian civilians, but the political futures of those politicians too. The most recent polls collected by 538 put Biden neck-and-neck with or losing to Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee. Yet as Politico reports, Biden’s callousness toward mounting Palestinian casualties is pushing fellow Arabs and Muslims to campaign against his re-election in swing states where they are significant voting blocs, such as Michigan, Minnesota, Arizona, Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

Although detailed polling data isn’t publicly available on the prospects of Ryan’s re-election in 2024, the situation is comparable. According to Ballotpedia, Ryan won his current seat by less than 3,600 votes in 2022. And heading into the next election, he’s already lost at least one.

“I can assure you that I will never, ever be voting Democrat again,” says Jamal. “Republicans aren’t better, but Democrats lost the majority of all Muslim/Arab votes.”

(Ryan’s communications director, Sam Silverman, failed to respond to multiple requests for comment for this article.)