{"id":1007,"date":"2026-07-16T22:07:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T22:07:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1007"},"modified":"2026-07-16T22:07:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T22:07:56","slug":"in-gaza-lindsey-grahams-legacy-will-be-defending-genocide-of-palestinians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1007","title":{"rendered":"In Gaza, Lindsey Graham\u2019s Legacy Will Be Defending Genocide of Palestinians"},"content":{"rendered":"
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News of Sen. Lindsey Graham\u2019s death was met with tributes from some of the world\u2019s most powerful political leaders. <\/p>\n

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remembered him as a loyal friend. In Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on X called Graham a \u201ctrue defender of freedom.\u201d In Washington, D.C., Republicans and Democrats alike mourned one of the most influential foreign policy hawks of his generation. <\/p>\n

But in Gaza, Graham\u2019s name carries a different legacy.<\/p>\n

For many Palestinians, the South Carolina Republican, who died at the age of 71 after a \u201cbrief and sudden\u201d illness, was one of the most forceful voices in Washington defending Israel\u2019s genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n

At the height of the war in Gaza, Graham repeatedly urged the U.S. to provide Israel with the weapons it needed to continue its military campaign. In May 2024, while defending continued U.S. arms supplies to Israel, Graham invoked the American atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe decided to end the war by the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nuclear weapons, and that was the right decision,\u201d Graham told NBC\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press.\u201d \u201cGive Israel the bombs they need to end the war they can\u2019t afford to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Civilians watching from Gaza heard his words as a dehumanizing message, one that portrayed them as monsters and terrorists, rather than human beings living through the horrors of an Israeli military campaign that has killed tens of thousands, destroyed homes, displaced families, and transformed entire cities into fields of rubble.<\/p>\n

Iktimal Abo Matar, a 68-year-old Gaza resident who lived through the Naksa in 1967, said Graham\u2019s death brought no sense of political loss to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that he has died, he will be judged by Allah for all the injustices that were inflicted on us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

After reading Graham\u2019s statement that \u201cthe Palestinians in Gaza are the most radicalized population on the planet who are taught to hate Jews from birth,\u201d Abo Matar responded, \u201cWe do not hate anyone. We only want to live on our land in peace. Calling us radicalized while our existence is being erased, while our children have been deliberately targeted and starved, is a great injustice.\u201d<\/p>\n

For older Palestinians like Abo Matar, Graham is part of a much longer history of American politicians who offered Israel political, military, and diplomatic protection.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerican presidents have changed. Political parties have alternated in power. New politicians have entered office and others have left, but many of them have continued to support Israel while denying us our rights,\u201d she said. \u201cThey will all come and go, but we have remained on our land, and we will remain until we have all of our rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Michigan OK\u2019s Permits for Enbridge Line 5 Tunnel \u2014 But Legal Hurdles Remain<\/a><\/p>\n

Graham\u2019s support for Israel long predated 2023.<\/p>\n

In 2017, he backed the effort to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, describing Jerusalem as the \u201cundeniable capital of Israel.\u201d The move was fiercely opposed by Palestinians who argued that it legitimizes Israel\u2019s illegal occupation of the city.<\/p>\n

Graham\u2019s support went beyond rhetoric. Recently, he pushed for action against the International Criminal Court (ICC) after its prosecutor sought arrest warrants for Israeli leaders.<\/p>\n

Graham called the ICC\u2019s actions \u201coutrageous\u201d and urged then-President Joe Biden\u2019s Secretary of State Antony Blinken to support sanctions against the court. He later backed legislation targeting the ICC, arguing that defending Israel from international prosecution was also necessary to protect American interest in the future.<\/p>\n

From Gaza, many Palestinians saw Graham\u2019s actions as an effort to block one of the few remaining avenues for international accountability when it threatened Israeli leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack then, I thought the genocide would end because of the ICC\u2019s decisions, but I was shocked that not only did that never happen, but the judge is now being targeted,\u201d said Hanan Abu Muslim, a university student from Gaza. \u201c[Graham] stood in the way of the only path that could have helped end the suffering of 2 million people. That is not a legacy anyone wants to be remembered for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahmad Ibsais, a Palestinian American lawyer, said Graham\u2019s legacy will be remembered very differently by Palestinians than by much of the American political establishment.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Palestinians, Lindsey Graham\u2019s legacy will always be that of someone who helped legitimize support for the genocide of our people,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the political establishment in the United States \u2014 both Democrats and Republicans \u2014 has largely failed to recognize Palestinians as fully human. That dehumanization isn\u2019t something they consider when they think about his legacy. Instead, many will remember him as someone who stayed the course and remained a reliable supporter of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ibsais said he believes U.S. politics are already beginning to shift. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing a new generation \u2014 both politicians and ordinary people \u2014 calling for divestment from Israel,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople are starting to question why the United States is so closely tied to Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

He pointed to the success of progressive candidates, such as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who have been more outspoken on Palestinian rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing Democrats and progressives who champion Palestinian rights win their primary elections,\u201d he said. \u201cMamdani\u2019s victory reflects a new generation that is more supportive of the Palestinian cause and increasingly sees Israel as a threat to both American democracy and international law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prism is an independent and nonprofit newsroom led by journalists of color. We report from the ground up and at the intersections of injustice.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Miller Labels Leftists a \u201cCancer\u201d That World Must \u201cRoot Out\u201d in Fascistic Speech<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Civilians in Gaza saw his words and actions as dehumanizing, meant to portray Palestinians as monsters and terrorists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1006,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nIn Gaza, Lindsey Graham\u2019s Legacy Will Be Defending Genocide of Palestinians - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1007\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In Gaza, Lindsey Graham\u2019s Legacy Will Be Defending Genocide of Palestinians - 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