NewsNation’s Leland Vittert provides his expert analysis and perspective on the Israel-Hamas war in the Oct. 31 edition of his War Notes column.

(NewsNation) — Breaking news: Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen declared war on Israel. This makes moving the USS Carney into the Red Sea look awfully smart. The Houthis launching ballistic missiles toward Israel is an annoyance but both American air defenses (land- and sea-based) and Israeli air defenses are ready for this. The much bigger danger is the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait — the gate of grief. It goes from the Gulf of Aden into the Red Sea and is 16 miles across. The Houthi’s anti-ship missiles can target the world’s shipping traffic through the Suez Canal, and can target American military ships transiting through the Persian Gulf. 

Stay tuned. Once the Israelis counter-attack, will the world media suddenly start caring about the “humanitarian crisis” in Yemen?

Turmoil in the Capitol 

The news in one line: There was a ceasefire on Oct. 6. 

Protesters chanted “Ceasefire now” during Congressional testimony from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin today. Only pro-Hamas folks want a ceasefire. See yesterday’s War Note for why. 

We told you this would happen.

Calling for a ceasefire allows one to be pro-Hamas while pretending to be a humanitarian, and it is putting President Joe Biden in a domestic and international pickle. As The New York Times noted in a headline yesterday, “Biden’s Support for Israel Now Comes With Words of Caution. The administration has become more critical of Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks, a shift that U.S. officials attribute to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”

Biden is falling into an age-old trap by assuming protests are actually about the Palestinian people and if their suffering could be alleviated, then the anti-Israel and pro-terrorist marches would end. This is a fallacy. Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in the mid-2000s and put no restrictions on the Gazans. In return, Israel got Hamas and eventually Oct. 7. If Israel doesn’t get credit in the international community or from Palestinians for withdrawing then, they aren’t going to get credit for “humanitarian pauses” or a ceasefire. The Israelis have figured this out, hence the hardline against ceasefire and the comparisons to World War II. 

Let’s be clear: The protests we see are about eliminating the state of Israel and celebrating the killing of Jews. This isn’t analysis; it is what the protestors are chanting across America. It is Stars of David spray painted on Jewish businesses in France. It’s death threats against Jews on college campuses in the United States that have nothing to do with the current war. 

Weakness is provocative. The more Biden, Blinken and Austin talk about civilians and the more they equivocate, the louder the calls for a ceasefire will grow. The more resolute they are about Hamas’s atrocities and Hamas’s sole responsibility for the plight of the Palestinian civilians, the less room there is for a wedge between us and Israel. 

Perhaps, more directly, there was a ceasefire on Oct. 6. Why are there only calls for ceasefires now that Israel is on the attack? 

It’s no surprise that most of the protestors chanting in Congress today wore masks. Perhaps they didn’t want their moms to see them on television. 

The pro-Hamas folks wearing masks might be in response to the growing backlash online and amongst businesses to pro-Hamas and anti-Israel demonstrators. 

Turbulence Extends Beyond Washington

On college campuses professors are quite concerned now about the “doxing,” which is the exposure of those calling for the murder of Jews. 

Remember a few years ago, pro-life or pro-Trump speech was considered violence. Now speech that is violent or celebrating violence must be protected, at least according to the Stanford Daily.

You see, Arab and Muslim students are the real victims in all of this, according to faculty members at Washington University in St. Louis. 

In Poland, they take a stronger view against these matters. After a medical student at Warsaw University protested with a sign asking to “keep the world clean” with an image of the Star of David in a trash can, the university suspended her. 

We have covered Cori Bush a lot, including this tweet accusing Israel of wholesale slaughter. 

And here is a throwback to when she didn’t know that your tax rate goes up when you make more money. 

Honest question: Do her antisemitic and pro-Hamas statements come from ignorance or antisemitism? 

Wesley Bell is now launching a primary challenge against her. 

And, if you wonder what’s being said in American mosques, this iman in Maryland called the violence on Oct. 7 a “great victory.” 

This morning, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas defended a pro-Hamas employee of his. 

Looking Ahead

Former editors of the Yale Daily News wrote a letter to current staff after putting an editor’s note on an opinion from a pro-Israel student. The former editors said, “…it shocks the conscience that a generation of students who implore us to ‘belive women’ who allege rape is suddenly willing to disbelieve the evidence of their own eyes when the woman raped are Israeli? The hypocrisy is breathtaking.”

The woman who wrote the piece in the Yale newspaper will be on the show tomorrow. 

On the show tonight, we will continue our story from last night on what happens to gay people in Gaza, looking at the irony of those marching saying “Gays for Gaza.” Rabbi Dr. Jay Michaelson will join with some thoughts on that. 

Tomorrow, we will show you who is helping organize the massive pro-Hamas protests across America. Hint: They aren’t from America. 

Tune into “On Balance with Leland Vittert” weeknights at 7/6C on NewsNation. Find your channel here.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.