With genocide unfolding in Gaza, Christians in the Holy Land are having a difficult time feeling joy this Christmas season. Bethlehem has canceled its traditional celebrations. There will be no tree-lighting or festivities.

Events of the past week have highlighted how the US’ feckless indulgent behavior toward policies pursued by Israel have damaged America’s standing in the world. Two United Nations votes calling for a ceasefire in Gaza showed the US has been abandoned by most of our closest allies, many of whom are increasingly questioning our global leadership.

It’s been more than two months since Ukraine was a front-page news in the US press. It had become an old story and was being displaced by the horrors unfolding daily in Gaza.

In recent weeks, the Biden administration has attempted to pivot from its initial unconditional support for Israeli actions in Gaza by combining caution with a vague plan for “the day after.”

Almost two months into this monstrous conflict in Gaza and it is clear that the war is being fought not only on a battlefield but over the very terms that can be used to speak about it. Pope Francis discovered this last week when he described what was unfolding in Gaza as “going beyond war, this is terrorism,” and reportedly noted that “terrorism should not be used to justify terror.”

Several events that have occurred in the past few weeks should make us pay attention to the frightening reality we are in when it comes to freedom of speech regarding Israel/Palestine. We are on precarious ground.

The war over Gaza has had an explosive and surprising impact on the cohesion of the Democratic coalition. For decades now, the American body politic has been fractured mainly over critical social and cultural issues ranging from race and gender to guns and immigration—more often than not with Republicans on one side and Democrats on the other. Only in rare instances have foreign policy concerns entered the equation and never in the way that Israel/Palestine has in recent weeks.

I’ve been organizing Arab Americans for almost a half century. For the past three decades, working with my brother, John Zogby, we've polled the community’s views on a range of political topics. I’ve learned to value polling because it opens a window and allows you to hear and understand what people are saying and what their views may portend for the future.