Hamas strike on Israel - Threadbans in op - mod warning in OP updated 19/10/23

A perfect example of why so many American politicians fear criticising Israel happened last night.

Jamal Bowman defeated one of the biggest pro-Israel Democrats (Eliot Engels) in a primary in 2020 and has spoken candidly about Israel and their actions ever since.

AIPAC went after him big time in this primary this cycle, pumping so much money ($15m) into the campaign that it broke the record for a House primary election. They were ultimately successful. He will now be replaced by another Israel can do no wrong Democrat.

That will put the frighteners on every other politician on Capital Hill when it comes to standing up for Palestinians.

AIPAC combined with the ludicrous Citizens United supreme court ruling gives Israel free reign to do this kind of action. One of the many ways that American democracy is deeply flawed (See also: partisan redistricting, voter suppression, the overwhelming use of first past the post).

Indeed, but this is also one of the situations where there should be proof positive, and there’s no positive proof, and a lot of posturing and bluster (from republicans, Likud, etc) that things are being slowed down or delayed or not showing up - some claims indicating as long as December this has been going on for.

And, not once did I say he didn’t deserve any criticism or that his administration didn’t deserve any - you’d find my first post in this thread concerned a fiery rant against Blinken and his “ten 9/11s” commentary which, predictably, preluded greater than 10 fallujahs worth of reaction from Israel.

Let’s be precise with criticism though, previous users debasing the discussion to over the top nicknames for Biden without being checked on it by anyone else is not due criticism, and has only the effect of campaigning for his rival - someone who was and will, demonstrably, be worse for the Palestinians that Biden ever has been.

What’s in my linkdumps TM are again also hearsay, you are quick to call out taking Biden at his word but again as I stated, ambassadors aren’t truth sayers either. And I provided context for the links I put up, it’s not accurate to claim I didn’t.

Deserving criticism is a two way street with deserving credit when it is equally due. We seem to overlap in that there has definitely been a suspension of arms flow since at least April if not earlier.

If he wins in November AIPAC will have considerably less leverage and Biden will have considerably more leverage over Israel

And, this is precisely the political problem that is or will target Biden over the next few months. In March Politico reported AIPAC “uncorks” $100M to unseat unfavorable politicians, not just Bowman. There will be more where that came from. Politico also reported a few weeks ago that AIPAC has now become the single largest GOP donor org into Democratic primaries. “Nearly half of AIPAC donors to Democratic candidates this year have a history of giving to Republican campaigns or committees.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/03/aipac-israel-spending-democratic-primaries-00144552#:~:text=AIPAC%20uncorks%20%24100%20million%20war,more%20of%20them%20this%20time.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/09/aipac-republican-donors-democratic-primaries-00162404

Ah I see that now. Biden still sending arms. Misunderstanding on netanyahus part.

“We have fought in the Israeli courts for years against this as most of the village is under threat of demolition and they have done this before,” said Eid Suleiman, a resident. “But they came this time without telling our lawyer. We didn’t have time to collect our belongings.

“We have put up some tents to keep the children cool in the heat. But we are afraid the soldiers will come back and take those too because they say we are building illegally.”

Masafer Yatta, a collection of shepherding hamlets including Umm al-Kheir, is located in area C, the sparsely populated 60% of the West Bank under full Israeli control. Palestinian infrastructure in the area is frequently demolished on the grounds that the residents do not have building permits, which are nearly impossible to obtain, while surrounding illegal Israeli settlements flourish. UN experts have said such demolitions can be considered war crimes.

Just another day in the West Bank. Lives ruined by colonialist theft of land. All supported by the West.

The only Democracy in the Middle East.

Interesting article that sheds light on how Hamas has been able to sustain their war effort despite what looks like a complete blockade.

If Israel can secure the territory beneath the Philadelphi Corridor that's already under their control, they will be able to do a lot of harm to Hamas.