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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSanders to Introduce Amendment to End U.S. Complicity in Netanyahu's War on Palestinian People
The U.S. must end its complicity in the nightmare unfolding in Gaza.
That is why I will be offering an amendment to the supplemental bill to ensure zero funding for the continuation of Netanyahus illegal, immoral war against the Palestinian people.
3:41 PM · Feb 2, 2024

brush
(61,033 posts)Last edited Fri Feb 2, 2024, 08:26 PM - Edit history (1)
Israel needs to kick Netanyahu to the curb.
It can do better.
tritsofme
(19,585 posts)DemocraticPatriot
(5,410 posts)Did you forgot to add that line to your post....?
I suppose you know that Sanders is Jewish--- otherwise you might have accused him of anti-semitism....
(Almost everyone who speaks out against the Israeli actions in this war, including the lack of proportionality,
is eventually accused of anti-semitism on this site--- except for those who are Jewish,
who may also be accused of such before it is known that they are Jewish)
betsuni
(28,444 posts)TwilightZone
(28,836 posts)I'm not sure how you made the logical leap from what the poster posted to what you posted, but none of what you're asserting exists in their post. There isn't even a hint of it.
DemocraticPatriot
(5,410 posts)TexasDem69
(2,317 posts)Sanders grandstanding. Wholeheartedly support Israels right to defend itself.
ancianita
(42,300 posts)decisions as commander-in-chief.
Think. Again.
(22,456 posts)Israel has obviously gone far beyond any claim of merely 'defending itself' and the U.S must seriously consider our continued complicity.
brush
(61,033 posts)especially in Michigan, a battleground state, where there is a significant Arab and Muslim demographic.
Israel needs to ditch Netanyahu.
TheKentuckian
(26,314 posts)His opposition left and yes, right also will take the fight to Hamas.
Further, there is no plausible leader of any actual nation that would not in the same circumstances.
Dennis Kucinich is not going to be God Emperor of anywhere and even if he was I am not sure he'd hand waive the 3rd largest terrorist attack in world history either.
Y'all need to get somewhere in the vicinity of reality on this.
brush
(61,033 posts)Read this:
Why it matters: The timing may have been coincidental, but the Biden administration is eager to present deliverables to Arab and Muslim American voters who have threatened to sit out or actively work to defeat the president over his support for Israel.
Those communities not to mention the younger generations alienated by Biden's policies toward Gaza typically vote Democratic by wide margins.
A major defection would imperil Biden's 2020 coalition: In Michigan, for example, Biden won by 154,000 votes. Census estimates put the state's Arab American population around at least 278,00o.
https://www.axios.com/2024/02/01/biden-michigan-arab-americans-gaza
All us Dems better hope this war gets over soon. The longer it goes on, the more it hurts Biden's chances in Nov.
Autumn
(48,448 posts)Kucinich? There's a name no one has heard in years.
brush
(61,033 posts)that name from out of the past came from.
TheKentuckian
(26,314 posts)Pepperidge Farm Lives!!!
TheKentuckian
(26,314 posts)that might conceivably be even hoped to respond differently, recollecting his US Department of Peace proposal.
TheKentuckian
(26,314 posts)to Israeli citizens?
canuckledragger
(1,992 posts)Can YOU support that the far right Israeli government will not pose a risk to innocent Palestinian civilians, no matter what excuse they use?
GuppyGal
(1,748 posts)TheKentuckian
(26,314 posts)DemocraticPatriot
(5,410 posts)They have obliterated Gaza, and inflicted nearly 20 times the casualties upon the Palestinian people as were inflicted upon Israel on October 7th....
TheKentuckian
(26,314 posts)Defense is not a game of tit for tat.
If the threat is still present then eliminating it is just as necessary as if the Palestinian toll was zero because that toll is not particularly germane to the premise of defense or the capacity of the threat.
Your point is meaningless.
DemocraticPatriot
(5,410 posts)Pffffffft.
Happy Hoosier
(9,136 posts). The threat remains. Its almost like having a terrorist organization as your government is a terrible idea.
Celerity
(52,545 posts)TomSlick
(12,755 posts)Hamas sees the death of civilians as a positive and, as a result, is using civilians as human shields. For Bibi, the death of Palestinian civilians is a feature and not a bug. While the rest of the world sees the scope of civilian casualties as unacceptable, the two combatants both see civilian casualties as a positive.
The US is obliged to support an ally that was the victim of a terrorist attack against civilians. At the same time, that ally is acting causing indiscriminate civilian casualties in Gaza and acting contrary to stated US policy in the West Bank.
There is no simple answer. Senator Sanders is being unhelpful in suggesting one exists.
B.See
(7,016 posts)Both Hamas and Netanyahu are authoritarian, extremist war mongers who each use their own people as cannon fodder.
Imo, the people, Palestinians and Israelis, would do well to drag them both before firing squads. Then broker a 2 state lasting peace.
DemocraticPatriot
(5,410 posts)Senator Sanders speaks for me. I do not support the use of my tax dollars towards a continuation of the slaughter of Palestinian civilians, whether its aim is to eliminate Hamas or not. Israel has certainly exercised a "just retaliation" by NOW...
If they want to kill more women and children (and perhaps a few Hamas fighters) in Gaza,
they can do it WITHOUT any of my money...
TomSlick
(12,755 posts)Senator Sanders knows his amendment will not get a serious consideration.
DemocraticPatriot
(5,410 posts)He did better than my 2 Democratic senators, in this instance.... who have been MUM
TomSlick
(12,755 posts)He is undercutting President Biden with Democratic voters who are rightly unhappy with Bibi's indiscriminate killing of Palestinian civilians but who wrongly believe that President Biden can control Bibi.
Despite Bibi's best efforts, Israel remains a democracy, a quite imperfect one but a democracy nevertheless. Only the Israeli people can stop Bibi. So far, the Israeli people are more concerned with the end of Hamas that with the death of Palestinian civilians.
Senator Sanders admits to no loyalty to the Democratic party. His only loyalty is to his ideology. If undercutting President Biden puts Trump in the White House and ends the democracy in this country, somebody had to say it.
DemocraticPatriot
(5,410 posts)who claim to be 'Democrats'. He has been quite gentle, but they happen to disagree on the Gaza war---
and I happen to disagree with President Biden's actions on the Gaza war, also...
Doesn't mean I won't vote for Biden in November, because I will.
Sorry but I always have strong suspicions that complaints against Sanders go back to 2016,
when many Democrats seemed to feel that NO ONE had any RIGHT
to run against Hillary--- and they blame his candidacy for her failures.
betsuni
(28,444 posts)People vote for Trump or don't vote because of Democratic "failures"? Like what, exactly?
betsuni
(28,444 posts)anything he said about Democrats before that? He's been very consistent. What was different?
Autumn
(48,448 posts)supplemental bill to stop Netanyahu from murdering more innocent people. That terror attack by Netanyahu's Hamas has been paid in blood by the overwhelming deaths of Palestine children.
LiberaBlueDem
(1,167 posts)You tell 'em
Beastly Boy
(13,283 posts)At this point, that would be the majority of the country.
DemocraticPatriot
(5,410 posts)but I would support that, YES...
even though that would be the meaning of 'grandstanding'---
merely a statement of opinion with no legal effect whatever.
MONEY BEING SPENT, however, is not without effect...
Beastly Boy
(13,283 posts)Bernie's resolution has a snowflake's chance in hell of passing.
Solidarity with Israel's left, or Israel's opposition to Netanyahu, however, is sorely missing from the entire Israel/Palestine discourse. This only reinforces Netanyahu's narrative and builds resentment of the global Left in Israel. Words have consequences, legal effect or not.
Autumn
(48,448 posts)looking out for Americans and our welfare. Your Netanyahu's war is losing support by Americans by the day.
Beastly Boy
(13,283 posts)If Bernie, or you, as Americans, are interested in getting rid of Netanyahu's war, and since Bernie, or you, can not vote him out of power, wouldn't it make sense to support those who can? Or if it doesn't make sense to you, what reason do you have to mention Netanyahu?
That reminds me: I don't think Netanyahu gives a shit about losing support by Americans as long as he stays in power. As you astutely implied, he is not American.
Sky Jewels
(9,148 posts)
Richard D
(10,018 posts). . that when Hamas, remaining undefeated, regroups and again goes on a Captagon-fueled rampage of murder, rape, torture, dismembering, burning alive, and kidnapping orgy in Israel, Sanders will take any responsibility?
Calculating
(3,000 posts)These guys just want Israel to lay down and take constant terror attacks.
canuckledragger
(1,992 posts)Richard D
(10,018 posts). . . others know it as truth.
canuckledragger
(1,992 posts)But claiming propaganda as truth is pretty low, and I'll not let that kind of gaslighting stand.
it's telling that comments like it are made any time someone brings up innocent Palestinian civilians being slaughtered by the far right Israeli government.
Richard D
(10,018 posts). . . what I wrote that is not true, other than the speculation that Hamas will follow their charter and attack Israel again.
canuckledragger
(1,992 posts)But I don't hear you calling out the slaughter of innocent Palestinians under the cover of 'hunting Hamas', while demolishing their homes, graveyards, etc. and building over them.
We all know THAT's the far right Israeli governments' real charter, and what they've been doing for decades, backed up by satellite footage, etc.
Richard D
(10,018 posts)But it does sound, at least how I am reading it, like you are rationalizing what Hamas did and trying to make it Israeli's fault.
But some topics for thought. Please note for me any you think are not true:
1. Hamas attacked Israel on Oct 7 and raped, murdered, burned, sexually tortured, beheaded, dismembered, and kidnapped Israeli citizens and other attendees at the Nova Festival.
2. This was after 17 years of little to no Israeli presence in Gaza.
3. This attack was unprovoked.
4. Hamas charter states in simple words that they will never negotiate, and their goal is the destruction of Israel, the killing of all Jews not only there but in the entire world.
5. Israel retaliated with the sole intent of destroying those who attacked her, e.g. Hamas.
6. Unlike any other country's response in the world and as far back as military history has been kept, The world has turned against Israel. It did not have conniptions when innocent Germans were killed in WWII, nor when innocent Japanese were killed. Both were aggressors, and both had to be taken all the way down. Now, they are members of the international community in excellent standing, by the way. (it may be worth it for people to ask themselves why this double standard exists for Israel. If you have trouble with that, I will gladly nudge you in the right direction.).
7. I could go on, but it's getting boring.
canuckledragger
(1,992 posts)Last edited Sat Feb 3, 2024, 12:46 AM - Edit history (1)
as again you completely ignore what I DID post about the innocent Palestinian civilians that caught in all this, and the far right Israeli governments' way overboard response specifically targeting them under the cover of 'they're all Hamas!!!!!@$@#!!!'
I Don't support Hamas in the least, nor do I support scapegoating civilians in retribution.
And you're right. defending the killing of civilians under the cover they 'might' be Hamas does get boring.
Richard D
(10,018 posts)You did call my initial post "a lot of propaganda." I don't think so. In fact, I know it is factual.
I don't think Israel is overboard. We don't know what is really going on there. Even the numbers come from Hamas. IDF says they have killed 10K Hamas. Of the "children," that is all under 18. Some 15-year-olds are fighting for Hamas. But yes, any innocent lies lost are tragedies. It is horrific that Hamas wants the civilians of Gaza to suffer and die.
canuckledragger
(1,992 posts)And you're right, we're not there, and don't know exactly what situation is.
but that doesn't seem to stop folks from making up whatever justifications in their own minds for killing innocent civilians in retribution for others actions.
Richard D
(10,018 posts)It's not about retribution. I'll say it again: It is not about retribution.
They say good things come in threes: It is not about retribution.
Clear?
canuckledragger
(1,992 posts)it IS about retribution. I'll say it again: It IS about retribution.
They say good things come in threes: It IS about retribution.
It doesn't matter how times this is lied about. Clear?
Richard D
(10,018 posts). . . but we're down to nya nya nay and I do not see a willingness to consider a different viewpoint.
So, have a good day, though I would suggest you take the opportunity to really explore your knee jerk the Jews are bad stuff. Do recall, and I know for many antisemites, er, antizionists, history started on October 8. I had to go through a process . . . if someone were going to attack my family, did attack y family in the most horrible and brutal way possible, what would I do to prevent, say, any child from being raped until her pelvic bones were shattered? Getting nails driven into her things while being raped. Having her breasts cut off and played with by scum. paraded through the streets naked while being spin on, and those are just the things we can know about.
Please remember, history didn't start on October 8.
Richard D
(10,018 posts)Do you believe that the Allied Forces should not have attacked and defeated Nazi Germany in WWII because innocent civilians would be killed?
Added on edit: The last thing I want to say about this is that I hold that if a cease-fire is forced on Israel, Hamas/ISIS will regroup and eventually make October 7 look like a warm-up exercise. They, in their own words, do not want peace with Israel. They, in their own words, want only to kill all Jews everywhere. A cease-fire will only serve to enable this to happen.
canuckledragger
(1,992 posts)And just because someone doesn't like the idea of innocent civilians being slaughtered in retribution for others' actions doesn't make one an 'antisemite'.
Please remember, the far right Israeli government has been at this for decades now.
But you're right in another sense...and I don't see a willingness to acknowledge atrocities of innocent victims because some consider them 'the enemy'. it's a very one-sided outlook that makes one prone to demonizing inncents and anyone that stands up for them.
this is a the 2nd time you've accused me of things I haven't done and tried to change to subject.
JustAnotherGen
(37,254 posts)All of your posts on this thread. A good way to explain it is to compare Hamas to the Klu Klux Klan. Same charter - different targets and country.
Is it propaganda to say - "the KKK never really goes away - they just rebrand and regroup"? I mean, those terrorist assholes have been raping, murdering, and dehumanizing for about 150 years. They even have similar grievances to Hamas.
Richard D
(10,018 posts)These seem such difficult ideas for people to grasp. I just don't get it.
Butterflylady
(4,580 posts)Cutting electric and water to Gaza is definitely an Israeli presence
No#4
Israel has already shown the extent that it will not let that
happen again by killing a huge part of the population and destroying most of there homes.
No#5
Netanyahu had accomplished that in the months following the attack. Now it's just vengeance killing.
No#6
Israel has a most good economy so not everyone has turned against them. As a country they seem to doing quite well. There is no double standard.
No#7
Killing is not boring to me.
Netanyahu has gotten what he wants which is no Palestinian state and no Palestinian people.
He is partly to blame and there is doubt about it.
tritsofme
(19,585 posts)GuppyGal
(1,748 posts)canuckledragger
(1,992 posts)despite your attempts to lie about it, like some others.
DemocraticPatriot
(5,410 posts)Never seen such a word before.
Celerity
(52,545 posts)Fenethylline is a codrug of amphetamine and theophylline and a prodrug to both. It is also spelled phenethylline and fenetylline; other names for it are amphetaminoethyltheophylline and amfetyline. The drug was marketed for use as a psychostimulant under the brand names Captagon, Biocapton, and Fitton. It is now illegal in most countries and is produced primarily for illicit use. Syria is considered to be the world's largest producer of the drug, accounting for about 80% of the global supply.
DemocraticPatriot
(5,410 posts)I have not kept up with names of drugs, since I ceased to partake of any but alcohol and nicotine....
Celerity
(52,545 posts)https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/captagon-drug-fuelling-gulf-party-scene-syrias-finances-2023-05-09/
BEIRUT, May 9 (Reuters) - From bloody frontlines to buzzing construction sites and even high-end parties, the amphetamine commonly known as captagon - has entrenched itself in the Middle East.
Curbing the captagon trade has become a key demand by Arab states seeking to restore ties with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, whose government is accused of benefiting from the trade.
Here is a look at the drug's history and current use..........
LeftInTX
(34,006 posts)Richard D
(10,018 posts)High on Captagon and Antisemitism: Everything About The ISIS Drug Used by Hamas
In the wake of the October 7 Hamas assault, reports began surfacing that the terrorists had taken the stimulant captagon, which is used to improve performance and lessen inhibitions. Made mainly in Syria, the drug is known as poor mans cocaine
Nov 21, 2023
Shortly after Hamas murdered over 1,200 Israelis in Gaza border communities on October 7, reports began surfacing that the terrorists had been given the drug captagon to enhance their performance and lessen inhibitions.
The idea that the banned psychostimulant which also goes by the names fenethylline, Biocapton and Fitton may have been used by the attackers has led to feverish speculation among journalists and on social media. Experts, though, are warning against this diverting attention away from the monstrosity of the terror groups actions.
More:
https://www.haaretz.com/haaretz-explains/2023-11-21/ty-article-magazine/.premium/high-on-captagon-and-antisemitism-everything-about-the-isis-drug-used-by-hamas/0000018b-f230-d558-a3eb-f73face80000
Autumn
(48,448 posts)him free rein to keep Hamas in power and ignoring their own intelligence that warned them what was going to happen.
iamthebandfanman
(8,127 posts)Arazi
(8,431 posts)Israel doesnt need our military weapons to conduct their war (note that Sanders deliberately specifies only military hardware.)
Wed still provide resources for the Iron Dome.
Wed still provide $$ for Israels intel and espionage programs that we rely on.
Wed still provide economic perks for the only democracy in the region.
Ive said before I support this move BUT folks should know this diminishes our influence over Netanyahu and it wont significantly impact Israels war (other than make it worse for Gazans who will endure more dumb bombs and less restraint by the IDF forces).
It might help Bidens position with the propaganda addled left who cant be bothered to learn what Biden has already done/continues to do. I doubt it tho since the pro-Pal group always moves the goalposts but! atm anything that might move a few of them back into his corner is a win
tritsofme
(19,585 posts)You have to remember, these people are idiots.
Mountainguy
(2,145 posts)These people weren't voting for him anyway.
They are mostly far-left anti-democrats who are still mad that Biden is president in the first place.
leftstreet
(37,592 posts)TexasDem69
(2,317 posts)And is taking a position that is inconsistent with that of our president? This is Democratic Underground.
Richard D
(10,018 posts)David__77
(24,483 posts)JustAnotherGen
(37,254 posts)"Fuck Hillary Clinton!" a few years ago. She has no respect for Boomer women who opened doors for us.
Some things you can't unhear.
Response to TexasDem69 (Reply #30)
Post removed
JohnSJ
(98,883 posts)elephant in the room, and that has not gone away in the guise of Cornell West who is running as an independent candidate, who only can hurt Joe Biden in the 2024 general election because of the way our elections are run by states through the electoral college, and not through a majority of the populous.
It doesnt take much either.
In 2016 in every critical swing state Hillary lost by less than 1% while Jill Stein received 1% of the vote in those critical swing states.
JustAnotherGen
(37,254 posts)If we rise . . . Three of those people who lose their source of income.
They survive financially when we remain in financial struggle.
We aren't Sirota's target demographic. I'm no use to him? He's no use to me! So no comment other than that. Like - I can't relate to that person at all.
JohnSJ
(98,883 posts)to influence an election outcome because of the way the electoral college electors are assigned to states.
Some polls have indicated up to 20% of African Americans would vote for trump, and even more Hispanics.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/09/19/trump-poll-support-black-hispanic/
I am not sure I believe those numbers.
Not supporting Biden I might see, but actually voting for trump makes no sense
JustAnotherGen
(37,254 posts)If you ask the average 30 year old black American who Corny is - they are like "Who?". Now split it between men and women . . .
Ask those women if they know who Kamala Harris is.
Black women? We aren't voting for Trump. 30 or 90 or 18 -
That's not a thing.
Important
radius777
(3,921 posts)stated in her NYT column:
25.01.2024 | Michelle Goldberg
America must face up to Israels extremism
The resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza is slowly becoming a key official policy of the Israeli government
Two far-right members of Israels Cabinet the national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and the finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich caused an international uproar this week with their calls to depopulate the Gaza Strip. If in Gaza there will be 100 000 or 200 000 Arabs and not two million, the entire conversation on the day after will look different, said Smotrich, who called for most civilians in Gaza to be resettled in other countries. The war, said Ben-Gvir, presents an opportunity to concentrate on encouraging the migration of the residents of Gaza, facilitating Israeli settlement in the region.
...
But its not clear, because were writing a blank check to a government whose leader is only a bit more coy than Ben-Gvir and Smotrich about his intentions for Gaza. According to The Times of Israel, Netanyahu told a Likud faction he is searching for countries that residents of the Gaza Strip can be sent to. Our problem, he reportedly said, is finding countries that are willing to absorb Gazans, and we are working on it. The newspaper reported that the voluntary resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza is slowly becoming a key official policy of the government, with a senior official saying that Israel has held talks with several countries for their potential absorption.
...
Pro-Israel Democrats want to back a war to remove Hamas from Gaza. But increasingly, it looks as if America is underwriting a war to remove Gazans from Gaza. Experts in international law can debate whether the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza can be classified as genocidal, as South Africa is claiming at the International Court of Justice, or as some lesser type of war crime. But whatever you want to call attempts to thin out Gazas population as Hebrew newspaper Israel Hayom described an alleged Netanyahu proposal the United States is implicated in them.
...
AloeVera
(3,866 posts)'Been saying this for months and got laughed out of the forum by a few stalwart Israel defenders.
Of COURSE this was the goal ALL ALONG.
This is why Gaza has been destroyed. Not human shields (ridiculous), not tunnels, not scary but non-existent command and control centres under hospitals, not scary not any other excuse for the mass killing and destruction.
Simply to make it inevitable and necessary that Gazans could no longer live there because everything sustaining human life and society has been destroyed.
How can this be denied now?
no_hypocrisy
(53,423 posts)Another public statement that the Republicans in the House agree with his stance as they refuse to provide funds to Israel.
BannonsLiver
(19,767 posts)As it should be.
David__77
(24,483 posts)lindysalsagal
(22,760 posts)is an amendment the right way to handle foreign relations? There is a tremendous amount of history and information most people aren't privy to. We have to trust our state-work to the heads of state. That's the point of government.
I have no idea how we should handle this except that it won't help to get involved in a war that's about invisible sky gods that's gone on for thousands of years.
WarGamer
(18,027 posts)War is war and Sanders doesn't like it.
He was against Shrub doing it, Putin doing it and the IDF doing it.
I've never seen him pumping his fist and singing Lee Greenwood to war news.