Rashida Tlaib is getting blowback for urging Michigan Democratic primary voters to cast their ballots as “uncommitted” rather than for Joe Biden. But if voters take issue with Biden’s support for Israel’s assault on Gaza, that’s no one’s fault but his own.
No, actually I'm going to blame Israel, and specifically Netanyahu and his settler and genocidal fans.
Biden is between a rock and a hard place, no answer he chooses is actually ideal. That just happens sometimes in real life, which is not always easy. Sometimes every answer has some bad consequences.
I fail to see how Israel or Netanyahu has any leverage over the USA to simply not veto a UN resolution that all other Western countries either support or abstain on.
A US vote against (without veto) or an abstention is entirely within his power to do.
Also, sidestepping Congress to deliver military aid to Israel is also not something that can be blamed on anyone else than Biden.
I blame Israel because they're the ones doing the killing. People like to point at us "enabling them", and don't get me wrong, I do not approve of the weapon shipments anymore. However, I am aware that if we cut them off, or if we passed the UN resolutions, the killing would not stop.
You do not need thousand pound bombs and 155mm artillery ammo to kill civilians, there are many, many ways to do that, most being even more brutal and indiscriminate.
The UN resolutions so far have been empty words. They "call for" a ceasefire, without actually putting anything in place to force one. Netanyahu is not going to listen to UN finger-wagging, so these would decrease what little leverage we have over Netanyahu without stopping the killing.
All the proposed "solutions" so far would simply remove US culpability, we would be less guilty. However, they would not actually save Gazan lives. Only an actual, enforced cease fire can do that. For that, you have to convince Netanyahu to stop. Somehow. Any ideas on how to actually do that?
To stop Netanyahu, the first step is to adopt a UN resolution.
They will probably stop as soon as US support wavers.
If not, the next step is sanctions.
That's how South-African Apartheid was ended, and it is also how Israeli Apartheid will end, once the USA gets its act together.
Even more than South-Africa, Israel is totally dependent on American and European aid and investment.
So yes, Biden and other uncritical American supporters of Israel are the main obstacle to peace. Trump will probably not be better, but Biden has the power to stop the current massacre.
Israel is totally dependent on American and European aid and investment.
That seems to be the central point your argument hinges on. Any actual evidence for that? Because they trade with more than just the US and Europe. India and Israel have ties, just as one example. They also have domestic military manufacturing and a robust tech industry. Their tanks are not our Abrams for instance, they use their own, called Merkavas.
Otherwise your belief that the US can just make them stop seems to be based on just a hunch, or maybe something someone told you, or wishful thinking or something. I don't see the reality of it, beyond what certain propagandists say.
I think sanctions are the exact answer, that's reasonable.
If all your BDS is aimed at the US and Europe though, you're not actually stopping Israel. You're just attacking the west. Which is fine, people can support that if they want. But it's not saving Gazans unless you're pressuring other Israeli trading partners too.
We're actually doing something to save Gazan lives, even if it's behind-the-scenes, and complicated. Not just empty words in the UN, which implemented sanctions against South Africa, I'll remind you, not some empty, toothless "please end apartheid, k thx bye".
I just believe in results, and I don't fall for empty political stunts under the guise of "first steps". Netanyahu believes in power. So, power is what needs to be used against him. Economic leverage should be enough. Empty words and "first steps" are crap though. Bullshit. Hogwash. Political stunts to fool people, from the same countries that refuse to accept Palestinian refugees. We do accept some, by the way, barely any at all, but at least we take some.