‘Stop It Now’: Jill Biden Privately Urges an End to Conflict in Gaza
‘Stop It Now’: Jill Biden Privately Urges an End to Conflict in Gaza
The president recounted the first lady’s concerns as he was pressed about the war at a meeting with Muslim community members.
She should tell her husband to stop doing end arounds on congress and stop shipping weapons to Israel.
Jill, have you considered using the power of the wife and not letting him have any… ice cream?
Fuck Israel.
Serious question- what could\would Biden do to end the conflict?
Even if the president could somehow by executive order alone withdraw all material support from Israel, or even threatened to- do people think Netanyahu would just say 'uncle' and just pull out and let aide into Gaza because the US said so?
I dunno, let's try. Biden's problem is less that he can't stop Israel and more that he's not even trying. Even if he shut off the tap and they continued without missing a beat, that at least removes him as a supporter of the genocide.
Also, Israel has stopped wars before because the American president told them to. Hell, Biden himself has exercised this influence.
In May 2021, Israel bombed the strip for 11 straight days, killing more than 100 Palestinians, including 66 children. Over that same period, Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups in Gaza fired more than 4,000 rockets at Israel, killing 14 civilians. Then as now, Netanyahu rejected calls for a ceasefire – from Hamas, as well as from France, Egypt and Jordan.
But guess who he couldn’t reject? Yes, the president of the United States. “We need to accomplish more,” pleaded Netanyahu when Biden called him on 19 May, according to the journalist Franklin Foer. The president’s response? “Hey, man, we are out of runway here. It’s over.”
Two days later, a ceasefire was announced. And, less than a month later, the Israeli prime minister had been ejected from office.
He can veto bills funding Israel and the current aid Israel is getting is through executive powers passed previously.
There are also laws on the books that disallow aid to countries with human rights violations that are easy to invoke.
Biden can also unilaterally put sanctions/tariffs on Israel.
There's no somehow about it, he can stop funding today.
And will that do something? Almost certainly because the US is Israel's largest supporter (by a long shot). Bebe can, of course, ignore this. However, that'd destroy Israel's economy.
do people think Netanyahu would just say ‘uncle’
No, but if their national security was contingent on it I do think the Israelis would suddenly work out a way to get rid of Netanyahu after all.
Nothing
The current Israeli government (made up of a bunch of religious fanatics and fascists) is very unpopular, the only thing keeping them in power is the war. Also, the war itself is extremely popular in Israel.
This government has already made moves which seriously hurt Israel's democracy, economy and security, months before the war even started.
As the commander in chief he already has the power to stop arms transfers. Full stop. This is legally justified by laws on the books that America cannot be complicit in genocide, which is clearly what’s happening in Gaza.
With America applying pressure and cooperating with the UN, peacekeeping troops could be on the ground in a matter of days to prevent further civilian casualties and ensure an end to the famine. Bibi is a genocidal maniac, but I’m not sure he’d risk slaughtering NATO troops, as that’s quite a step beyond aid workers.
So yeah, Biden single handedly does have the power to end this bloodshed. Will he? Hell no. Biden has proven many times throughout his career he is an extreme Zionist. He’s on Bibi’s side, which is why the US state dept is going to such great lengths to provide Israel cover.
Serious question- what could\would Biden do to end the conflict?
Stop selling them weapons.
He barely mentioned conditioning support and they said they'll let in aid. Netanyahu depends on US support to wage his genocide. You refuse to even call it a genocide, which explains why you're pretending that Biden's hands are tied.
I'm with you. And anyone who seriously considers that hypothetical should think long and hard about how the rest of the region would respond if we suddenly stopped arming Israel. Imagine what Iran would do on day 1 if they woke up to a headline that said, "US cuts support for Israel."
I see that scenario ending catastrophically.
Maybe they shouldn't provoke everyone else in the region then.
Israel bombed an Iranian Embassy--and Iran is just expected to shrug it off? No we can't possibly think of cutting military support to the country literally using their military to commit a genocide and attack it's neighbors. Its neighbors might fight back and that would be bad!
Israel is behaving like the school yard bully whose "Dad is a lawyer!" except in this case their dad is also an enabler.
It would also be a huge boost for countries like Russia and China. Both strategically, and as a new customer for weapons.
It's interesting how Biden's now going in circles on this issue. Seems like he's getting pressure from everyone within his own party...
Biden is going to either be remembered for guiding neoliberalism into a graceful retirement or propping it up until it catastrophically collapses.
"Where were you when nothing happened?"
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Salima Suswell, the founder of the Black Muslim Leadership Council, recounted the scene in an interview, adding that she had scribbled down the president’s statements because it was so striking to hear that the first lady felt strongly about the conflict.
Mr. Biden has faced growing alarm among other Democrats about his support for the war, as well as letters of internal dissent, including objections from officials at some 40 government agencies.
A person who attended a White House function during the winter of 2022 was surprised at the first lady’s emotional response to someone praising the legacy of President George W. Bush: “He sent my son to war,” Dr. Biden replied angrily, a reference to Beau, whom she had raised since childhood.
On Tuesday, Mr. Biden’s remarks to the group came as he released a statement saying that he was outraged by the deaths of seven aid workers with the World Central Kitchen killed by Israeli airstrikes on Monday night.
At other events that month, in Wisconsin and Vermont, people gathered outside of Democratic Party offices and homes of donors to protest American support for the war.
A keynote address on March 23 that Dr. Biden delivered at a Human Rights Campaign dinner in Los Angeles was interrupted by a group of people who jumped up from their seats and began shouting “cease-fire now.”
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So harebrained question here - what if Biden cuts off Israel right before Nov, so that he can launder himself using the 24 hours news cycle, but so that a lack of AIPAC funds will not make a difference?
Edit: apparently I can't spell Bined
I love our government, you can always count on things getting done once every 4-8 years, for a few months. And the other 3-7 years might be devoid of positive change, but at least we don't hear about the new and exciting ways they're giving more power to the powerful!
It's like you had a friend you've known a long time that's a known arsonist. You take way too long to condemn him, but at the same time you're still giving him matches...
Maybe she should divorce her husband like Melinda Gates did when she found out he was doing bad stuff.