Bernie is about what we can expect to get if we want to keep the
current government, with a slight socialist leaning. His foreign
positions are more moderate than were those of Hilary Clinton, but
Bernie is not going to risk the wrath of the Pentagon and the War
Industry.
As for those who think there was no injustice in plumping the flag of
Israel down in a Land occupied by Palestinians, they most assuredly
accept the grabbing of the North American continent by the Europeans
as God's Will.
As for their studied opinions? I could care less!
Carl Jarvis
On 7/27/19, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I was also very disappointed in Robert Scheer, whose positions on issues I
usually agree with, when, during his interview with Abby Martin about her
Empire Files new film on Gaza, which is on the latest episode of Scheer
Intelligence, He could not understand why there was any injustice involved
in the creation of the State of Israel on Palestinian land. His position is
that young people who weren't alive during World War 2, can't truly
understand why Jewish people needed their own homeland and how left wing
and
socialist, Israel was back then. Well yes, that's what we all thought back
then, but I'm the same age as he and I managed to understand what actually
happened. I've read Ben Gurion's plans written in the 30's, to take over
all
of Palestine.
Miriam
Why is Bernie Sanders still encouraging Israel's crimes?
Ali Abunimah Power Suits 22 July 2019
Senator Bernie Sanders says he would "probably not" move the US embassy in
Israel back from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv.
This will disappoint supporters of Palestinian rights and it sends a
dangerous signal of encouragement to Israel and its extremist supporters
who
run US policy in the region.
President Donald Trump recognized Israel's claim to Jerusalem as its
capital
and announced the embassy move in December 2017.
This prompted a large majority of countries in the United Nations General
Assembly to declare Trump's action legally "null and void" and to demand
that it be "rescinded."
Ignoring international opinion, the US opened the embassy on 14 May 2018.
That same day, Israeli sharpshooters massacred more than 60 Palestinians
during unarmed Great March of Return protests in the besieged Gaza Strip.
But Sanders appears ready to let Trump's illegal action stand.
Sanders was speaking in an interview with journalist Robert Costa at a
Washington Post event last week sponsored by Bank of America.
Watch it above.
No clear commitment
Costa asked Sanders if he would move the embassy back. Sanders replied:
"Probably not," adding, "it would be part of a broader discussion of how we
bring peace to the region."
"Israel, 100 percent, must have the right to exist in peace and security,
and not be subjected to terrorist attacks," Sanders said. "Palestinian
people also have the right to live in peace and security."
Sanders made a general commitment to engage in "bringing people together
and
working out a solution that works for both sides," but offered no
specifics.
He did not repeat his pledge to use US military aid as leverage to force
Israel to end its abuses of Palestinians.
Sanders' failure to send a clear signal that he will reverse US support for
illegal Israeli actions tells Israel and the US administration that any
fait
accompli they put in place will eventually be recognized and absorbed as
irreversible conventional wisdom.
Trump has already recognized Israel's illegal annexation of the occupied
Golan Heights, Syrian territory Israel conquered in a war of territorial
expansion in 1967.
The US also appears to be heading towards recognizing a possible Israeli
annexation of all or part of the occupied West Bank.
US officials have given open support to Israel's ethnic cleansing of
occupied East Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood.
This is part of Israel's effort to remake Jerusalem's past, present and
future as exclusively Jewish by erasing its Muslim, Christian, Arab and
Palestinian histories and character.
Israel's destruction of Palestinian homes in the city is escalating
sharply.
On Monday, Israeli occupation forces went on a rampage of destruction,
demolishing 10 Palestinian-owned buildings containing dozens of apartments
in the Jerusalem-area village of Sur Bahir.
A step backwards
Sanders is the de facto leader of the progressive wing of the Democrats.
His
failure to pledge to oppose and reverse illegal actions by Israel and the
United States also tells other party hopefuls that they need not take clear
and principled positions on Palestinian rights.
Most Democrats are making cautious rhetorical nods to the party's
increasingly pro-Palestinian base. But Sanders is the only one who has
pledged a clear shift in policy by using military aid as leverage to
pressure Israel to respect Palestinians' rights.
The Vermont senator has a decidedly mixed record on Palestinian rights. He
stated his opposition to the nonviolent boycott, divestment and sanctions
movement while speaking out against legislation backed by the Israel lobby
aimed at thwarting BDS.
In 2014, Sanders notoriously defended Israel's assault on Gaza that killed
2,200 Palestinians, including 550 children.
By 2018, however, Sanders was putting out videos highlighting the horrific
impact of Israel's siege and violence against Palestinians in Gaza.
That was a clear sign that Sanders is feeling grassroots pressure to
support
Palestinian rights.
But now he is taking a big step backwards. His "probably not" answer
effectively gives progressive blessing and encouragement to Israel and the
Trump administration to violate more Palestinian rights.
Progressives must not overlook this serious lapse in the hopes that it will
somehow help the senator build broader support for other policies they
want,
such as Medicare for All.
Healthcare for Americans cannot come at the expense of Palestinian rights
and lives.
Sanders must be clear that he will reverse the embassy move, rescind US
recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, cancel US recognition of
Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights and end the bipartisan policy of
financing, encouraging and rewarding Israel's crimes.
