how to participate in political theatre
its always been really obvious who considers genocide just another day in US foreign policy and who considers it a red line but it's really disappointing to see how easy it has been for democrats to exploit the idea of "palestinian rights or your rights? shut up about genocide or vote for trump?"
this is a false dichotomy. you are under no obligation to perpetuate it. vote for whoever you want but don't say say the biden administration supports a ceasefire because this is disinformation
white house propaganda #1: kamala has called for a ceasefire
since january the white house has rebranded a "humanitarian pause" as a ceasefire
joe biden has called for "a ceasefire" since february
in may joe biden said rafah was a red line and the US would not support the invasion of rafah (rafah has since been invaded and destroyed, after which netanyahu was invited to congress)
in early may the white house proposed a three-step plan to an actual ceasefire, which israel rejected and then killed the hamas leader they were negotiating with
the white house has not been forthcoming about israel being the one rejecting the ceasefire, nor israel's escalation within the region
the white house has not been forthcoming about the contradiction between "calling for a ceasefire" and continued weapons shipments to the people preventing a ceasefire
as such, the repeated calls for "ceasefire," just like the articles about biden's strongly worded calls to netanyahu, are political threatre to pacify the masses that have allowed a genocide to continue for ten months unabated. insofar, kamala's call for ceasefire is exactly the same as biden's call for ceasefire.
white house propaganda #2: the biden admin has actually stopped sending offensive weapons to israel
literally untrue: the US paused ONE shipment of 2,000 pound bombs and some 500 pound bombs in may after denouncing a potential rafah invasion, then resumed the 500 pound bombs in july after the invasion occurred with multiple massacres
a 3.5 billion military aid package was sent on august 9th, 2024, to be spent on pretty much whatever israel wants
previously imposed symbolic "sanctions" on only one unit of the IDF accused of crimes against humanity was overturned
imposed "sanctions" on 7 (seven!) extremist settlers were clarified to make sure they still had access to their assets
the biden admin opposed ICC warrants on israel as early as 2021, leading to consistent delays in the ICC doing its job, and rejected the announcement for warrants in 2024, which have still not been actually sought due to the US continuing to exert pressure against the ICC
the white house also criticized the advisory finding from the international court of justice that israel is an apartheid state
the white house has vetoed multiple security council resolutions calling for a ceasefire in gaza
the white house vetoed resolutions calling for the admission of palestine as a member state
the white house also called the case for genocide at the ICJ "unfounded" although the ICJ did find sufficient evidence for genocide and had imposed provisionary measures (which israel did not fulfill)
the white house has reaffirmed full backing for israel "against iran" even after its escalatory assassinations of both lebanese and palestinian political leaders, and deployed more troops, aircraft carriers, and missile cruisers to the middle east in august
therefore, while the biden admin acknowledges that israel stands in the way of a ceasefire, they are not pressuring israel to stop and instead providing both diplomatic immunity and military support to its escalatory actions in the region
white house propaganda #3: the US can't control israel, it acts on its own, and kamala can't do anything about it
once again, reagan ended the israeli invasion of lebanon with a single phone call to menachem begin, where he intentionally said "it looks like a holocaust"
since obama, every single US president has been fostering and empowering increasingly extremist elements within israel, moreso than republicans who came before them, including bush(!!)
while trump moved the capital to jerusalem, defunded UNRWA, and approved annexation of the west bank, biden... did not move the capital back, also defunded the UNRWA, and has overseen the largest theft of west bank territory since the peace process began, as well as delisting kahanist terrorists from the terror list after they joined netanyahu's cabinet.
how much does israel actually rely on US weaponry? that's impossible to tell, but national security correspondent greg myre told NPR:
The IDF is a primarily American-equipped military. Most soldiers probably still have the M-16s. And there are certain kinds of artillery and guided rocket systems that Israel produces, but, again, most of it is American. Tanks are actually made in Israel but with an American engine, and aircraft are American. These are American-made systems. [...] So Israel has its own advanced military technology. It's been a leader in drone warfare. The Iron Dome system, we noted, was developed jointly between the U.S. and Israel. A lot of cyber systems have military applications. But when it comes to the hardware - planes, artillery, guns - it does rely heavily on the U.S.
the US might not have as much influence on israel as it used to (and certainly israel would like to think so) but in the most basic compliance with international law the US can halt weapons shipments and recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC and ICJ, ending the diplomatic immunity it affords israel in the international arena to continue its genocide of gaza.
the UK is hardly much better, but it has withdrawn its intention to block the ICC warrants for israeli leaders and it has resumed funding the UNRWA, two low bar concessions that the US has refused.
these are regular political maneuvers. your civil rights should not be held hostage so the US can protect israel. it makes no sense for democrats to frame it that way while also claiming to want a ceasefire.
if kamala wants a ceasefire, why isn't she agreeing with the pro-palestine movement? their demands are all things that are in-line with wanting a ceasefire. an arms embargo is the natural step to a ceasefire, because you cannot say you want a ceasefire and then send 3.5 billion in military aid to the people who assassinated the negotiators for a ceasefire.
if kamala wants a ceasefire, and you want to vote for kamala, then you should encourage her to take the steps towards a ceasefire. otherwise you are running cover for genocide, just as biden's admin has been doing. your civil rights are not based on continued support for palestinian genocide, and they shouldn't be. to pretend otherwise is a betrayal of all the civil rights activists in the US, who knew that US foreign policy, from the war in vietnam to the iraq war, were unjust imperial wars, and they opposed them unconditionally, regardless of who was perpetrating this war.
politicians lie, but you don't have to.
