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Report: Biden personally intervened to get the word ‘occupation’ removed from the Democratic Party platform

A report from Foreign Policy claims that Joe Biden personally intervened to make sure the word “occupation” was omitted from the Democratic Party platform.

According to three sources familiar with the discussions, Biden’s move came after heavy pressure from pro-Israel groups. Aides of the presumptive Democratic nominee also called progressive delegates and encouraged them to drop the demand for occupation language.

Last month, the Democratic National Committee overwhelmingly rejected a motion to condition aid to Israel and add the word “occupation” to the platform. The vote was 34-117. As Josh Ruebner reported at Mondoweiss, the proposed motion was actually a watered down version of a stronger amendment that had been authored by Palestinian-American delegates.

Eight Palestinian-American DNC delegates sent a letter to the platform committee, drawing attention to the fact they were cut out of the drafting process while pro-Israel voices were openly welcomed. “Expressing unwavering support for a country that continues to thumb its nose at international law while it steals Palestinian land, entrenches apartheid, and denies our families’ basic human rights is unacceptable. It is unacceptable to us; it is unacceptable to a growing majority of the Democratic Party; and it should be unacceptable to every American who aims for true freedom, justice, human rights, and democracy,” it reads.

In recent weeks, Biden has faced pressure from antiwar groups looking for a more progressive foreign policy from the former vice president. A letter criticizing Biden’s hawkish inner circle has been signed by over 275 Democratic delegates, almost all of them supporters of Bernie Sanders.

The Foreign Policy piece quotes Arab American Institute co-founder, and 2016 Democratic platform committee delegate, James Zogby on the omission. “I’m baffled by the refusal to put the word ‘occupation,’ this is the first time we have mentioned the word ‘settlement’ and the first time we have called for an independent, viable Palestinian state. It’s a better platform, but it’s 30 years behind the times. No votes to lose by mentioning the word ‘occupation,'”, he told the publication.

You can read the entire piece at Foreign Policy’s website.

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Truly. the more things change, the more they remain the same.

What the F*** are such as Biden afraid of? Why give such as AIPAC, Saban and so on, this much power over American politics, political decisions?

Money needs to be removed – on every front – from US politics. Totally. NO money, no influence, no political power.

Yes, there will be potential politicos – at all levels – who are, individually genuinely pro-zionist. But without the big $$$ behind them, to defeat their opponents, fewer of the “bow the head supporters” might well be voted into office and therefore fewer able to continue to support “Israel’s” atrocities on Palestinians.

Of ccourse, it is not the only reason that money needs to be removed from US elections, at all levels, but most particularly at the national one. It = Corruption, Bribery…

And – the Occupation DID NOT begin in 1967. This is an outright lie and obfuscation of the truth. It deliberately hides the reality of the Nakba – the whole point of the Dem (blue face) 1967 exercise, of course.

The Occupation began – in reality in 1917 and in violent, murderous reality in 1948 (the decision having already been made well before that year).

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Re: Joe Biden & the Israel lobby:
https://israelpalestinenews.org/world-jewish-congress-billionaires-oligarchs-global-influencers-for-israel/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily+Updates

“World Jewish Congress: Billionaires, Oligarchs, Global Influencers for Israel”

“Billionaires, Russian oligarchs, Ukrainian ambassadors, international financiers, the Rothschilds, & glitterati of all sorts gathered at the 2019 gala for the World Jewish Congress.”

EXCERPTS:
“The World Jewish Congress (WJC), which calls itself ‘The Representative Body of over 100 Jewish Communities Worldwide,’ held its annual gala at the Pierre hotel in New York City on Nov. 6.
“It bestowed its annual Theodor Herzl Award (named after Israel’s founding father) on former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley for her work on behalf of Israel. Some previous awardees have been Joe Biden & Henry Kissinger.” (cont’d)

2 of 2
Re: Joe Biden and the Israel lobby:

“One of the WJC’s main issues is support for Israel. Among its many activities in this realm, it collaborates with the Israeli government to defend Israel from criticisms of its human rights abuses and discriminatory system.

“The WJC defines many factual statements about Israel to be ‘antisemitic,’ and labels legitimate opposition to Israeli violence and oppression against Palestinians ‘antisemitism.’ As a result, its top issue, combating ‘antisemitism,’ often consists of efforts to suppress information about Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and to combat efforts on behalf of Palestinian human rights.”

It is disheartening to keep voting for these politicians who are beholden to Israel, AIPAC, and zionist campaign donors. Once again, we have to vote for the lesser of the two evils.