Why is Biden helpless to do what any decent person would do and call for an end to Israel’s apocalyptic destruction and massacres in Gaza? Because he worries about losing the organized Jewish community’s support.
The Israeli ambassador to the U.S. spouts propaganda on CNN about Israeli aims in Gaza, and Dana Bash thanks the ambassador for taking time out of his busy schedule to come on the set.
As Israel’s kill-count in Gaza tops 12,000, including 5,000 children, Biden sinks further into a “moral abyss,” calling this a war for “democracy.” Our leaders are cracking down on opposition to the war, and trying to push the story under the carpet. But consciousness is rising in the Democratic base, including vigorous antiwar demonstrations.
Former ambassador Tom Nides quit his banking job last month to work as an Israel lobbyist but he can’t even convince his own kids. “They’re for the perceived underdog,” he told PBS.
Everyone from the Congress to the Harvard president is obsessing about a fantasy of genocide — the claim that the chant “From the river to the sea” is a call for Jewish extermination, while ignoring the actual genocide unfolding in Gaza.
Jewish thinkers have long warned that Israel’s dependence on western Jews’ political support to gain impunity for its human rights abuses could contribute to antisemitism in the U.S. and even make Jews’ lives “precarious.”
There were indications this week that evidence of Israeli genocide in Gaza is breaking in on the American mind, including the historic pro-Palestine demonstration in D.C. — and can things ever be the same?
Israel had convinced the U.S. that Palestine as an issue was no longer an obstacle to normalization. But October 7 shattered Israel’s image of military might, raising doubts about its abilities to protect U.S. strategic interests.
Palestinians are desperate for international intervention to end Israel’s ongoing onslaught and siege. President Biden calls for a pause over concern for Israeli captives, as Gaza death toll surpasses 9,000.
As Israel experiences its greatest crisis in 50 years, the Israel lobby has risen to the occasion. But despite its best efforts, the lobby is now up against foes it has never had before, and that in the long run will defeat it.