Kevin Balch Posted August 20 Share Posted August 20 2 hours ago, W. Niederhut said: It would be political suicide for either party platform to endorse an arms embargo on Israel. A handful of Progressive Democrats, including Bernie Sanders, have called for an arms embargo this year, and two of them-- Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush-- have been primaried and defeated this year. Incidentally, I started a forum thread about this same Rick Sterling article last December, and we had a lengthy discussion about it. At the time, the civilian death toll in Gaza was 20,000. Now it's 40,000 + The only way to know for sure a politician is honest is if they openly advocate defunding of Israel. There is no political upside for this as it makes the third rail of social security look like it uses a hearing aid battery. Any politician who supports Israel, regardless of party or ideology, will eventually throw his base under the bus when their interests conflict with those of Israel. Every damn time. The only exceptions I know of in recent history are Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich, Jamal Bowman, Corrie Bush. If any organization other than AIPAC spearheaded the effort of defeating Bowman and Bush, they would be excoriated as racists. Note: Bernie Sanders and AOC will never call for a defunding of Israel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W. Niederhut Posted August 20 Share Posted August 20 (edited) 50 minutes ago, Kevin Balch said: The only way to know for sure a politician is honest is if they openly advocate defunding of Israel. There is no political upside for this as it makes the third rail of social security look like it uses a hearing aid battery. Any politician who supports Israel, regardless of party or ideology, will eventually throw his base under the bus when their interests conflict with those of Israel. Every damn time. The only exceptions I know of in recent history are Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich, Jamal Bowman, Corrie Bush. If any organization other than AIPAC spearheaded the effort of defeating Bowman and Bush, they would be excoriated as racists. Note: Bernie Sanders and AOC will never call for a defunding of Israel Kevin, As an old Bernie Sanders supporter, I can assure you that Bernie has consistently criticized Netanyahu's carnage in Gaza this year, as have many Jewish people in Israel and the U.S. In fact, Bernie has repeatedly called for cutting military funding for Netanyahu's regime. Some critics of Israel are, obviously, antisemitic, but there's nothing antisemitic, per se, about criticism of Netanyahu's military ops. Nor does criticism of Netanyahu imply that someone is "pro Hamas." That's a false trope. People can be critical of both Hamas and Likud Party hardliners. Jeffrey Sachs said earlier this year that peace will never be achieved in Palestine until Hamas and Netanyahu are both removed from the process. Edited August 20 by W. Niederhut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Balch Posted August 20 Share Posted August 20 16 minutes ago, W. Niederhut said: Kevin, As an old Bernie Sanders supporter, I can assure you that Bernie has consistently criticized Netanyahu's carnage in Gaza this year, as have many Jewish people in Israel and the U.S. In fact, Bernie has repeatedly called for cutting military funding for Netanyahu's regime. Some critics of Israel are, obviously, antisemitic, but there's nothing antisemitic, per se, about criticism of Netanyahu's military ops. Nor does criticism of Netanyahu imply that someone is "pro Hamas." That's a false trope. People can be critical of both Hamas and Likud Party hardliners. Cutting military funding? Wow! Money is fungible. What US aid that goes to civilian purposes frees money for military spending. Now, if you cut ALL aid … The problem did not start with Netanyahu, it’s been a characteristic of every Israeli government since the beginning including those with a socialist or labour background who were not at all religious but had their share of preemptive wars, massacres and targeted assassinations. And interference in US government policy and politics. Netanyahu is just the most obvious. You seem to forget that it’s the Lobby that is the arbiter of what is antisemitic. By the way, MY socialist has THREE houses. How many houses does YOUR socialist have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W. Niederhut Posted August 20 Share Posted August 20 44 minutes ago, Kevin Balch said: Cutting military funding? Wow! Money is fungible. What US aid that goes to civilian purposes frees money for military spending. Now, if you cut ALL aid … The problem did not start with Netanyahu, it’s been a characteristic of every Israeli government since the beginning including those with a socialist or labour background who were not at all religious but had their share of preemptive wars, massacres and targeted assassinations. And interference in US government policy and politics. Netanyahu is just the most obvious. You seem to forget that it’s the Lobby that is the arbiter of what is antisemitic. By the way, MY socialist has THREE houses. How many houses does YOUR socialist have? Geez... not that lame MAGA trope, please. Bernie's lifelong record of public service for working people speaks for itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Morrow Posted August 20 Share Posted August 20 3 hours ago, Kevin Balch said: Feinberg coordinated the raising of funding from American and Canadian Jews (including Louis Bloomfeld of Permindex fame) to fund the Dimona reactor. This is detailed in The Bomb in the Basement. It’s not specifically said whether he knew what the money was being raised for but it’s hard to believe that he didn’t know as he likely raised tens of millions of dollars in the late 1950s. Abe Feinberg was not the simple poor immigrant that made it big. He was instrumental in getting Truman to support the creation of Israel. Wasn't Harry Truman highly anti-semitic? As one might be a little bit of that after the Stern gang tries to blow you up with a Unibomber type mail bomb. Have you ever read DC Dave Martin's "Jews" Tried to Kill Truman in 1947? The ADL has wiped much of this essay off the internet after it got cross posted many places - dcdave.com/article5/120510.htm John Kennedy was convinced that Harry Truman taken a big bribe from the Zionists to induce him to recognize Israel. There is a picture in Horace Busby's book the Thirty-First of March with LBJ lounging around in swimsuits with Abe Feinberg and other top Zionists, maybe the Krims, at LBJ's Ranch swimming pool. LBJ and the Zionists were tight, tight, tight - much to the detriment of the United States and peace in the Middle East. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Balch Posted August 20 Share Posted August 20 6 hours ago, Robert Morrow said: Wasn't Harry Truman highly anti-semitic? As one might be a little bit of that after the Stern gang tries to blow you up with a Unibomber type mail bomb. Have you ever read DC Dave Martin's "Jews" Tried to Kill Truman in 1947? The ADL has wiped much of this essay off the internet after it got cross posted many places - dcdave.com/article5/120510.htm John Kennedy was convinced that Harry Truman taken a big bribe from the Zionists to induce him to recognize Israel. There is a picture in Horace Busby's book the Thirty-First of March with LBJ lounging around in swimsuits with Abe Feinberg and other top Zionists, maybe the Krims, at LBJ's Ranch swimming pool. LBJ and the Zionists were tight, tight, tight - much to the detriment of the United States and peace in the Middle East. I don’t think Truman was originally. Small town, southern(ish) Protestants tend to be philo-semitic. And I believe he went into business with a Jew. However, he did eventually get frustrated with them over the Palestine issue, claiming that “Jesus himself couldn’t make them happy”. But they (through Abe Feinberg) financed his 1948 campaign so he never said anything in public about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Balch Posted August 20 Share Posted August 20 8 hours ago, W. Niederhut said: Geez... not that lame MAGA trope, please. Bernie's lifelong record of public service for working people speaks for itself. OK, if that’s what you believe. MAGA does not have a monopoly on cults. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W. Niederhut Posted August 20 Share Posted August 20 (edited) 5 hours ago, Kevin Balch said: OK, if that’s what you believe. MAGA does not have a monopoly on cults. True. Other cases include the Jim Jones Kool-Aid cult and the Branch Davidians in Waco. But seriously, Kevin, this old anti-Bernie trope about his summer house was always inane. Think of John, Bobby, and Ted Kennedy. The fact that the Kennedy family is quite wealthy (far wealthier than Bernie) doesn't mean that they weren't strong advocates for the public interest. The trope-- popular with GOP propagandists-- erroneously equates public policy with private life. Many wealthy people, including Donald Trump and the Bushes, have been steadfast (stealth) advocates for the rich. FDR and JFK were notable exceptions to the rule. Edited August 20 by W. Niederhut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James DiEugenio Posted August 20 Share Posted August 20 Gaza has become so unpopular that when AIPAC took down Bowman and Bush they did not use the Israeli issue. That is what Benji has done. I will always insist that the murder of Rabin was a crossroads for Israel. And if you study it, the campaign Benji ran, by its extreme polarization, encouraged it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Morrow Posted August 20 Share Posted August 20 7 hours ago, Kevin Balch said: I don’t think Truman was originally. Small town, southern(ish) Protestants tend to be philo-semitic. And I believe he went into business with a Jew. However, he did eventually get frustrated with them over the Palestine issue, claiming that “Jesus himself couldn’t make them happy”. But they (through Abe Feinberg) financed his 1948 campaign so he never said anything in public about them. Yes, small town Southern Protestants tend to be philo-Jewish. I come from Alabama and that seems very much to be case. As for Harry Truman, I will let you sort out the mixed bag: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jul-18-oe-kuznick18-story.html https://www.salon.com/2021/05/16/harry-truman-antisemitism-and-israel-on-the-jewish-state-and-the-jewish-vote/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/05/13/harry-truman-israel-antisemitic/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now