(December 9, 2023)
Archiv: the allies you deserve....
Washington’s Israel Policy Is Just Feigning Ignorance Of Israeli Depravity
A war zone is a collapse in law and order where might makes right and whoever has the guns makes the rules. People who normally wouldn’t risk imprisonment for acting out their fantasies of torture and murder have the opportunity during wartime to become one of the people with the guns who make the rules. They have a helpless population at their fingertips to whom they can do anything they like.
War is the worst thing in the world. It’s the most insane thing humans do. So, so much of the trauma and dysfunction of our species are the lingering reverberations from wars which ended decades ago, passed down from generation to generation by soldiers returning home and by civilians who’ve been subjected to unfathomable abuse by those who found themselves free to do anything they want to them.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if it launches major invasion of Rafah
The president’s announcement that he was prepared to condition American weaponry on Israel’s actions amounts to a turning point in the seven-month conflict between Israel and Hamas. And his acknowledgement that American bombs had been used to kill civilians in Gaza was a stark recognition of the United States’ role in the war.
The president has come under extraordinary pressure, including from members of his own party, to limit shipments of arms amid a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Drohung von Präsident Biden: USA wollen keine Waffen für Großangriff auf Rafah liefern
In dem CNN-Interview wurde Biden gefragt, ob mit dem Typ an US-Bomben, deren Lieferung vorerst auf Eis liege, Zivilisten in Gaza getötet worden seien. Biden sagte dazu: „Zivilisten wurden im Gazastreifen infolge dieser Bomben und anderer Methoden, mit denen sie Bevölkerungszentren angreifen, getötet.“
Biden machte zugleich deutlich, die US-Regierung werde weiter sicherstellen, dass Israel ausreichend militärische Ausrüstung zur eigenen Verteidigung habe, etwa das Raketenabwehrsystems Iron Dome.
US OKs 2,000-lb. bombs, F-35 fighter jets to Israel
(31.03.2024)
The arms packages included more than 1,800 MK84 2,000-pound bombs and 500 MK82 500-pound bombs, according to Pentagon and State Department officials.
This month, the State Department also authorized the transfer to Israel of 25 F-35A fighter jets and engines worth roughly $2.5 billion, U.S. officials said.
White House pauses shipment of some weapons to Israel
The White House last week paused a shipment of weapons to Israel, as Israeli leaders closed in on a decision to launch an operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a senior administration official said Tuesday.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed Wednesday in testimony to Congress that „we paused one shipment of high payload munitions.„
Readout of President Joe Biden’s Call with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel
(06.05.2024)
President Biden updated the Prime Minister on efforts to secure a hostage deal, including through ongoing talks today in Doha, Qatar. The Prime Minister agreed to ensure the Kerem Shalom crossing is open for humanitarian assistance for those in need. The President reiterated his clear position on Rafah.
Trump tells Israel to ‚finish up‘ Gaza offensive because nation is ‚losing a lot of support‘
(26.03.2024)
Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president in 2024, sat down for an interview with Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom about the ongoing military invasion — and warned that the world was growing tired of the conflict.
„You have to finish up your war. You have to finish it up. You’ve got to get it done,“ he told the newspaper.
He continued, „We’ve got to get to peace. You can’t have this going on, and I will say Israel has to be very careful because you are losing a lot of the world. You are losing a lot of support.“
The U.S. and Israel have a ‘major credibility problem’
(25.03.2024)
In a testy exchange earlier this month, a senior U.S. official warned Israeli counterparts of the reputational “damage” as a result of the ongoing war in Gaza. The internal memo of the exchange involving Assistant Secretary of State Bill Russo, obtained by NPR correspondent Daniel Estrin, offered yet another illustration of the rift between the Biden administration and Israel, driven largely by growing American horror at the humanitarian toll of the conflict and Israel’s role in making it worse — even as the United States shields Israel in international forums and helps replenish its war machine.
A State Department official warns Israel of ‚major‘ reputational damage in Gaza war
(22.03.2024)
„The Israelis seemed oblivious to the fact that they are facing major, possibly generational damage to their reputation not just in the region but elsewhere in the world,“ the memo says. „We are concerned that the Israelis are missing the forest for the trees and are making a major strategic error in writing off their reputation damage.“
The State Department memo recommended pressing Israeli officials on the matter „at the highest levels.“
For Ukraine Military, Far-Right Russian Volunteers Make for Worrisome Allies
(26.05.2023)
It was the rhetoric of a dissident freedom fighter, but there was a discordant note that emerged as clearly as the neo-Nazi Black Sun patch on the uniform of one of the soldiers: Mr. Kapustin and prominent members of the armed group he leads, the Russian Volunteer Corps, openly espouse far-right views. In fact, German officials and humanitarian groups, including the Anti-Defamation League, have identified Mr. Kapustin as a neo-Nazi.
Mr. Kapustin, who has long used the alias Denis Nikitin but typically goes by his military call sign, White Rex, is a Russian citizen who moved to Germany in the early 2000s.
Biden‘s „red line“ on Gaza: „Can’t have another 30,000 Palestinians dead“
President Biden said in an interview on MSNBC on Saturday that he has a „red line“ when it comes to the war in Gaza. „You can‘t have another 30,000 Palestinians dead as a consequence of going after (Hamas). There are other ways to deal with Hamas,“ he said.
Why it matters: This was the first time since the Hamas attack on October 7 that Biden said he has a „red line“ for the Israeli military operation in Gaza.
Biden makes contradictory comments on Gaza ‚red line‘ in MSNBC interview
Biden and his aides have urged Netanyahu in strong terms not to launch a major offensive in Rafah until Israel crafts a plan for mass evacuation of civilians from the last area of Gaza it has not yet invaded with ground forces. More than half of Gaza‘s 2.3 million people are sheltering in the Rafah area.
“There‘s other ways to deal, to get to, to deal with … the trauma caused by Hamas,” Biden said, referring to the Islamist group’s Oct. 7 rampage in southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed.
Biden, I want to see a cease-fire
Biden says Netanyahu is ‘hurting Israel more than helping Israel.’
“He has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas, but he must, he must, he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken,” Mr. Biden said of Mr. Netanyahu in an interview with MSNBC.
“In my view, he’s hurting Israel more than helping Israel,” Mr. Biden said, appearing to refer to Mr. Netanyahu’s military strategy. “It’s contrary to what Israel stands for, and I think it’s a big mistake. So I want to see a cease-fire.”
Are Biden and the Democrats finally turning on Israel?
Biden’s new plan to build a pier on the Gaza coast seems to say yes. The continued military aid to Israel says otherwise.
Biden in a hot mic moment shows his growing frustration with Netanyahu over Gaza humanitarian crisis
In the exchange, Bennet congratulates Biden on his speech and urges the president to keep pressing Netanyahu on growing humanitarian concerns in Gaza. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg were also part of the brief conversation.
Biden then responds using Netanyahu’s nickname, saying, “I told him, Bibi, and don’t repeat this, but you and I are going to have a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting.”
Kurdistan‘s PM: we are very proud to say that we are American allies
On Monday, the Kurdish Government revealed that Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani met with the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken at the headquarters of the US State Department in Washington.
Before the meeting, the two officials expressed in remarks reported by the Secretary of State the close ties between the two sides.
this is the biggest blunder in American history. Mark my words
(09.12.2023)
this is the biggest blunder in American history. Mark my words
The Gaza-ification of the West Bank
(November 1, 2023)
And also just to be very clear, everything that I’ve been describing, all of these various mechanisms that the state has been using, are backed by Israeli courts, and backed by the Israeli legal system. This is not some random phenomena that is happening uniquely to a single unlucky community far from the eyes of the state. On the contrary, this is part of an ongoing Israeli state project of trying to push, to cleanse, as many Palestinians out of Area C, using all available state mechanisms in order to accomplish this goal. (…)
There are checkpoints. There are threats. And all this goes on for years. And yet somehow you managed to stay on the land and make a living and try to raise a family under these conditions. And that in and of itself is horrific and criminal and appalling, and also happens in broad daylight. Everything I’ve been talking about now and describing has been documented for years already by Palestinian, Israeli, and international human-rights organizations. But Israel never relented and never stopped because, as I said, it’s part of the state’s goal to accomplish that. What has escalated in recent weeks is that you have repeated reports of masked men showing up in the middle of the night. Armed, masked men.
Maybe they are settlers, maybe they’re soldiers, maybe they’re a mix. And they openly threaten the people in the community and tell them that they have twenty-four hours to leave, and if you say otherwise we would wipe you out.
U.S. Has Warned Israel to Fight More Surgically in Gaza, Officials Say
(Nov. 28, 2023)
The statements are the Biden administration’s strongest warning to Israeli officials to date about the next phase of their military operation. For weeks, the White House has been careful to say it does not dictate how Israel conducts its military operations, but President Biden and senior members of his staff have grown more vocal as the humanitarian crisis has unfolded.
They also come as the administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic issues, said they were ramping up humanitarian aid during the cease-fire that took effect last week, and expressed optimism that aid could continue even when fighting resumed.
Biden Supporters Still Don’t Get That He’s Sinking Because of Gaza
(November 25, 2023)
I’m not actually worried that a majority of Arab American or young voters will vote for Trump; I’m worried that they’ll stay home and not vote at all. The ultimate weakness in the “Trump would be worse” argument is that many voters will see two candidates they don’t like and simply avoid the polls or cast protest votes for a third-party candidate running for president.
A Majority of Voters Support Calls for a Cease-Fire in Gaza
(November 21, 2023)
More Democratic voters are expressing dissatisfaction with Biden’s handling of the larger Israeli-Palestinian conflict, young people are becoming more sympathetic to the Palestinians and older voters are giving more thought to people on both sides.
Team Biden Goes From Denial to Panic
(Nov 27, 2023)
Our RootsAction.org team had no reason to avoid antagonizing the White House. Immediately after the 2022 election, we launched the Don’t Run Joe campaign. Last winter, it included TV ads in New Hampshire and other early primary states as well as in DC. We also placed full-page ads in print editions of The Hill newspaper, widely read on Capitol Hill; one depicted congressional Democrats as having their heads in the sand. A steady flow of news releases went out, citing data on Biden’s electoral vulnerabilities. A mobile Don’t Run Joe billboard circled the Capitol and White House when Congress reconvened in January.
But elected Democrats, loyal boosters and allied organizations stuck with the party line.
The polls keep getting worse for Biden
(25.11.2023)
Biden’s recent slide — and his political predicament some 11 months before Election Day — represent a confluence of slippage with reliable Democratic constituencies like young voters, the outbreak of war in the Middle East and the rise of independent and third-party candidates who could siphon votes from both Biden and Trump.
Readout of President Biden’s Call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel
(6 hours ago)
President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. spoke today with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to welcome the deal for the release of at least 50 hostages held by Hamas. The two leaders discussed the pause in the fighting, which will allow for surging in much needed humanitarian assistance into Gaza. The Prime Minister thanked the President for his tireless efforts, and those of his team, to help broker this deal.
Gaza: Israel and Hamas Truce, Hostage Release Delayed The delay is a hammer blow to families desperate to see their loved ones return home, and to two million-plus Gazans praying for an end to 47 days of war and deprivation.
In surprise delay, top Netanyahu aide says hostage release ‘not before Friday’
National Security Council chairman Tzachi Hanegbi circulated a statement that said the negotiations for the hostages “are constantly progressing” and “the release will begin according to the original agreement between the parties, and not before Friday.”
An Israeli source also said the four-day lull in fighting, per the deal, would be on hold and that Israeli military operations in Gaza would continue as long as the agreement is not finalized, Haaretz reported.
Today in the bizzare and sick statements by our government: the Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi wants the army to collect all the *foreskins* of Hamas members in Gaza
Today in what the actual, Israeli media minister @shlomo_karhi asks the IDF to bring him foreskins. ALL THE FORESKINS. Of every Hamas, er, member, apparently.
IDF estimates: Fighting in Gaza will last a year;
intensity of military operations & combat methods will vary. via @N12News
PM warns ministers to pipe down after comments on new ‘Nakba’ and nuking Gaza
“Every word has meaning when it comes to diplomacy. If you don’t know — don’t speak,” the prime minister said during Sunday’s cabinet meeting.
“We must be sensitive,” he added.
The prime minister was referring to recent comments by ministers that are viewed as having caused damage to Israel’s international legitimacy.
Biden administration privately warned by American diplomats of growing fury against US in Arab world
(10.11.2023)
“We are losing badly on the messaging battlespace,” reads a Wednesday cable from the US Embassy in Oman, citing conversations with “a wide range of trusted and sober-minded contacts.”
The robust US support for Israel’s actions is being seen, the cable warns, “as material and moral culpability in what they consider to be possible war crimes.”
The cable from the embassy was written by the second-highest US official in Muscat and sent to, among others, the White House’s National Security Council, the CIA and the FBI.
Mike Pompeo says State Dept has an ‚AOC, Rashida Tlaib wing‘ after leaked memo blasts Biden‘s Israel policy
(November 7, 2023)
MIKE POMPEO: I wish I could tell you I‘m surprised, but having led that organization, the State Department, this is the AOC, Rashida Tlaib wing of the State Department. These are classic appeasers who don‘t understand that the Israelis are acting in self-defense. They are taking out a terror threat that killed 1,400 of their citizens. They have not only the right to do it, but an obligation to do it.
Dissenting Memo From State Dept Criticizes Biden Response to Israel’s Attacks
(November 7, 2023)
It’s unclear how many staffers in the department signed on to the memo, or whether it has been altered or amended since it was leaked, Politico reported. Dissenting memos are not uncommon — indeed, the department encourages such commentaries, and has a Dissent Channel set up for them — but it’s unusual for dissenting memos to be released publicly. Other dissenting memos relating to Israel’s recent actions are reportedly being discussed within the department.
US admits Israel likely to keep ‘initial’ security force in Gaza post-war
“I think all of us can foresee a period of time after the conflict is over where Israeli forces will likely still be in Gaza and will have some initial security responsibilities,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told CNN.
This was the first time a US official has publicly made such an acknowledgment, and it came two days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would have to maintain “overall security responsibility of Gaza for an “indefinite period.”
A problem from hell
Netanyahu floats plan to control Gaza security ‚indefinitely‘ after Hamas war
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has floated a plan in which Israel would control Gaza‘s security for an „indefinite period“ following Israel‘s war on Hamas on Tuesday. President Biden has previously stated that an Israeli occupation of Gaza would be a „mistake,“ though Netanyahu‘s exact plan is unclear.
Fears of another Palestinian exodus reverberate across the Middle East
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said last week that a transfer of Palestinians from Gaza would likely be followed by a similar “expulsion of Palestinians from the West Bank to Jordan.” Jordan’s foreign minister later said such a move would be considered a declaration of “war.”
Commentators on Arab media outlets have warned that Israel may be planning to de-populate the Gaza Strip of Palestinians and even re-occupy it.