This is a fantastic opinion piece by Sanders that lays it out the situation before the Hamas attack, the current situation, and what should be done. He lays out several requirements for peace that aid to Israel should be contingent on. He also notes that Hamas is hurting the Palestinians, which is a detail very few mention.
He’s also one of the first people I’ve seen try to take a stab at what a lasting solution needs to be – two states, Netanyahu ousted, Hamas destroyed, foundations of Palestinian civil government created.
This is why Sanders is invaluable to western politics. He communicates sorely needed context with a level of empathy and wisdom that puts most of politics and journalism to shame.
This is what the majority simply do not comprehend or understand, and why the whole “Israel vs Palestine”, “Muslim vs Jewish”, “Hamas/IDF are inhuman barbarians” propaganda war is utter bullshit; no matter what the reality of the terrorism or warfare on the ground is… When we’re talking about Palestinians (Gazans/Hamas moreso), we’re talking about a population who have been born into, and forced to live their entire lives, in an “open-air prison” created and curated by Western/Israeli/external politics. A population forced to live in poverty and destitution through (mostly) no fault of their own; especially when you consider that half of them are literally fucking children… Obviously they scream “death to the west/Israel”!?! Most of their exposure to the west is glimpsing us through a window; living our lives in a level of freedom, wealth, and opulance they could never hope to experience – while they are demonized by the global community, and live under our boot. These conditions recruit extremists. If YOU were born into the same situation that most Palestinians have been born into, YOU would feel exactly the same – 99.99% of the human population would, no matter what their genetics or religion are.
Until the world can wrap their head around the concept that Hamas (most terrorists, and acts of terrorism) are a direct response to – directly caused by – some extreme level of inhumanity and inequality, instead of distilling it down into some cultural or religious “us vs them”, “good vs evil” war that Capitalism can profit from, the cycle of violence will never end. Instead, we continue to ignore and double down on the crimes of the past, and sow the seeds for future fascism and terrorism.
People are not born extremists or terrorists; every single one of them is created.
This could end overnight if Biden didn’t keep making exceptions for Israel. For one thing, is this genocide operation even “legitimate self-defense”? which would make all the funding illegal under AECA (22 U.S.C. §2754)
That’s just the AECA, then there is:
Section 502B(a)(2) of the FAA (22 U.S.C. §2304(a)(2)) stipulates that, absent the exercise of certain presidential waivers due to extraordinary circumstances, “no security assistance may be provided to any country the government of which engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights
Section 620M of the FAA of 1961 (codified as 22 U.S.C. §2378d), as amended, prohibits the furnishing of assistance authorized by the FAA and the AECA to any foreign security force unit where there is credible information that the unit has committed a gross violation of human rights. The State Department and U.S. embassies overseas implement Leahy vetting to determine which foreign security individuals and units are eligible to receive U.S. assistance
One of 3 politicians in America today who deserve the presidency, and would recieve my vote.
They love to talk smack about Sanders relative inexperience in foreign affairs, but he nails it where it matters. One of few politicians who says things like ‘never again’ and means it.
From Sen. Sanders statement:
An immediate humanitarian response is vitally important, but it is equally important for Israel to have a political strategy. It cannot bomb its way to a long-term solution. Such a strategy must include, as minimum first steps: a clear promise that Palestinians displaced in the fighting will have the absolute right to safely return to their homes; a commitment to broader peace talks to advance a two-state solution in the wake of this war; an abandonment of Israeli efforts to carve up and annex the West Bank; and a commitment to work with the international community to build genuine Palestinian governing capacity.
What is happening now is butchery, not the steps to a lasting peace. Every single person and nation can walk back from the brink of madness if they realize they are wrong and start the process to peace. Peace doesn’t come at the end of a sword. It comes from an outstretched hand. Show these poor trapped people your humanity. Show them mercy in the face of crushing death and sow the seeds of a future both your children can live in.
This piece was published 4 days ago. Israel still has time to save 350,000 people dying in the rubble around them. There is always time to be human. There is always time for mercy when you were shown none.
Or a truce, an armistice, maybe a day of tranquility.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The hospitals and medical facilities are in nightmarish conditions, with hundreds of babies in incubators and patients on life support at risk of death, should the generators that sustain them run out of fuel.
The US Congress must join many in the international community in demanding a humanitarian pause, now, so that sufficient supplies – food, water, medicine, fuel – can reach the people of Gaza.
The Palestinian people are entitled to much more than that.In Gaza, Hamas, an authoritarian terrorist organization, has ruled by force, stockpiling arms and war material, taxing the desperately poor population and stealing resources to build tunnels and rockets.
Hamas is an authoritarian nightmare, repressing dissent and stealing from Gazans not just the basic materials of life they need, but the dream of a better future.That was the situation in Gaza before 7 October.
Hundreds of Israeli youth were gunned down in cold blood at a music festival, babies and older people were brutally murdered in their homes.
Such a strategy must include, as minimum first steps: a clear promise that Palestinians displaced in the fighting will have the absolute right to safely return to their homes; a commitment to broader peace talks to advance a two-state solution in the wake of this war; an abandonment of Israeli efforts to carve up and annex the West Bank; and a commitment to work with the international community to build genuine Palestinian governing capacity.The United States, which provides $3.8bn a year in military aid to Israel, should make it clear that these are the conditions of our solidarity.
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