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Caroline's avatar

I still don't like him. This is bare minimum. He has said shitty things about Palestinians and Pro-Palestine supporters. I wish we had better politicians.

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Edie Sadowski's avatar

So do I ! WHAT TOOK HIM SO LONG!🤬 the pictures that I see of walking skeletons and dead children should make BOTH PARTIES SAY ENOUGH!!!

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David Berk's avatar

This feels completely performative in nature. Senator Gallego has been supporting Israel despite their genocidal behavior throughout his entire political career, and now, in a pathetic attempt to convince Arizona voters that he's not actually owned by Israel, he launches a petition that he knows will amount to absolutely nothing at all in terms of meaningful action. Like Rubio and Trump care about petitions.

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Nevin Oliphant's avatar

Moderate Democrats may be starting to feel the heat, it's too little too late, and they won't be able to reject aid to Israel or AIPAC money. Progressives will primary moderates in the midterms and win. Americans are tired of paying for the killing of civilians, especially targeting young children.

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B J Sutherland's avatar

Let's not kid ourselves, AIPAC money still rules; affecting primary races and congressional votes on funding and supplying weapons to Israel.

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Mehdididit's avatar

While that’s true, constituents have begun to turn on AIPAC, which is why I think Gallego feels safe writing his “sternly worded letter”. It’s true even among tRump voters. They have different reasons, but this is one of a few areas in which we share common ground, and it should be capitalized on. Everyone has begun to hate AIPAC, and that’s a good thing.

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Amman Khawaja's avatar

Oh, he sent Trump a sternly worded letter and to investigate Israel's oppression on Palestinians? Yea, that is going to work.

When will these feckless dems realize you cannot talk or reason with Trump or the GOP?

How many more useless letters are they going to write as they just get flushed down the golden toilet?

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Barry McMillion's avatar

Stop the Israeli BS! Let's separate fact from fiction; a.) Judaism is a religion not tied to any particular political ideology or movement (True) - b.) Zionism is a "political" ideology advocating for the establishment and maintenance of the Jewish state (True) - c.) Antisemitism is hatred and prejudice directed toward Jewish people (True). So JUDAISM is a religion, while ZIONISM is a political movement! So, just like America's political party's criticism of each other, to criticize Israeli actions and behaviors as Zionist is legitimate.

A central Jewish tenet or moral responsibility in the Torah is "Tikkun olam" which translated relates to repairing or healing the world and advocating for the rights of marginalized groups and lifting them up. With that, it can be said Netanyahu, his cabinet, and all Illegal settlers are practicing a bastardized version of Judaism!

Both of America's political parties have forgotten it is Israel that should be beholden to America and not vice versa, but they have "used" America for their own gain through assassination, war, interferring in American politics in which they have contributed millions of dollars to both political partys and a propaganda machine via AIPAC targeting the American populace.

Assassinations; there is some conspiratorial evidence Mossad "had a hand" in the assassination of JFK due to the redactions in official documents, they definitely were responsible for the assassination of the Swedish diplomat, Folke Bernadotte, First UN mediator by the Jewish Paramilitary grop "Lehi" before he could present his 2nd Plan related to the "peaceful adjustment of the future situation of Palestine after part of "their lands were taken to make room for the Jewish state".

War; on June 8, 1967, an unarmed American ship flying its colors, USS Liberty, (solely an information gathering vessel) was attacked by unmarked Israeli jets with machine gun and cannon fire. This was followed by an Israeli torpedo attack which ultimately killed 34 American sailors! There is belief the jets were unmarked in hopes of blaming the Egyptians to draw America into the 6 day war on Israel's side. SO, I posit Israel is neither friend nor ally!!

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Dianne Walter's avatar

Thanks for this clear discussion of the Israeli/Palestine situation. I am so disgusted with the US support of the Israeli rogue state and its murderous actions against innocent people. That the US continues to support and fund this genocide is another black mark on this country.

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Jennifer Armerding's avatar

All these supposed efforts are, in my view, pathetic. What could the United States possibly gain from fueling and funding this abject horror? Also, what the heck is sanctioning a settler supposed to do? A Palestinian (or American) child is jailed and abused for possibly throwing stones and we do nothing. An illegal settler burns down a village and murders people in cold blood and we take years to decide we should strongly object.

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Susan Linehan's avatar

would you rather our politicians made to efforts at all to stem this horror?

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Jennifer Armerding's avatar

Are those my two options?

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Susan Linehan's avatar

(should have been no efforts). I dunno. Can you come up with something that might actually work? Midterms maybe? Before then? I am in agreement with you that it is a horror and cannot see what the US can gain. Short of making Aipac disappear or a sudden miraculous conversion of Dems to sense, what more than writing "pathetic" letters or calling?

Come up with a solution and YOU will win the Nobel Peace Prize.

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Momin's avatar

Too little too late. A fig leaf to hide their complicity in Israeli crimes.

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Sarah Bush's avatar

Thank you for this excellent reporting. I would love for the democratic party to completely free itself from AIPAC's stranglehold. I have been wondering how much AIPAC's influence has to do with no senior democrat from New York endorsing the hands-down winner of the primary for the mayor of New York as well...

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Virma's avatar

What about congresspeople signaling their disagreements with the Israeli government by refusing to take donations from AIPAC? (And maybe even handing some of that money back, or donating it to worthy causes….)

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MR's avatar

I don’t disagree with the sentiment that such a letter is too little too late. I want to remind everyone though that -as someone involved in defending the Palestinian rights for over 30 years- that we came a very long way from when our representatives refused to meet with us and some blatantly made derogatory comments about our ethnicity, religion and the Palestinian people to our faces; in other words, the democrats where in the same place as Trump and the republican politicians now. We should accept (and yes even celebrate) every small win and move to consolidate and ask for more.

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CE's avatar

Good letter, great message, but letters are worthless in dealing with the Trump “administration “.

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Nevin Oliphant's avatar

You are correct, but nothing has changed, the same thing was true of Joe Biden and Antony Blinken.

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RSV's avatar

FUCK GALLEGO!!! He’s a fraud and an AIPAC whore!!! As are most of the Democrats. The Democrats will not save the U.S. They are corporate fascist whores hiding behind their brown shirt MAGA brothers. The U.S. duopoly must come to an end for true democracy to prevail in the USA.

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drbilldean@gmail.com's avatar

The Demise of Orange Cheeto

The American Revolution 2.0 is not what we think it’s going to look like As the saying goes “follow the money”

Both the Nazi Party and Democratic “establishment” ie DNC are living in their worlds of shameless cruelty and hypocritical people speak respectively One brazenly shameless wealthy immorally obtuse to their actions who feels they can get away with anything and the other speaking of a party of the people on the one hand and on the other kowtowing to wealthy donors to keep the ship afloat “Party of the people” falls on deaf ears when genocide is ignored(Jewish propaganda machine effect) or lack of taxation of the wealthy is not mentioned out of fear of sugar daddy retribution Let’s get real, THE DOLLAR RULES IN AMERICAN POLITICS NOT MORALITY

But at the heart of a functional democracy is and has always been WE the People and with the ever growing lively protests across the country WE the People are done with the immoral wealthy(oligarchs) and hypocritical clueless Democratic party which doesn’t really know how to interpret this rising of the WE the People movement

Witness Zohran Mamdani articulating a new path forward in bucking the Democratic “establishment” and WE the People are standing up with a resonating voice It’s time to stop the immoral wealthy and the disaffected hypocritical clueless Democratic “establishment” WE the People are standing for a more just equitable charitable moral way of being a nation It’s French Revolution 2.0 baby, 21st century style!!

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gerri caldarola's avatar

Think these Blue Dogs are selling their souls -- Gallego needs to shout loudly not send a Schumer "strong" letter. Gallego et al should be on every possible media call "SHAME".

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Susan Linehan's avatar

while I have always considered myself a moderate Democrat, I've parted ways utterly from those who are so blind to what Israel is doing, pretty much after it became clear that the response to 10/7 was so out of proportion. One can be opposed to terrorism without needing to obliterate every last member of a party that has committed it, particularly when so many innocents are killed in the process. Terrorism IS the killing of innocent civilians for a political purpose, and it has been clear for some time that the Israeli government is motivated by a pure political purpose. Starving a civilian doesn't "eliminate" even a Hamas LEADER.

So Bravo Gallego for having the courage to change his mind when the facts on the ground warrant it.

But on the idea that "even Americans" are being killed. Haven't you noticed? Non-white non Christians aren't Americans to our current regime. They likely rejoice that they don't have to figure out how to deport at least some of them. I'm surprised that they sent convicted folks to South Sudan when deporting them to Gaza would have been a much quicker way of handing them the death penalty for whatever they did.

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