What a shameful display of 'damage control' by the senator. Israeli experts on the Shoah like Raz Segal and Omer Bartov were warning of genocide as early as November last year. The former called it a "textbook case" from the get go. On Oct 15, 2023, over 800 scholars and experts on genocide and international law wrote an open letter raising the alarm bells. The ICJ has issued provisional measures multiple times under the Genocide Convention. Yitzhak Herzog said there were "no innocents" even though half of the population are children. Netanyahu equates all Palestinians to "Amalek." Avi Dichter gleefully called for "rolling out the Gaza Nakba." The list goes on and on and on - and still he can't even call it a genocide.
Give van Hollen a break. He has been one of the few senators who have consistently spoken out against Biden's Gaza policies. I'm sure that it hasn't been easy for him given the complete cowardice displayed by Biden, the state department, and most democrats. We need more people with his degree of humanity in the Senate.
What’s the point of Democrats pointing fingers and blaming Biden-Harris now, in what only appears to be Post Election-Analysis. They are ALL complicit. BUT it’s still not too late to force the USA to STOP sending weapons. Save those still alive and stop navel gazing!!
So right with what you said. Any way to save lives should be the goal. But I think the war will stop when Trump takes office - not because of anything he has done, but because Is real has pretty much accomplished (disgustingly) what they set out to do - eradicate a large number of Palestinians. They will give Trump the credit for "stopping" the war to add it to his legacy while ramping up against Lebanon and Iran with US backing. I hope I'm wrong. May God have mercy on those affected by oppression and give the oppressors exactly what they deserve. Karma will come for them eventually.
It is the only decent thing Biden can do before he leaves office. It is beyond frustrating why we do not hold Biden accountable. It is beyond frustrating that he is not doing what he should be doing. He is breaking the law. He will leave a legacy of being a war criminal that fueled and furthered a genocide.
It's too late Trump will be sending a lot of support to Netanyahu. The West Bank will be lucky to come out alive. Thanks Mehdi for having the senator on. While I care deeply for Palestinians,bI also care deeply about America. I will continue to be in support of my American brothers and sisters who still fight for equality here on American soul. We will be fighting to survive here as well.
Finally someone mentions neoliberalism! No political party is offering a solution to this economic ideology that is ripping the world apart in terms of global inequality and class divides. The rich only benefit. The GOP is neoliberalism on steroids. The Democrats and global governments must start setting limits on corporations and being a government for the people. Trump will accelerate this and environmental decline.
I’ve been trying to understand this better too. We used to always use the term neo-liberalism to talk about administrations since Reagan/Thatcher (Thatcher promoted it initially, per my readings, and Reagan continued), including Democrats. Now that term has been abandoned in speaking about Republicans and Democrats. Neo-con is the new term. Neo-conservatism used to be most associated with Republicans—Newt Gingrich, etc. Now when I read political analysts and historians, including, for example Jeffrey Sachs and others, they refer to the neo-cons in the Democratic administration. Neo-cons are the ultimate “evil doers” associated with the Republican Right. So that’s big. It seems true. Would love to hear what others have to say…about that transition. And who are the neo-cons running the Biden administration?
Neocons have to do with foreign policy (Cheney etc) while neoliberalism has to do with anti union trickle down economic policy. Dems and Republicans are just slightly different shades of both of these.
I must strongly disagree that the Vice President has to hush up because she works for someone else. Namely, the President. Ordinarily, I would agree with that. But as the candidate for President, she no longer has the luxury of hiding behind Biden. We are entitled to know just what she stands for. She was selected by the dark room, not elected by the voters.
She can’t because she was not picked by the electorate in a primary, she was chosen by the DNC and it’s financiers. Also, to cut the DNC a little slack, they didn’t have a lot of time to orchestrate a coup. It was worth a try because Biden would not step down and continued to be deluded by his handlers who saw in his disability an opportunity to manipulate him and the public, to insist that he could, and would, win against Trump. Clearly, even in the aftermath of this disaster for the Democratic Party, he is being told by those same people that, see, you would have won had Pelosi & Co not interceded. You could see that clearly in his post-election comments. You could see it in that cocky smile. He relishes himself. Something right out of Ibsen. He feels vindicated. But then, he also has a cognitive disease. So when your grandpa in memory care tells you he’s back running the ranch, I guess we just smile.
So!!! Biden/Harris should be denounced unequivocally for genocide. I am sick and tired of the entire hypocritical so called civilized nations and former exploiters, plunderers and genocidal usurpers of others’ lands without exception!
I'm sorry but Biden as a younger man was a belligerent warmongering pro-Israeli person, now he is an old man with the same proclivities. In knowingly allowing and aiding the slaughter of innocents in Gaza, he is in fact a monster!
The fact that even Van Hollen won't describe it as genocide is illuminating. I spent the first Trump administration wondering why anyone would trust Trump, given his constant torrent of lies and BS. I wonder if Trump voters trust him more because his unscriptedness is more appealing than the carefully calibrated, poll-tested, dispassionate way in which Democrats speak.
I look forward to Naomi Klein's take on this election. I can't think of a better thinker who can take into account the multiple ways in which the political and economic milieu affected voters' thinking.
Biden is a war criminal he didn’t do anything he was elected to do. He collected his AIPAC money and participated fully in the genocide of Palestinians. I stayed home because I couldn’t vote for genocide and I’m an old white woman who’s left the Democrat party. Great job AIPAC Dems 🇵🇸🇱🇧
It was a huge mistake of the Harris campaign to choose this strategy. Part of her campaign, according to Politico, was run by the old Biden campaign team. It’s obvious they saw themselves repeating the Biden 2020 campaign—running against Trump.
She had an excited bump after the convention, but failed to present a bold new vision. And it doesn’t matter how many billion stars are in the sky—you’re gonna lose if you play that same old Biden song again.
The DNC should have allowed a sort of real, mini convention, with more candidates. The choice of Harris was not actually “a mistake”—it was a plan. The plan was to keep the Biden administration in place, minus Biden. Aligning with Cheney, is consistent with the Democratic Party’s trajectory of moving further to the right under the Biden administration and the neo-cons that now occupy the White House, regardless of which party is in office. It’s a win-win for them.
Yes, aiming for the Cheney endorsement means you have betrayed the working class.
The sign waving behind the plane overhead reads “never mind the working class and the poor.”
What’s infuriating is that the US is such a vicious and vindictive bully, it’s preventing almost all other nations from acting vs Israel. Everyone’s waiting for the US to give the green light - what a world we live in
What is says is DNC is owned by AIPAC. And even 1 billion dollars later. They are not electable. So DNC need to choose. Do they want power or forever be owned by PAC money and donor class.
Talk about distractions. Why do we parse and parse all the "bad political decisions", all the "bad policy decisions" while we studiously ignore the causation, the elephant in the room.. "It's all about the Benjamins, baby"... which bankrolls the American political machine. That, and the fear of the phony indignation and the relentless retribution of the 5th Columnist Jewish Lobby labeling one an "antisemite" and ruining their political career. Allow me to quote Norman Finkelstein: "A lot of what's happening is due to the power of money of Jewish supremacists. Jewish supremacist means two things. It means, first of all, Jews can do no wrong... and secondly if they do do wrong, the fact that you're focusing on them is because you must be an antisemite. Otherwise, why aren't you talking about China, the Kurds, and why aren't you talking about, and why aren't you talking about... They cannot accept the possibility that Israel, A, is doing wrong, and B, people are outraged because of the wrong that's being committed. It always has to be something else. It could be antisemitism, or, as most Jews believe, it's envy. If you vent an animus towards what Israel is doing it's because you envy Jews, you're jealous of Jews. Jews are better. The goyim envy Jews, and that's why they'll use things like Gaza to discredit us"
Trump gave Israel Jerusalem and Golan Heights in his first term. He will give them the West Bank in his second term. Palestine as a country no longer exists. The price for ending genocide is a greater Israel with the remaining Palestinians allowed to live as second class citizens.
What a shameful display of 'damage control' by the senator. Israeli experts on the Shoah like Raz Segal and Omer Bartov were warning of genocide as early as November last year. The former called it a "textbook case" from the get go. On Oct 15, 2023, over 800 scholars and experts on genocide and international law wrote an open letter raising the alarm bells. The ICJ has issued provisional measures multiple times under the Genocide Convention. Yitzhak Herzog said there were "no innocents" even though half of the population are children. Netanyahu equates all Palestinians to "Amalek." Avi Dichter gleefully called for "rolling out the Gaza Nakba." The list goes on and on and on - and still he can't even call it a genocide.
That how it works if Jews involved You can't even discuss in Universities, you can't deny it or investigate it, or write a book or JAIL!
When it happens to Palestinians, they have to discuss 800 scholars and experts to find out
is it Holocaust.
Give van Hollen a break. He has been one of the few senators who have consistently spoken out against Biden's Gaza policies. I'm sure that it hasn't been easy for him given the complete cowardice displayed by Biden, the state department, and most democrats. We need more people with his degree of humanity in the Senate.
What’s the point of Democrats pointing fingers and blaming Biden-Harris now, in what only appears to be Post Election-Analysis. They are ALL complicit. BUT it’s still not too late to force the USA to STOP sending weapons. Save those still alive and stop navel gazing!!
Agree here. As Mehdi said, Biden is lame duck right now. Nothing to lose. Just do the right thing instead of the political thing. For once.
I've been sending this message to Biden and Harris almost every day since the election (and 365 days before that)
So right with what you said. Any way to save lives should be the goal. But I think the war will stop when Trump takes office - not because of anything he has done, but because Is real has pretty much accomplished (disgustingly) what they set out to do - eradicate a large number of Palestinians. They will give Trump the credit for "stopping" the war to add it to his legacy while ramping up against Lebanon and Iran with US backing. I hope I'm wrong. May God have mercy on those affected by oppression and give the oppressors exactly what they deserve. Karma will come for them eventually.
It is the only decent thing Biden can do before he leaves office. It is beyond frustrating why we do not hold Biden accountable. It is beyond frustrating that he is not doing what he should be doing. He is breaking the law. He will leave a legacy of being a war criminal that fueled and furthered a genocide.
It's too late Trump will be sending a lot of support to Netanyahu. The West Bank will be lucky to come out alive. Thanks Mehdi for having the senator on. While I care deeply for Palestinians,bI also care deeply about America. I will continue to be in support of my American brothers and sisters who still fight for equality here on American soul. We will be fighting to survive here as well.
Finally someone mentions neoliberalism! No political party is offering a solution to this economic ideology that is ripping the world apart in terms of global inequality and class divides. The rich only benefit. The GOP is neoliberalism on steroids. The Democrats and global governments must start setting limits on corporations and being a government for the people. Trump will accelerate this and environmental decline.
I’ve been trying to understand this better too. We used to always use the term neo-liberalism to talk about administrations since Reagan/Thatcher (Thatcher promoted it initially, per my readings, and Reagan continued), including Democrats. Now that term has been abandoned in speaking about Republicans and Democrats. Neo-con is the new term. Neo-conservatism used to be most associated with Republicans—Newt Gingrich, etc. Now when I read political analysts and historians, including, for example Jeffrey Sachs and others, they refer to the neo-cons in the Democratic administration. Neo-cons are the ultimate “evil doers” associated with the Republican Right. So that’s big. It seems true. Would love to hear what others have to say…about that transition. And who are the neo-cons running the Biden administration?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Neocons have to do with foreign policy (Cheney etc) while neoliberalism has to do with anti union trickle down economic policy. Dems and Republicans are just slightly different shades of both of these.
I must strongly disagree that the Vice President has to hush up because she works for someone else. Namely, the President. Ordinarily, I would agree with that. But as the candidate for President, she no longer has the luxury of hiding behind Biden. We are entitled to know just what she stands for. She was selected by the dark room, not elected by the voters.
She can’t because she was not picked by the electorate in a primary, she was chosen by the DNC and it’s financiers. Also, to cut the DNC a little slack, they didn’t have a lot of time to orchestrate a coup. It was worth a try because Biden would not step down and continued to be deluded by his handlers who saw in his disability an opportunity to manipulate him and the public, to insist that he could, and would, win against Trump. Clearly, even in the aftermath of this disaster for the Democratic Party, he is being told by those same people that, see, you would have won had Pelosi & Co not interceded. You could see that clearly in his post-election comments. You could see it in that cocky smile. He relishes himself. Something right out of Ibsen. He feels vindicated. But then, he also has a cognitive disease. So when your grandpa in memory care tells you he’s back running the ranch, I guess we just smile.
So!!! Biden/Harris should be denounced unequivocally for genocide. I am sick and tired of the entire hypocritical so called civilized nations and former exploiters, plunderers and genocidal usurpers of others’ lands without exception!
I'm sorry but Biden as a younger man was a belligerent warmongering pro-Israeli person, now he is an old man with the same proclivities. In knowingly allowing and aiding the slaughter of innocents in Gaza, he is in fact a monster!
The fact that even Van Hollen won't describe it as genocide is illuminating. I spent the first Trump administration wondering why anyone would trust Trump, given his constant torrent of lies and BS. I wonder if Trump voters trust him more because his unscriptedness is more appealing than the carefully calibrated, poll-tested, dispassionate way in which Democrats speak.
I look forward to Naomi Klein's take on this election. I can't think of a better thinker who can take into account the multiple ways in which the political and economic milieu affected voters' thinking.
Would love to hear from Naomi!
Biden is a war criminal he didn’t do anything he was elected to do. He collected his AIPAC money and participated fully in the genocide of Palestinians. I stayed home because I couldn’t vote for genocide and I’m an old white woman who’s left the Democrat party. Great job AIPAC Dems 🇵🇸🇱🇧
So very spot on!
It was a huge mistake of the Harris campaign to choose this strategy. Part of her campaign, according to Politico, was run by the old Biden campaign team. It’s obvious they saw themselves repeating the Biden 2020 campaign—running against Trump.
She had an excited bump after the convention, but failed to present a bold new vision. And it doesn’t matter how many billion stars are in the sky—you’re gonna lose if you play that same old Biden song again.
The DNC should have allowed a sort of real, mini convention, with more candidates. The choice of Harris was not actually “a mistake”—it was a plan. The plan was to keep the Biden administration in place, minus Biden. Aligning with Cheney, is consistent with the Democratic Party’s trajectory of moving further to the right under the Biden administration and the neo-cons that now occupy the White House, regardless of which party is in office. It’s a win-win for them.
Yes, aiming for the Cheney endorsement means you have betrayed the working class.
The sign waving behind the plane overhead reads “never mind the working class and the poor.”
It’s the billionaires, stupid!
What’s infuriating is that the US is such a vicious and vindictive bully, it’s preventing almost all other nations from acting vs Israel. Everyone’s waiting for the US to give the green light - what a world we live in
What is says is DNC is owned by AIPAC. And even 1 billion dollars later. They are not electable. So DNC need to choose. Do they want power or forever be owned by PAC money and donor class.
I'm so ashamed of my party. We deserved to lose this election.
Should have had an open primary oh well.
Talk about distractions. Why do we parse and parse all the "bad political decisions", all the "bad policy decisions" while we studiously ignore the causation, the elephant in the room.. "It's all about the Benjamins, baby"... which bankrolls the American political machine. That, and the fear of the phony indignation and the relentless retribution of the 5th Columnist Jewish Lobby labeling one an "antisemite" and ruining their political career. Allow me to quote Norman Finkelstein: "A lot of what's happening is due to the power of money of Jewish supremacists. Jewish supremacist means two things. It means, first of all, Jews can do no wrong... and secondly if they do do wrong, the fact that you're focusing on them is because you must be an antisemite. Otherwise, why aren't you talking about China, the Kurds, and why aren't you talking about, and why aren't you talking about... They cannot accept the possibility that Israel, A, is doing wrong, and B, people are outraged because of the wrong that's being committed. It always has to be something else. It could be antisemitism, or, as most Jews believe, it's envy. If you vent an animus towards what Israel is doing it's because you envy Jews, you're jealous of Jews. Jews are better. The goyim envy Jews, and that's why they'll use things like Gaza to discredit us"
Trump gave Israel Jerusalem and Golan Heights in his first term. He will give them the West Bank in his second term. Palestine as a country no longer exists. The price for ending genocide is a greater Israel with the remaining Palestinians allowed to live as second class citizens.
This is all just empty words. Van Hollen voted multiple times to send military aid to Israel!