Branko Marcetic is a Jacobin staff writer and the author of Yesterday’s Man: The Case Against Joe Biden.
Joe Biden’s steadfast support for Israel puts him in more political peril than calling for a cease-fire would. Either he doesn’t realize there’s a new political reality or he simply doesn’t care.
From the rate and scale of civilian slaughter to the killing of protected groups and the type of munitions, Israel’s war on Gaza is an exceptionally brutal campaign unlike almost anything we’ve seen.
Israeli snipers have surrounded Gaza’s al-Awda hospital and are firing on the civilians trapped inside. The lack of public outcry suggests that some people are coming to accept Israel’s horrific war crimes as a fact of life.
Joe Biden shouldn’t take for granted that young voters will automatically support him just because Donald Trump was a disaster for the climate. Biden will still have to make good on ambitious climate promises before the election.
Actor Susan Sarandon is the latest target of the increasingly McCarthyite attacks on pro-Palestine figures. Supporters of Israel’s brutal war, meanwhile, can apparently say anything they want, including defending the slaughter of Palestinian civilians.
Joe Biden’s staunch support for Israel’s war on Gaza is both a moral and political disaster. He should realize before it’s too late that backing Israel to the hilt is cratering his reelection chances.
A variety of prominent Israeli voices, including its paper of record, have denounced the war on Gaza and pointed to anti-Palestinian repression as the root cause of Hamas’s violence. But those in the US saying the same have been met with slander and censure.
Signs and speakers at yesterday’s March for Israel endorsed continuing violence, but since the event was pro-Israel, no one in the establishment will condemn that rhetoric. The worst invited speaker was notoriously antisemitic Christian pastor John Hagee.
The potential for progressive change is very much alive in American states and cities. Socialists had a strong showing at the state and local levels across the country last week, winning four of six ballot measures and gaining eleven seats overall.
In an outrageous act, the US House has censured Rashida Tlaib for her criticism of Israel’s war on Gaza. All she’s done is call for peace for everyone in historic Palestine — at the same time Israel bombs hospitals and US politicians dehumanize Palestinians.
Israel has killed at least 36 journalists during its bombing campaign in Gaza, at times even slaying reporters’ families. The media establishment, which a short time ago was rightly decrying the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, hasn’t said a thing.
Critics of Israel’s merciless war on Gaza are facing threats of government prosecution and blacklists or firings. In this neo-McCarthyist environment, anything pro-Palestine is being made to carry the whiff of bigotry or even incitement to violence.
The Biden administration’s “humanitarian pause” is not a solution to the horrific war in Gaza, which is killing Palestinian civilians by the thousands. Cease-fires foster a path to peace, while “humanitarian pauses” facilitate continued war.
US officials are right to condemn the killing and hostage-taking of Israeli Americans by Hamas. If only they displayed the same indignation at Israel’s killing of Palestinian Americans.
One of Joe Biden’s top priorities has been convincing a skeptical world to buy into the “rules-based international order.” His backing of the war in Gaza is completely undercutting that effort.
As the war in Gaza continues, cheerleading of civilian slaughter and justification of war crimes are pervasive. But they’re not coming from the Left — they’re coming from politicians and commentators defending Israel’s vicious bombing campaign and blockade.
If Israel does not de-escalate its war on Gaza, the conflict risks spilling into neighboring Middle Eastern nations. The humanitarian consequences would be horrific.
The US response to 9/11 killed millions, destabilized an entire region, and led to more American deaths than the original attacks. Israel is rushing down the same path.
Israel is bombarding Gaza, slaughtering civilians en masse and vowing to turn it into a “city of tents” following this weekend’s horrific violence. An immediate cease-fire to end the cycle of bloodshed couldn’t be more urgent.
Laphonza Butler, California’s newest senator, went from heading a major union to leading lobbying for Airbnb. In that position, she oversaw the company’s efforts to fight off local governments’ regulations — directly exacerbating the US housing crisis.