As former “PCO of the Year” for Whatcom Democrats (2008), I will not be voting for Genocide Joe Biden. As I listen daily to “Democracy Now!” and “Alternative Radio,” (and even recently improved reporting on NPR), regarding the slaughter of Palestinian civilians—approximately 27,000 at this point, mostly women and children—I am sickened that this is funded by my hard-earned tax money to the tune of $3.8 billion per year up until 2023, at which point another $14.5 billion was added, for a total of $18 billion (The Intercept, 12/28/23). As Biden travels to Israel and wags his finger at Netanyahu while handing him billions that could be spent on housing, education, and welfare in this or other countries, I listen to accounts of Palestinian children trying to bury their loved ones. One young man was unable to bury his mother, as her body was found in parts: legs, arms, and a head scattered about. A 6-year-old girl was screaming into the 911 line that there were six dead family members in her car, and a bulldozer was coming toward it—Amy Goodman played the tape of her last voice before she also was crushed.
I invite Genocide Joe to visit Palestine and offer to help bury the dead, as the smell of death and hungry dogs eating bodies permeate the air. A 3-month old baby was found dead under the rubble. One Palestinian journalist reported that 65 of his extended family had been killed by bombing. Then he was never heard from again. The Israeli kill machine targets journalists who reveal the ugly truth, just as they executed Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh last year. I called the White House at that time to see why we weren’t sending in the Marines to protect Palestinians. Needless to say, they didn’t give a rat’s ass. Israeli’s say they need to “occasionally mow the grass,” which means killing Palestinian children and pregnant women before they reproduce another generation of adults.
I remember at age 9, a visit from my great aunt Alice in Seattle, (1955), who posed the question, “But where are all these Palestinians supposed to go?” Good question, then as now. Only now they’re being directed to “safe spaces” where they can expect to be bombed with our U.S. death machines.
Who benefits? Companies like Raytheon, General Dynamics, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, Halliburton, and 100s of others. And of course the settler-colonialists, who have no hesitation to shoot any Palestinian on sight.
I listen to Holocaust survivors who oppose genocide; a photo of a silent line of Orthodox Jewish men in full regalia standing in Berlin with Palestinian flags while people curse at them, is one of the most moving. It brings me to tears. Rabbis who risk jail time for civil disobedience in New York and Washington D.C., many of whom travelled days by bus, are another group of selfless martyrs. Does Biden listen to any of them?
According to Jewish investigative journalist Aaron Mate, who has lived in Israel, Joe went there 40 years ago to befriend Netanyahu, and (unbelievably) told him he needed to kill more women and children. Zionism is not about religion; it’s a right-wing political ideology that is fascist in nature. The myth that Israel was created to promote freedom from oppression has been further exposed since October 7th, when they deliberately ignored warnings from their own sentinels that Hamas was coming. It was the perfect excuse to carry out “the final solution” of ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian aboriginal population.
In spite of global outrage, the U.S. continues to fund this Holocaust. And so the question remains: what can we do?
PALESTINIAN LIVES MATTER!
Comments by Readers
Kerry Johnson
Feb 09, 2024Thanks for writing and sharing those thoughts, Dianne. I am 100% percent with you (as are most folks who stand the Friday Peace Vigil in downtown Bellingham).
Thomas Gilmore
Feb 20, 2024Among the puzzling questions that the media chooses to ignore is asking high government officials why they are exercising the illegal use of power that violates the rule of law which they are required to obey.
The Foreign Assistance Act, which forbids the provision of assistance to a government which “engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.”
Arms Export Control Act, which says countries that receive US military aid can only use weapons for legitimate self-defense and internal security. Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza goes way beyond self-defense and internal security.
The U.S. War Crimes Act, which forbids grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, including wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, and unlawful deportation or transfer, perpetrated by the Israeli Occupying Forces.
The Leahy Law, which prohibits the U.S. Government from using funds for assistance to units of foreign security forces where there is credible information implicating that unit in the commission of gross violations of human rights.
The Genocide Convention Implementation Act, which was enacted to implement U.S. obligations under the Genocide Convention, provides for criminal penalties for individuals who commit or incite others to commit genocide
Under these laws, the State Department has a “Conventional Arms Transfer Policy” which “prohibit [U.S. weapons transfers when it’s likely they] will be used by Israel to commit … genocide, crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, [including attacks intentionally directed against civilian objects or civilians protected] or other serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights laws.”
Thomas Gilmore
Feb 20, 2024Foreign Military Aid: $95.3 Billion More Added To The National Debt.
Something to think about as you do your income taxes this year.
On February 13, 2024 the US Senate passed a bill including $95.3 billion in taxpayer handouts for the Ukrainian, Israeli, and Taiwanese regimes. How much is this bill going to lighten your wallet? The answer to that question is: About $287 per American!
The political marketing statements will include items like: “Only 1.5% of what the federal government spent last year!” and “Only 11.6% of last year’s US military spending!”
And the old perennial: “We’re not just giving foreign countries the money — they have to spend it in the US, creating jobs by buying weapons and ammunition from American military contractors! It’s like we’re giving it to ourselves!”
No, it’s not like we’re giving it to ourselves! It’s US politicians giving it to politically connected defense corporations who then make political donations to congress member’s campaigns at our expense. Also, there is an “administrative” rake-off for the various involved regimes, plus increasing US national debt by billions!
What could you do with $287 — or, if your family is average size (3.13 persons), what could you do with about $900? How about a month or two in gas, grocery, and utility costs for your household?
To read Thomas Knapp’s entire article go to:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/02/15/foreign-military-aid-95-3-billion-sounds-like-a-lot-of-money-so-does-your-cut/
Dianne Foster
Feb 21, 2024From the current edition of “Veterans for Peace” newsletter: “The U.S. President has authorized the export of DU (depleted uranium) munitions to Ukraine and has proposed a large sale of these weapons to Israel”. He has also authorized cluster munitions to Ukraine, which usually cause amputations of children who think they are toys and run to pick them up. Depleted uranium caused millions of cases of leukemia in Iraq, for which they had no medical system to handle. As of yesterday’s report on NPR, we have now slaughtered at least 59,000 Palestinian civilians, mostly women and children. We are sending white phosphorus to Israel for use on Palestinian civilians; it burns the skin similar to a nuclear blast. I called the White House again yesterday; they have absolutely no moral compass. Biden’s hope for re-election is based on the fact that his opponent is worse. We see millions of rallies, from Cape Town to Oslo, Tokyo to New York and D.C., yet the military-industrial complex runs everything. Most of climate change is caused by military action, so we need to unite young people around the combination of those issues ASAP, before we end up in a nuclear war. I notice there were only 4 Senators who voted against military aid to Israel and Ukraine; one of them was Oregon Senator Jeff Merkeley; I plan to write his name in on the Presidential primary ballot.
Dianne Foster
Feb 22, 2024Yesterday’s report on NPR said about 69,000 civilians killed since October 7th, whereas last night Democracy Now! said 30,000. These are estimates, as no one rally knows how many people are under the rubble, but suffice it to say, even one is too many. Thanks Tom for your remark., Of oucrse it only further demonstrates that international law is meaningless and real power comes from the hegemonic intentions of the power elite in this country and their vassals such as UK and Australia throughout the world, Julian Assange sits in jail for telling the truth about war crimes, while Joe Biden raises billions from genocidal Zionists.
Jon Humphrey
Mar 17, 2024One of the many things we have to keep in mind is how governments don’t represent their people. In fact, 51% of Israeli’s would back a US led deal that ends the war. So, of course, Netanyahu is ignoring them. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-01-22/gaza-war-don-t-confuse-netanyahu-s-interests-with-israel-s
While most people would back the removal of a terrorist organization like Hamas none of the people I know, including the Jewish members of my family, back Religious-Extremist Wacko Netanyahu’s obvious genocide of the Palestinian people. Let’s not kid ourselves, genocide is what is actually going on and we should remember this is hardly the first time Israel made a play for Gaza and its land.
Netanyahu and his fascist cronies simply do not see the Palestinian people as human. However, this is NOT how most of Israel’s people feel.
Chuck Schumer calling for new elections in Israel is right on. However, like the Corporate Democrat scumbag he is, it’s not like he stopped the flow of weapons or money to Israel or is likely to vote against warmongers like our own weapons laden blood money Senator Rick Larsen. Who, we should remember, is supported by Alex Ramel and Sharon Shewmake.
So just like we have a government that doesn’t represent us and does everything to protect corporations, especially weapons manufacturers, against our interests, Israel has a government that simply ignores its people and does whatever the hell it feels like too. So right now Israel has a dictator just like we will if we reelect Trump.
It’s obvious that they need new leadership that represents their actual goals as a people as do we and believes in Democracy. (And no, as an aside that is NOT Joe Biden.) In the meantime, we could at the very least stop giving Netanyahu’s hate machine money and weapons to commit genocide with.
If the Hamas attack was Israel’s 9/11 then I ask them to learn this lesson from us. The 2nd Iraq War lasted 8 years, 8 months, and 26 days with operations taking place in the area for many years after that. 432,093 civilians were killed along with over 7,000 service members and 8,000 contractors even though most of the 9/11 terrorists weren’t even from Iraq and even though the organization that was responsible was al Queda and not any particular country.
In the end, the war did not defeat al Queda because it is largely more of an idea than an organization and you can’t kill ideas. Israel’s blatant US backed genocide against the Palestinian people is only going to create more terrorists down the road.
Yes, Hamas needs to release the hostages and needs to be dealt with, but there is a better way to go about that than genocide, like special forces led extractions, diplomacy, etc. Remember, Dictator Netanyahu wants the land and doesn’t see the Palestinian’s as people. He is too biased to lead a modern democracy which is why, in effect, he doesn’t. It’s also obvious that Netanyahu is a sociopath like Trump.
I really wish our leaders were required to play the Civilization game series before taking office. Then they would learn that trying to exterminate everyone that doesn’t agree with you is generally not the best course of action without actually costing the lives of real people in the process.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization_(series)
Also, don’t we need the $300 billion we’ve given in Israel since 1946 at home?
https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts
Our healthcare system still bankrupts Americans, our educational systems are failing, our infrastructure is a joke, and we’re beind the world in technological infrastructre as well. Our housing is unaffordable and our homeless crisis is out of control. I could go on, but that seems like enough for now. We need our money at home.
Also, Israel had a higher GDP than Japan last year. If they want to do something stupid, they don’t need our help to do it.