Young Democrats face Gaza blowback as they try to mobilize students for Biden

return2ozma@lemmy.world to politics @lemmy.world – 256 points –
Young Democrats face Gaza blowback as they try to mobilize students for Biden | CNN Politics
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The Columbia divestment spokesperson said they had no involvement with the group which took over Hamlin Hall, but stood in solidarity with them.

When the movement as a whole stands in solidarity with those who are weakening the movement, maybe Biden has a point.

Biden is arming and funding a genocide

He has no moral credibility and neither does the Democratic Party

Sure I get that, but I would also point out that you aren't personally getting food into Gaza. Trump is going to tear down the humanitarian aid for Palestinians that Biden and the Democrats are working through the diplomatic process.

When Trump is elected and this genocide becomes a success, make no mistake, you will have had a hand in that, and I think you would lose that ability to criticize Biden.

the humanitarian aid for Palestinians that Biden and the Democrats are working through the diplomatic process.

This is not happening. It's a fairy tale

this genocide becomes a success

Already is.

I think you would lose that ability to criticize Biden.

I think everyone who voted for Biden in 2020, which includes me, is culpable for this genocide.

Unfortunately, the United States is not a democracy. It is a dictatorship of the oligarchs. Which means there is no way to influence policy on which the oligarchs agree. This Zionist genocide is one such example. Another is single payer healthcare. And workplace democracy.

This country is a hellhole whose living conditions will continue to deteriorate for the rest of our lives, much like they have since 1968. Voting for Biden or for trump will not change that.

Moving to somewhere like Denmark is the best possible option. No American should have any hope for this country. It is naive to think that Biden and The Democrats will do anything to meaningfully improve the country or the world. They are owned by the oligarchs - they just don't actively hate guys or women.

You are privileged enough to go to Denmark, that's great.

They aren't accepting over 300 million migrants. Just because you won't be paying the repurcussions for your helping the Trump campaign doesn't make you the moral beacon you pretend to be.

No, I can't go to Denmark, actually. Everyone who can go, should go.

This country is fucked regardless of who wins. Neoliberals like the Democrats have destroyed the United States and killed the New Deal. Which is inevitably going to cause this country to elect a fascist. If not Trump in 2024, then someone else in 2028 or 2032. There is no way out of this except for socialism, or, at the least, social democracy. Which is impossible, because our oligarchs will never allow such a thing.

You and I are on the Titanic. Neither of us are getting a lifeboat. Accept that.

I gotta say this message has a pretty big red flag for me. The American movement is referred to as Democratic Socialism.

I don't think an American leftist would make that mistake, nor be unaware that our movement is actively infiltrating the democratic party, nor that our relevance within the Democratic Party has never been greater.

I'm sorry, but I think you are almost certainly astroturfing.

I have no idea what you're talking about

Sanders is a self-proclaimed democratic socialist. But so what? You think the average person under 40 is actually afraid of socialism? You think that's a bad word? What are you, a boomer?

Also, considering that you're defending American oligarchy and genocide, it's pretty clear that you're astroturfing

How's the weather at Eglin Air Force base in May?

Nothing you just said makes any sense.

The term you used "social democracy" is not what the movement is called in the US. That's a European thing. democratic socialism is the movement Americans Americans are fighting for.

It's curious that when I pointed this out to you, you immediately accused me of being a boomer in the air force afraid of Democratic socialism despite just being told I am one.

Thanks for outing your account!

The term you used "social democracy" is not what the movement is called in the US

Social democracy and democratic socialism are two completely different things. The former is liberalism (with an enormous welfare state - which is what the Nordic countries have and what the US has never actually had and have diminished since 1968.) The latter is socialism. Please do not correct anyone about misuse of terms unless you actually understand what you're talking about. Log off and read before spreading ignorance - unless you enjoy being accused of astroturfing.

...i am aware they are two separate things.

My god, bots are getting quite good. A boomer in the air force scared of socialism, for instance. Iquite creative.

You're embarrassed about being wrong and now you're lashing out.

So not only do you not understand political theory, but you're willing to defend genocide when it's done by the blue team

You should pray that hell does not exist

We all know of his support. What you don’t seem to recognize is that Trump will be worse. Protest Biden’s support of Israel. Just don’t pretend that things will be get better by supporting Trump. We all know that’s a lie.

Also, the Republicans tried to pass Israel aid independent of Ukraine and Taiwan aid. Don’t pretend for a second that the Democrats in Congress are morally inferior to the Republicans.

The Democrats are arming and funding a genocide. Even George W Bush and Trump never did that.

Only one president in my lifetime ever armed and funded a genocide. That president is a Democrat and his name is Joe Biden

There were nearly one million deaths as a result of his two front war in Iraq and Afghanistan. You’re joking, right?

Trump has also made it clear that he would push Israel to finish what they started in Gaza.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/04/politics/trump-israel-comments/index.html

What are the elements of the crime of genocide, and how were they all present in Iraq?

Gaza is worse than that abomination because of Israels clear intent to exterminate a people. Which is what makes it genocide. This isn't a war with an unacceptably large amount of deaths - its a targeted extermination campaign that is also engaging in ethnic cleansing and collective punishment

If you can’t see the vilification and indiscriminate killing of Arabs as genocidal, and you’d rather argue semantics, then technically speaking Netanyahu’s horrific actions in Gaza are not genocide until determined by the ICC. Saying “Bush wouldn’t even do this” is absurd.

Genocide is a crime. Crimes have elements. Tell me how Iraq meets all of those elements

Its why Maos great leap forward isn't genocide. Did millions of people die? Yes. Did the CCP intend for those people to die? No. As opposed to the holocaust wherein the deaths of 9 million people were the clear intent.

Here, Netanyahu wants to exterminate the gazans and is doing so. Which makes it genocide

Mens rea/mental intent is a necessary and critical element of all criminal law. It's the distinguishing factor between murder and manslaughter. Or between genocide and neoconservative "nation building". It isn't semantics

It’s determined by the ICC and International law. If you’re being technical of the designation, that’s how it’s defined.

It is determined when the elements of a crime are satisfied.

A murderer has committed murder even if they are never arrested by law enforcement. Shoplifting has still occurred even if the thief is never prosecuted. Israel is committing genocide even if the ICC and ICJ (which are overwhelmingly funded by the United States and the West) never obtain a conviction.

Great, so we can either call killing 35,000 Palestinians and 900,000+ Arabs genocide, or agree it’s not by law. Semantics doesn’t change what happened in 2002, just like it doesn’t change what’s happening in Gaza now. Wrong is wrong, and saying Bush wouldn’t do this is wildly ignorant.

Bush didn't do this. War crimes may have been committed at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib relating to torture and unlawful treatment of prisoners. And murder certainly occurred via Blackwater's massacres. But no targeted extermination of Iraqis as a group occurred.

During the Iraq War under the George W. Bush administration, there were significant allegations and documented instances of war crimes, particularly concerning the treatment of prisoners and the use of torture. However, the term "genocide" is specific and typically refers to acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group. There is no consensus or legal finding that genocide occurred during the Iraq War under these definitions.

Regarding war crimes:

  1. Treatment of Prisoners and Torture The most notorious example was the abuse and torture of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison, which came to light in 2004. Photographs showing U.S. military personnel abusing and humiliating Iraqi prisoners sparked global outrage. Investigations revealed that the abuses included physical and sexual abuse, torture, rape, sodomy, and murder. These acts were violations of the Geneva Conventions, which protect detainees from inhumane treatment.

  2. Legal Consequences: Some soldiers involved in the Abu Ghraib scandal were court-martialed, convicted, and sentenced to varying terms. However, higher-ranking officials and policymakers were largely not held accountable, leading to widespread criticism and allegations of impunity.

The broader context of the Iraq War includes other allegations of war crimes, such as the use of disproportionate force and illegal weapons.

However, genocide has a precise definition.

The crime of genocide is defined under international law by specific elements that must be present for an act to be legally recognized as genocide. These elements are outlined primarily in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948) and are further refined in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998). Here are the critical elements:

  1. Intent to Destroy: The perpetrator must have intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, as such. This is known as the "special intent" or "dolus specialis".

  2. Protected Groups: The targeted group must be identifiable and protected under the Convention, specifically as a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group.

  3. Prohibited Acts: The Convention specifies the following acts, when committed with intent to destroy a protected group:

    • Killing members of the group.
    • Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.
    • Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the group's physical destruction.
    • Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.
    • Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

The Rome Statute also includes the forcible transfer of a group as an act of genocide when it is intended to destroy the group’s identity.

These elements combine to form the legal framework that courts and international bodies use to determine whether acts constitute genocide, focusing heavily on the perpetrator's intent alongside the nature of the acts committed.