Senate votes against Sanders resolution to force human rights scrutiny over Israel aid
theguardian.com
Senator’s bid to make US military support conditional on whether Israel is violating human rights in Gaza fails by 72 votes to 11
Senator’s bid to make US military support conditional on whether Israel is violating human rights in Gaza fails by 72 votes to 11
Unsurprising. Thank you, Bernie, for trying.
Every time America is about to/in the process of making a mistake there's a video of Bernie Sanders warning everyone not to do it.
Our very own Cassandra of Troy.
Bernie is a national treasure, we don't deserve him
All the boomers purged their humanity so they could rape this planet. It formed into Bernie Sanders.
Sanders is proof the US is working on a rigged system
he has had the people's interest at heart since he first started his political career in the 60s and not just the US citizens
He will inspire a group of young people that will actually make the change when boomers die. So there's that.
The two party thing has been going for 150 years. The top will not ever allow change in the regime.
Sanders almost won in 2016 but the DNC actively conspired against him to run Hillary. The Democrats will rather lose than allow the system to change.
Prescient. I don’t think many centrist have realized that yet.
You, in another comment chain, are advocating for voting third party and advocating against grassroots change like Unionization and winning local elections. If you realize the top will never ever allow change in the regime, then why are you advocating against bottom-up pressure, and advocating for knowingly spoiling your vote?
Not the one concerned, but the two party system used to include the wigs. One party can get dismantled and I think it would only happen with bottom up pressure, and grass roots.
Yep, that's my point entirely. With the current two party system, voting third party is purely a spoiler vote without mass grassroots pressure like Unionization and winning local elections. They've argued against building up that bottom-up pressure as pointless, and instead advocated for voting third party, getting the order entirely wrong.
With the current dem/rep split, voting Democrat is what leftists should do purely as loss prevention. It's only with genuine outside, bottom-up pressure that third party could ever be viable.
Voting Democrat hurts any leftist credibilty and promotes complacency.
It will only shift the system further right. Then Right wingers will complain about whichever incompetent Democrat is in charge at the time is actually responsible and we need an incompetent Republican instead.
The longer you vote for people like Biden, the more people will believe in Trump or an even worse Fascist that will rise up.
this is certainly a take. you honestly think putting republicans in office will show "the people" how bad they are?
I literally don't think any candidate can be worse than trump. antivaxxers (who are majority repub) died in droves during the pandemic and he won lowa by a landslide.
trump is literally as incompetent as they come. but republicans are incredibly loyal and I don't believe anything short of the president commiting mass murder will change their minds.
now is not really the time for big brain takes, just vote Biden and get smashed afterwards if you want.
Voting for Biden makes you complicit in Genocide. You will become a Nazi in act by voting for Biden (or Trump). That will be the defining moment that you lose all innocence.
not voting doesn't mean your hands are clean. if the goal is world peace, your choice is Biden, not voting, trump.
Are you claiming Bin Laden was right?
There is nothing wrong with Unionizing. Just voting for the Nazis at the helm.
The point is what Bernie had proven. The Democrats will never change if you try to work with them or join them. This is similar to the excuse of Democrats "trying to find a middle ground" for Republicans voters that will never vote for them anyways and adopting right wing policies.
The party is rotten from the top. This is why progressive people made third parties to begin with. Because changing a rotten organization from the inside isn't possible. You need a new organization to replace it.
You directly said that grassroots activism, ie Unionization, is akin to grassroots genocide, so I'm glad you're walking that statement back.
The Democrats will not change if you work with them or join them, yes, neither will the Republicans, and third parties will absolutely never gain any traction without significant grassroots change like Unionization.
By voting third party without building up mass grassroots change, you're spoiling your vote and enabling fascism. You can't just vote a third party into office without genuine pressure from the bottom.
Again, read Reform or Revolution. You can't change the Dems, and you can't change the two party system itself, via voting. You understand that the dems can't change, so then why do you think the entire US can change just with electoralism?
I made it 15 minutes through the paper you recommended and then gave up because there doesn't seem to be a conclusion anywhere just a massive irrelevant story.
I don't even know who she's referencing in her story and I'm sure as hell not going to read some bank simp paper to find out.
I can recommend you this podcast that perfectly predicted every single thing that is happening today in America and israel. From an actual progressive that can use coherent words. The weird thing is that this was recorded two years ago. And it feels like this podcast was recorded yesterday
https://youtu.be/69pEzsfX8Aw?t=26m44s
Reform or Revolution is one of the most foundational writings in leftist history, so if this is just "some paper" to you and not the seminal work taking down the nonsense that is electoralism then you're either a fed, or found the wrong paper. If you didn't read Rosa Luxembourg's masterwork and just happened to find some random progressive, then you get a pass, otherwise you've successfully outed yourself as a fed.
Recommending Hedges over Rosa Luxembourg, pretending he's "an actual progressive that can use coherent words" while Rosa herself isn't, is nothing short of pathetic. Hedges fancies himself a Marxist, yet you seem to ignore every single Marxist writer in history.
If Hedges is telling you that virtue signaling is all that matters, and that grassroots, bottom-up movements that stand to shift the very foundation that the two party system rests on is a waste of time, then neither you nor Hedges are leftists at all and are merely grifters and feds.
Reevaluate your positions and values. If you truly care about the Proletariat, then accept that electoralism is purely loss prevention and make an actual difference in people's lives. Support a local Socialist candidate, join or start a union, and actually read theory, rather than getting your brain rotted out by podcast bros.
Chris Hedges, the guy who sued Obama over the illegal arrest laws.
Is a fed.
It's clear that you didn't manage to watch anything of that video lol.
I classify your linked paper as trash because of the insane overusage of thesaurus. It's like someone needed to pad their essay with big words to look smart. The sentences aren't complex they are just overcomplicated. I'm not reading 10 chapters of that. Bernie's results prove more than that paper could ever.
Thatcher is classified as genius too by some. Don't need to read it to know it's stupid.
Anyone got a list of who supported it?
Edit: so far I found that it was Sanders (duh), Rand Paul, and 9 democrats. Not sure who
Edit 2: per https://www.businessinsider.com/which-senators-voted-bernie-sanders-resolution-israel-human-rights-violations-2024-1?amp
Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky
Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico
Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon
Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont
Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland
Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts
Democratic Sen. Laphonza Butler of California
Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico
Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii
Democratic Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts
Anyone got a list of who abstained? I want to do the math so I know how large the Senate Genocide Caucus is.
EDIT: I was trying to do math and kept overlooking how the article said that it was 72-11, which would mean 17 abstaining or absent. The Senate Genocide Caucus is 72 members wide.
https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll\_call\_votes/vote1182/vote\_118\_2\_00008.htm
It’s fucked that it’s 15 Republicans and only 2 Dems abstaining.
If my arithmetic is correct, the Senate Genocide Caucus consists of 2 Independents, 32 Republicans, and 37 Democrats.
=71. You're short 1. (vote was 72-11)
I see what I did. I subtracted from 48 Republicans instead of 49. The Senate Genocide Caucus has 2 Independents, 33 Republicans, and 37 Democrats.
Grassley is in hospital
Rand Paul accidentally stumbles into the correct opinion.
Rand (and Ron) Paul always confuses me.
What's there to be confused about?
Ron is a soft-spoken man who stood firm in his convictions, and was quietly friendly with white nationals and other horrible people. He's retired now.
Rand is a bit of a blow hard with no convictions, and is loudly friendly with white nationals and other horrible people. He's a sitting senator.
Because compared to other nameable Republicans, he occasionally votes in ways that are agreeable with many leftists. But like you said, he's also still a massive piece of shit.
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day...
Voting List for Anyone Interested
Fuck everyone that continues to support this genocide.
Important to note that this is a motion to table - so the "Yea" vote means they disagree with Bernie's resolution.
39 Democrat senators (40 if you count Sinema) and 32 Republican senators.
I'd also like to remind people that 44 Democrats and 36 Republican senators voted to block the rail strike.
Procorporate trash. All of them. Fuck Joe Biden.
Ok, so Rand Paul actually did a good thing? Broken clock, etc, etc.....
Bernie Sanders is obviously a raging anti-Semite.
The ADL just declared that Jewish Voice for Peace are antisemitic so Bernie probably isn't far behind.
I hope you are being sarcastic.
I am. I'm Jewish, and a Berniecrat. Bernie is a caricature if an old Jewish man.
Those senators must be pretty confident that a report would find human rights violations. Why would they oppose it otherwise?
They love giving US the "if you have nothing to hide" argument 🤷
if only democrats actually stood for what they say they stand for
we could of had eight years of bernie instead of eight years of further decline with trump and biden
if you think israel didn't do anything wrong, why oppose an investigation?
(also milosevic did the same thing in the 90s and was prosecuted for it by the icc - the us supported that then)
Serbia bad, Israel good. Realpolitik
Problem is is that Serbia wasn't a nuclear power. That's the thing about prosecuting war criminals, they can't have a nuke that's tied to their vital signs.
Sigh, the US government never fails to disappoint.
During the Sheikh Jarrah incident I contacted everyone who politically represents me and told them to re-evaluate how freely they fund Isreal, they all gave me lots of lip service telling me they will consider it when opportunities arise and every last one of them voted against this. I don't think I've ever in my life been accurately represented politically on a federal level, and the only reason that's not true locally is because I've testified to local government committees on things that actually made it to the state house floor.
I wish I could give you a hug. It's so useful to have your voice on this (and I assume other progressive matters?). There are many of us who feel the same way, and some of us are trying to regain our strength to try to improve the world again. Thanks.
Thank you. It's tough to fight being disheartened when you constantly feel looked over, or like some politicians margin of error. They act like they'd rather lose my vote then consider my prerogatives.
Doesn’t look like there are many scruples left in DC.
There weren't any in the first place.
This is the stupidest timeline.
Warren also voted with Sanders.
Why?
Geopolitics overrides morality.
Concise and efficient, I like your answer.
as is tradit
The republicans voted against it because it's from him, and the democrats voted against it because they're courting the right.
BoTh SiDeS¿
Israel support is one of those things where you can confidently say that both sides are the same
It's almost like both sides work for the same entity. Would make sense as to why they act similarly when their strategic allies are under pressure.
Illuminati confirmed.
Israel and large corporations. Let's not forget Obama bailing out the banks with tax dollars after the 2008 collapse
RIAA & MPAA layers in the DoJ. Jeff Immelt for economic recovery. James Crown.
The DoJ appointments really bothered me because i was a 2600 subscriber and the MPAA shouldn't even exist let alone have influence on society.
I'm supposed to believe the Dems that voted against this also care about saving democracy? They don't even care about basic human rights. We're going full speed into the worst timeline.
It sometimes feels like Bernie Sanders is the only American leader with an actual heart.
I knew he was "my guy" when I finally realized who he was in 2016. There was a time I watched a lot of documentaries, and every time this scraggly haired old dude was shown in some random clip of Congress doing their thing in relation to the documentary, he was always on the right side of the argument. So I see Bernie Sanders running and I said "oh shit, it's that guy!"
No wonder the media demonizes him...
Well, at least it was the right method. They didn't hide behind Biden.
Proud of my Senator, Martin Heinrich. He did the right thing today.
Isnt that a proof that Israel dont respect human rights?
It is more proof that the US doesn't give a shit.
It's more proof that the US does give a shit, and that the US prefers that human rights not be respected.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
US senators have defeated a measure, introduced by Bernie Sanders, that would have made military aid to Israel conditional on whether the Israeli government is violating human rights and international accords in its devastating war in Gaza.
“We must ensure that US aid is being used in accordance with human rights and our own laws,” Sanders said in a speech before the vote urging support for the resolution, lamenting what he described as the Senate’s failure to consider any measure looking at the war’s effect on civilians.
Sanders wrote on Twitter/X that his resolution directed the state department “to report on any human rights violations that may have occurred using US equipment in the Israeli military campaign in Gaza”, adding: “It should not be controversial to ask how US weapons are used.”
It would have forced the state department to provide a report within 30 days – and aid to Israel would be cut off if human rights violations were found.
Amid anti-war protests across the US, progressive representatives including Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Barbara Lee and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have called for a ceasefire.
Speaking from the Republican side before the measure was introduced on Tuesday evening, South Carolina senator Lindsay Graham said that Hamas, the Islamist group, has “militarized” schools and hospitals in the territory by operating amongst them.
The original article contains 597 words, the summary contains 220 words. Saved 63%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Is this an active coup that’s been playing out since 60s or when ever this shadowy government does? Is this the same thing like how one president get 1 free murder, no questions asked but like on large scales?
Now there's two fascist parties...
Always have been
Those NY votes are bought with blood
As an American, I wish we could give Israel and Ukraine more money
Has anyone read the resolution and can say who Sanders wants to do the human rights scruitny, and how they would do it in a warzone? I'd guess the UNHRC, but it's gaza so if that means UNRWA then it's silly. UNRWA is a wing of Hamas, and aids Hamas or they'd be kicked out.
Just a reminder from the past:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/watchdog-finds-unrwa-workers-praised-hamas-massacres-in-internal-telegram-channel/?utm_source=ground.news&utm_medium=referral
And those were the "teachers". #facepalm
https://www.timesofisrael.com/unrwa-textbooks-still-include-hate-antisemitism-despite-pledge-to-remove-watchdog/
So everyone is calling it a genocide. Is there any reputable source deriving this claim? I am confused since the definition of genocide from Wikipedia is not fitting with my image of the war.
What part do you think is not happening?
Nothing of that. Its not like Israel is trying to kill Palestinians, but killing Hamas. And by doing so, the civilians of the country can die without it being a genocide. The allied forces didn't commit a genocide in Dresden, Germany. And the US didn't commit a genocide in Hiroshima.
In their tv broadcasts they have labeled every Palestinian man, woman, child, even baby as an enemy, and should be treated as such. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHDmWm4Ove0
Honestly I'd just read South Africa's court filing with the International Criminal Court (yes I know they're hypocrites due to lukewarm attitudes to Putin's actions but it doesnt change the facts in the specific case): https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240112-pre-01-00-en.pdf
You dont have to read all of it. Even scrolling and just stopping randomly comes up with sone of the most horrific shit the government of Israel is doing and the stuff high level administrators have advocated for and said.
If you think the "human animals" comments and policies are bad, it gets so much fucking worse :/
Here's is the link to South Africa's complaint: https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20231228-app-01-00-en.pdf
I'm not sure what your link is but it's very barebones.
I didn't read the entire complaint but a couple things stood out to me.
The most sensational claims in the document come from questionable media sources, directly from the Palestinians authorities, or are attributed to often unnamed sources or just "reports."
Many of the incidents alleged are repeated dozens and dozens of times throughout the document, in different contexts. A handful of war crimes, even if proven, in a war, does not make the war a genocide.
It's a complaint, so it includes no facts from Israel's side of the story; none of the intelligence, none of Israel's public explanations or press releases or videos.
The link is to a court filing with the UN.
And its not just the actions, its the statements by Israeli figures, which aren't related to the PA/are easily externally verifiable.
They clearly demonstrate intent and action for genocide, and the most significant aspects like razing half of Gaza to the ground, bombing """safe zones""" (which are already essentially force mass migration, and what about people who cant evacuate), preventing even the most basic access to food, water, electricity, healthcare, etc. are easy to see.
If you want more named sources, perhaps consider that Israel apparently loves to prevent journalistic entry and also bomb journalists in Gaza <.<
And we all know what Israel's statements are. "Everything is a Hamas base, so lets use masses of high yield bombs in highly urbanised areas while deliberately bombing the zones we pretended were safe, and our officials cheer on mass slaughter of civilians while claiming no person in Gaza can be considered a civilian and comparing them to animals or filth to be removed"
maybe not genocide - i'm not sure - but definitely ethnic cleansing
”They’re the same picture”