Saw this in the news today Israel-Gaza war: US carries out its first aid airdrop in strip https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68457937
I don’t get it… the US has been a really vocal and financial supporter of the state of Israel, why are they also supporting the Palestinians who oppose them?
Elections are close and Biden is trying to get people to vote for him. Not out of the goodness of his heart. Biden has long been a huge supporter of Israel.
The man even said out loud that he’s a Zionist. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
What’s wrong with supporting Israel? Maybe I just don’t fucking get it but Palestine and Israel have been at each other’s throats for decades.
All I hear is that Israel is a bunch of Zionists but it’s never mentioned that most of Palestine supports Hamas. Hamas is also propped up by Iran who wants to destroy the USA and whatever else it is they shout about.
It just seems odd to me.
Most of gaza is aged under 18, most weren’t even born during the last election.
And maybe, just maybe it’s all the war crimes Israelis are committing and then bragging on social media about.
Can we support ourselves first before some other country?
Genocide Joe is a hypocrite.
Enjoy Trump
“One person bad therefore other person good!”
No they’re both awful I just think I’d prefer someone who’s “just” genocidal to someone who’s genocidal and has other problems if those are my only options under the current system.
I don’t think the US wants to be part of the genocide.
The US however has put itself in a position where it feels like it must support Israel no matter what.
It’s like having a drunken, drug addled, sibling that you have to protect who does terrible things.
The USA drop is political for the upcoming election true, it’s also a message to Israel that support is diminishing.
Ok this makes sense. So they’re committed to Israel and don’t have much choice?
They always have a choice. One solution is just more profitable than the other.
If Israel would fall or weaken, that would also mean that the only country in the whole middle east, that doesn’t hate the US with all their guts, would be a weaker ally.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan… The US has bought many allies in the region.
The danger is not an immediate loss of allies. The danger is a long term stable Middle East, that is not ridden by war and insurgency. if the Middle East realized its shared interests it would become a major global power. So the US needs Israel as the thorn right in the heart.
Israel falling would be a terrible outcome likely resulting in a mass genocide (the other way). The desirable outcome is for Israel to move out of Gaza and the occupied areas. That would also likely strengthen Israel both because it will strengthen their international reputation, and because it moves their troops out of danger.
It’s a geopolitical mess because Israel offers the US access to that region’s sphere of influence, hence why the lack of “choice”.
There’s always a choice. Our politicians are just too invested in Isreal’s military as a middle-eastern ally.
But Isreal has really demonstrated how self-serving and nationalist they are, and I don’t think they can be relied upon in a call to action as an ally.
I wish our leaders would show more of a backbone against Isreal, and withdraw all support for them.
They’re like our only friend at the bar, who is now being an asshole.
We just bought a drink for the dude they were rude to, trying to smooth things over, but the actual better choice would be to drag them out, send them home, and tell them we aren’t hanging out again until they can behave.
Ok this is an amazing analogy, thank you.
I don’t think the US wants to be part of the genocide.
Narrator: It already is and no amount of PR stunts will change that.
It’s basic wildlife management.
If you let the hunters kill all the deer then you don’t have a hunting season next year and Cabela’s doesn’t get to sell guns and ammo to hunters.
At least with deer it’s illegal to shoot them at a salt lick though.
You don’t have to only support one side at the exclusion of the other, even when they are fighting. In this case Israel has been provoked into destroying the terrorist organization Hamas. Since not everyone in Gaza is Hamas and Hamas has been hijacking the aid trucks along with the simple logistical issues of distribution, they are now trying direct support via airdrops which are much harder for Hamas to intercept or just be overrun in general. I’ve also seen speculation that they are using it to for training as well.
Because the majority of the American people believe Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people, rather than just a war against Hamas, and US support is starting to hurt Biden’s chances of being re-elected.
There are still people alive who lived through the Holocaust. Yet Israel would turn around and do the same to others, with bombs and drones instead of gas chambers. It’s unfathomable to me and just disgusting. I no longer have the sympathy I once did.
At the same time, you can’t convince me that the timing of the whole thing wasn’t the direct result of trump selling secrets to Russia.
Got a source for the majority claim?
That poll figures don’t prove your claim
How does the secrets to Russia thing come in?
Because biz.
Supporting Israel with weapons and UN vetos is the only leverage the US has over Israel right now. The US is sort of trying to be the supportive buddy who talks their friend down instead of just another country on the list that yells at them but does nothing else.
Problem is, Israel has made it pretty clear they don’t care if they lose US support (or don’t believe it can politically happen) and so that leverage is almost nil which is making the US and Biden look both complicit and weak.
The US is also having to react in real time to changing attitudes on Israel. A year ago, opposition to Israel would have been political suicide in the U.S. Now opinions are much more mixed. We see 13% in one vote willing to protest and vote uncommitted, but we don’t see the other end. What percent would shift their vote to Trump in support of Israel if Biden toughened his stance. Biden is trying to appeal to both sides, which is a terrible strategy, but I doubt he has a choice as he likely needs both sides to win…
This is a great answer, thanks!
So, the US is the enabling buddy who thinks they are helping their alcoholic friend by accompanying them and telling them to go home when they drink too much, but is instead endangering everyone by encouraging them to drive under the influence anyways.
Problem is, Israel has made it pretty clear they don’t care if they lose US support (or don’t believe it can politically happen)
It’s definitely the latter. Israel would very much care if they lost US support, as the drop in funding and military materiel would weaken their power in the region considerably.
It’s surely only a matter of time though, right? I mean, their support drops off sharply amlmg younger age-groups. I suspect they’re trying to ram through as much violence now as they can, because the clock’s ticking on such extravagant and uncritical (or only circumspectly critical) support.
We’ve been hearing these stories for generations. “When our generation is in charge we won’t have these senseless wars any more” but somehow here we are again.
Apocalypse Now said it best.
“We 'd cut them in half with a machine gun and give them a Band-Aid. It was a lie,”Hamas, the government of Palestine, is the enemy. The Palestinian people are humans and humans need help. The US has long standing treaties with Israel and we have to honor those. Not doing so would put a lot more people at risk and could lead to chaos around the world. The president is working through diplomatic channels to reign in Israel’s response. In the meantime the US can send out humanitarian aid to those that need it.
Hamas, the government of Palestine, is the enemy.
Yeah, if you side with the oppressor. You know that Israel starved Gaza for 3 weeks before Hamas even responded?
They literally cut off food, clean water, medical supplies for 3 fucking weeks before the first attack. People’s family were dying in the hospitals completely unnecessarily.
Ask yourself if you honestly think that anyone else would act differently. Do you honestly think that you would act different when you see your father/mother/brother/sister die because Israel blocked off all your help because of “politics”?
That’s the story that doesn’t reach the US and many places in the western world. How it all began.
And if you really want to know how Palestine has been fucked over, you’d have to go back to 1945. When you know the history, there’s no fucking way you would side with Israel.
Source?
If you agree with Hamas, just a few links:
https://www.dni.gov/nctc/ftos/hamas_fto.html
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-hamas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Hamas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governance_of_the_Gaza_Strip
And I could go on. There are no “good guys” in this conflict. Only human victims. What the Israeli government is doing is terrible and indefensible. I’ll never pass your impossible purity test, so I’m not even going to try.
Hamas isn’t the government of Palestine. That is the PLA. Hamas are an extremist group that controls the Gaza strip.
Technically they won the last election and they do run the government in Gaza. So like it or not they are basically the government in Gaza.
They are also an extremist group but that doesn’t make them not a government. Likud is also an extremist group but they control the government of Israel.
The last election was over a decade ago. Also, Gaza is only one part of Palestine.
Yes they won’t the last election and then cancelled all future elections, because that’s what Islamists do. Voting in things to decide issues is antithetical to their religious law. And they are immensely popular.
Of Gaza, not the West Bank.
Sorry but this is just wrong. Israel is very explicit about attacking all Palestinians. They are also explicit about their plans to drive them from their Land even more. The US full well knows and supports the Israeli plan to commit genocide and mass displacement to the Palestinians.
The only purpose of the current actions is to create a veil of deniability, to not be charged as a direct accomplice in the crimes. If the US had a genuine interest to fight Hamas, while helping the Palestinians, they would have sanctioned Israel to hell decades ago, established a new UN mandate and return the stolen land, while providing proper justice and opportunity to the Palestinian people, until either two equal or one united state is founded.
The US has been enabling Israel in its crimes against the Palestinians and through this enabled Hamas, as well as helped the Israeli government to help Hamas, which Netanyahu himself was very outspoken about.
I don’t think the US wants Israel to be doing this. It is creating a big headache for them and harming Biden’s popularity. It’s more accurate to say they don’t care about the genocide as much as they should, and in the absence of public pressure probably would have supported Israel so as to maintain a key alliance. So it’s more that they want to pursue their geopolitical goals interests, and the Palestinians don’t really register in that sense because they are weak militarily.
Idk, some leaked comments show that Biden freaking hates Netanyahu, so I don’t buy the “genocide is not being taken seriously” argument. My theory is that the administration is too scared to act against Israel.
I disagree. Thge main purpose of Israel to the US is to sow division amongst the Middle Eastern countries and to keep the US allied countries under control. Putting the countries against each other and putting the people against their leaders, but in a way that is still supressable with US support, is the cynical way of keeping the region weak. China made it happen that both Saudi Arabia and Iran have joined the BRICS. If those two were to reconcile with each other, the US strategy would fail. By confronting Saudi Arabia with a clear moral failure, that they are yet unable to speak up about, they make it more difficult for Saudi Arabia to seek alliances outside the US influence. At the same time the people are angry with their leader to he needs the US arms support to be able to supress his people, if shit would hit the fan.
It is only creating a headache for Biden because not only are the Israelis commiting genocide in Gaza, they feel so sure about themselves, that they are also bragging about it. If the Israeli public, in particular the supporters of Netanyahu wouldn’t be so bloodthirsty, that they demand the genocide to be accompanied by genocidal rethoric, the US and Israel could do about the same, while keeping it under the rug.
“Hamas is the enemy” is telling on yourself. LIKUD is the greater evil.
Especially since BB and the LIKUD advocated letting money be funneled to Hamas to help keep the PA from being able to gain a foothold. Israel holds as much responsibility for the actions of Hamas as anyone, as they’ve intentionally set up the situations that lead to the current genocide.
Anyone blaming Hamas and not Israel is either ignorant or spreading propaganda.
reign in
This is beside the point but it’s “rein in” (as in using reins, the straps attached to a mouthpiece and head harness intended to guide a horse).
It’s a tough situation that has no quick solution. Most people are unaware of how hard Biden is working to resolve this nasty situation. Both Hamas and Hezbollah attacked Israel. Israel’s response has been, “over the top”, as Biden said. Yeah, we have treaties with Israel, even though Israel spied on the US and attacked the USS Liberty in the past.
Over the top is so much of an understatement that it’s almost a lie. They are using the conflict as an excuse to commit ethnic cleansing. It is not in any way a proportionate or even effective response if the goal is to protect Israeli citizens from further attacks.
-
Support Isreal
-
Support Palestine
-
???
-
Profit
The secret step is war. If you want profit you need to war, regardless of whatever the first two steps are.
-
Because Biden needs younger people to vote for him.
Ok, so it’s a politics thing?
War is always political or religious.
Religion is always political
This place is some what optimistic thinking this union moved him (and seeming determined to get trump elected). Biden has already been working deals and trying to pull Israel for months.
No.
I will not vote for him. The Dems can either put up a real candidate, or we can have trump again.
More specifically,
This event has set alarm bells off in the Biden administration. He absolutely needs Michigan to win. It’s not an accident Biden is suddenly talking about ceasefires and dropping aid a couple days after this.
Pressure campaigns can work folks. Hope everyone looks into their own state and see if there is a similar option for them. My state unfortunately does not have an uncommitted option but we are pushing people to leave the presidency blank to send a message.
Because the USA loves inventing problems to “”solve”” (see: literally the entire military industrial complex)
Even when you’re directly in a war – not the case here – there are still obligations to see to civilians on the other side.
Yeah. I’ll take minor hypocrisy any day of the week when the alternative is behaving like the russians do in Ukraine.