On Thursday Biden denounced campus violence but not the police behind it. By then over 2,000 students, faculty and their supporters across the country had been arrested across the country. Biden made it clear he opposes the peaceful student protests saying that while he understands Americans have strong feelings, “it doesn’t mean that anything goes… Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations— none of this is peaceful protest… Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to denying the rights of others so students can finish the semester and their college education.” The Democratic establishment always back protests from the past, but never protests in the present. In terms of current protests, they just try to be a little less fascist than the Republicans in responding.
The pro-peace protests at UCLA were rat-fucked by violent Likud and AIPAC fanatics with the connivance of vicious and uncontrollable LAPD street gangs (AKA, the police). They gleefully arrested over 200 peaceful students, none of teh attackers, more often than not with unwarranted aggression and force. At around teh same time, a uniformed pig at Columbia University shot off his gun and claimed it was an accident.
On Wednesday night, Bernie spoke on the floor of the Senate, lecturing colleagues who are supporting the genocide instead of the protesters. You can watch the whole thing below. Imagine if this guy hadn’t been cheated out ion the nomination by Debbie Wasserman Schultz and had beaten Trump in 2016 and was finishing up his second term. This guy:
“I know it’s very easy to heap praise on Congressman Lewis and many others decades after they did what they did,” said, “but, I would remind my colleagues that Mr. Lewis was arrested 45 times for participating in sit-ins, occupations, and protests— 45 times— for protesting segregation and racism. I would also remind my colleagues that the Lunch Counter protest at Woolworths and elsewhere desegregating the South were in fact sit-ins and occupations where young Black and white Americans bravely took up space in private businesses, demanding an end to racism and segregation that existed at that time. Further, as I hope everybody knows, we have also seen in recent decades protests— some of them massive protests— against sexism, homophobia, and the need to transform our energy system away from fossil fuels in order to save this planet. In other words, protesting injustice and expressing our opinions is part of our American tradition. And when you talk about America being a free country, whether you like it or not the right to protest is what American freedom is all about. That’s the U.S. constitution.”
Bernie was just getting started. He reminded his colleagues that “exactly 60 years ago, student demonstrators occupied the exact same building on Columbia’s campus as is taking place right now— ironically, the same building. Across the country, students and others, including myself, joined peaceful demonstrations in opposition to the war in Vietnam. Those demonstrators were demanding an end to that War. And maybe— just maybe— tens of thousands of American lives and countless Vietnamese lives might have been saved if the Government had listened to those demonstrators.”
I have noted that there is an increasing tendency in the media and on the part of some of my colleagues here in the Senate to use the phrase “Pro-Palestinian” to suggest that that means “Pro-Hamas.”
To my mind, that is unacceptable and factually inaccurate. The overwhelming majority of American people and protestors understand very well that Hamas is a terrorist organization that started this war by attacking Israel in an incredibly brutal and horrific way on October 7th.
To stand up for Palestinian rights and the dignity of the Palestinian people does not make one a supporter of terrorism.
And let me also mention something that I found rather extraordinary and outrageous.
And that is just a few days ago Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of the right-wing extremist government in Israel, a government which contains out-and-out anti-Palestinian racists.
Netanyahu issued a statement in which he equated criticism of his government’s illegal and immoral war against the Palestinian people with antisemitism.
In other words, if you are protesting, or disagree, with what Netanyahu and his extremist government are doing in Gaza, you are an antisemite.
That is an outrageous statement from a leader who is clearly trying – and I have to tell you, he seems to be succeeding with the American media — trying to deflect attention away from the horrific policies that he is pursuing that created an unprecedented humanitarian disaster.
So, let me be as clear as I can be: It is not antisemitic or pro-Hamas to point out that in almost seven months Netanyahu’s extremist government has killed 34,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 77,000 – seventy percent of whom are women and children.
And to protest that or to point that out is not antisemitic. It is simply factual.
It is not antisemitic to point out that Netanyahu’s government’s bombing has completely destroyed more than 221,000 housing units in Gaza, leaving more than one million people homeless – almost half the population. No, Mr. Netanyahu it is not antisemitic to point out what you have done in terms of the destruction of housing in Gaza.
It is not antisemitic to realize that his government has annihilated Gaza’s health care system, knocking 26 hospitals out of service and killing more than 400 health care workers. At a time when 77,000 people have been wounded and desperately need medical care, Netanyahu has systematically destroyed the health care system in Gaza.
It is not antisemitic to condemn his government’s destruction of all of Gaza’s 12 universities and 56 of its schools, with hundreds more damaged, leaving 625,000 children in Gaza have no opportunity for an education. It is not antisemitic to make that point.
It is not antisemitic to note that Netanyahu’s government has obliterated Gaza’s civilian infrastructure – there is virtually no electricity in Gaza right now, virtually no clean water in Gaza right now, and sewage is seeping out onto the streets.
It is not antisemitic to make that point.
President, it is not antisemitic to agree with virtually every humanitarian organization that functions in the Gaza area in saying that his government, in violation of American law, has unreasonably blocked humanitarian aid coming into Gaza.
They have created the conditions under which hundreds of thousands of children face malnutrition and famine. It is not antisemitic to look at photographs of children who are starving to death because they have not been able to get the food that they need. It is not antisemitic to agree with American and UN officials that parts of Gaza could become famine districts in the not very distant future.
Antisemitism is a vile and disgusting form of bigotry that has done unspeakable harm to many millions of people for hundreds of years, including my own family. But it is outrageous and it is disgraceful to use that charge of antisemitism to distract us from the immoral and illegal war policies that Netanyahu’s extremist and racist government is pursuing.
Furthermore, it is really cheap politics for Netanyahu to use the charge of antisemitism to deflect attention from the criminal indictment he is facing in the Israeli courts.
Bottomline, M. President: it is not antisemitic to hold Netanyahu and his government for their actions. That is not antisemitic. It is precisely what we should be doing.
Because among other things we are the government that has supplied billions and billions of dollars in order for him to continue his horrific war against the Palestinian people.
…And I would point out that just last week this Senate voted to give Netanyahu another unfettered $10 billion for his war.
Let me quote just a few polls:
April 14— Politico/Morning Consult: 67% support the United States calling for a ceasefire. This is at a time when Netanyahu is threatening to expand the war into Rafah.
April 12th— CBS: 60% think the U.S. should not send weapons and supplies to Israel as opposed to 40% who think the U.S. should. And for my Democratic colleagues, those figures are disproportionately higher among Democratic voters.
April 10th— Economist/YouGov: 37% support decreasing military aid to Israel, just 18% support an increase. Overall 63% support a ceasefire, 15% oppose.
No, M. President. This is not just protestors on college campuses who are upset about U.S. policy with regards to Israel and Gaza. Increasingly the American people want an end to U.S. complicity in the humanitarian disaster which is taking place in Gaza right now.
The people of the United States— Democrats, Republicans, and Independents— do not want to be complicit in the starvation of hundreds of thousands of children.
Maybe, and here’s a very radical idea, maybe it’s time for politicians to listen to the American people. Maybe it’s time to rethink the decision this body recently made to provide Netanyahu another $10 billion dollars in unfettered military aid.
Maybe it’s time to not simply worry about the violence we are seeing on American campuses, but focus on the unprecedented violence in Gaza which has killed 34,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 77,000 Palestinians— 70% percent of whom are women and children.
So, I suggest to CNN and some of my colleagues here, take your cameras off of Columbia and UCLA. Maybe go to Gaza and show us the emaciated children who are going to die of malnutrition because of Netanyahu’s policies. Show us the kids who have lost their arms and their legs. Show us the suffering.
President, let me conclude by saying, I must admit, I find it incomprehensible that members of Congress are spending their time attacking the protestors rather than the Netanyahu government which brought about these protests and has created this horrific situation.
At least 4 of Netanyahu's cabinet ministers— besides Smotrich, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu and Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli— have virtually endorsed Trump and are campaigning for him among the corrupt, genocidal AIAPC crew. Biden and his own cabinet, meanwhile, are frozen in fear and sadly unable to do the right thing.
This letter to Biden urging him to cut Israel off fromthe weapons being used to commit genocide. Isn't just signed by progressives. There are lots of conservative Democrats as well, from Ami Bera (CA), Bill Foster (IL) and Gabe Vasquez (NM) to Chrissy Houlahan (PA), Mike Thompson (CA) and Ann Kuster (NH). Everyone seems to understand which way the wind is blowing except the people around Biden.
