Many voters believe, with good reason, that none of this would have happened without Biden’s assent. Biden has continued to speak of Israel’s attack on Palestinian civilians using the absurd language of “self-defense”. He has insulted Jewish Americans and the memory of the Holocaust by invoking them to justify the slaughter. And though his White House repeatedly leaks that he is “privately” dismayed by Israel’s conduct of the war, he has done little to stop the flow of US money and guns that support it.

Even after the US state department issued a vexed and mealy-mouthed report on Israel’s conduct, which nevertheless concluded that it was reasonable to assess that Israel was in violation of international humanitarian law, the Biden administration has continued to fund these violations. That state department report was published on 10 May. The Biden administration told Congress that it intends to move forward with a $1bn arms sale to Israel. “OK, [Israel] likely broke the law, but not enough to change policy,” is how one reporter summarized the administration’s judgment. “So, what is the point of the report? I mean, in the simplest terms, what’s the point?”

Meanwhile, Biden has expressed public disdain for the Americans – many of whom he needs to vote for him – who have taken to protest on behalf of Palestinian lives. Speaking with evident approval of the violent police crackdowns against anti-genocide student demonstrations, he said coolly: “Dissent must never lead to disorder.”

  • knightly@pawb.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    arrow-down
    7
    ·
    1 month ago

    Ok, but how?

    Is there an option on the ballot for President that would allow me to vote without violating my conscience?

    • Eatspancakes84@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      12
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      1 month ago

      There’s not now, nor will there ever be a perfect choice. Fact is that all US presidents have, to some extent, blood on their hands. Is the choice this year bad? Yes. But all previous presidents in recent times supplied arms to regimes like Saudi Arabia, Israel etc. In the past the US itself committed its own genocide on native Americans, interned Japanese, killed hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese, invaded Iraq and Afghanistan etc etc. And with all these atrocities, voting the lesser evil helped (a bit). Perfect is not for sale this year, nor will it ever be.

      • knightly@pawb.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        6
        ·
        1 month ago

        I’m not even asking for “perfect”.

        I’d be entirely satisfied by “tolerable”, and genocide is nowhere near that.

        • BaldProphet@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          8
          arrow-down
          5
          ·
          1 month ago

          Associating Joe Biden so closely with genocide demonstrates a lack of capacity for understanding nuance. Supporting Israel doesn’t automatically equate to supporting Netanyahu’s genocide in Gaza, but it does indicate support for the Israeli (and by extension, Jewish) right to exist. One can simultaneously protest the genocide in Gaza and support a friendly, cooperative Israel.

          • beardown@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            edit-2
            1 month ago

            The United States is committing genocide against the Palestinian people in the same way that you would be committing murder if you hired a hitman to kill someone

            We are knowingly providing Israel with the funds and arms to commit genocide. Therefore, we are committing genocide. Therefore, Biden is committing genocide.

            Trump is worse. But Biden is the worst president since Nixon, and possibly since the Native American Genocides successfully ended.

            He is a monster. No matter how much student debt he forgives or how many roads he claims to build