Her statement:

  • @lennybird
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    402 months ago

    I think it’s kind of strange people think Harris wants to be associated with this Genocide. If it were that black-and-white, she clearly would’ve taken a harder position.

    But if she does, then the larger Israeli-sympathetic Jewish voting bloc in PA that dwarfs the Muslim vote in Michigan (with less Electoral votes, mind you) gets jeopardized. If she doesn’t toe the line, she loses, Trump wins, and Gazans are definitely fucked.

    Like it’s completely obvious why she has to have this position, lest she’s immediately cast as antisemitic.

    • @Keeponstalin
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      82 months ago

      Polling indicates that she would certainly get significant gains in Michigan and Pennsylvania, along with all the other swing states. So I doubt polling is her reason for her stance on Israel and Conditional Military Aid

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      Our first matchup tested a Democrat and a Republican who “both agree with Israel’s current approach to the conflict in Gaza”. In this case, the generic candidates tied 44–44. The second matchup saw the same Republican facing a Democrat supporting “an immediate ceasefire and a halt of military aid and arms sales to Israel”. Interestingly, the Democrat led 49–43, with Independents and 2020 non-voters driving the bulk of this shift.

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      In Pennsylvania, 34% of respondents said they would be more likely to vote for the Democratic nominee if the nominee vowed to withhold weapons to Israel, compared to 7% who said they would be less likely. The rest said it would make no difference. In Arizona, 35% said they’d be more likely, while 5% would be less likely. And in Georgia, 39% said they’d be more likely, also compared to 5% who would be less likely.

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      Majorities of Democrats (67%) and Independents (55%) believe the US should either end support for Israel’s war effort or make that support conditional on a ceasefire. Only 8% of Democrats but 42% of Republicans think the US must support Israel unconditionally.

      Republicans and Independents most often point to immigration as one of Biden’s top foreign policy failures. Democrats most often select the US response to the war in Gaza.

      • @lennybird
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        22 months ago

        Couple things:

        • The most substantive quote you have is a blatant editorializing by Zateo of the YouGov data. Nowhere does the polling datasay “withholding all aid.” Conditioning Aid != Withholding Aid, which implies all aid. If we’re going down this path, then Biden has already withheld some aid to Israel. And when he did, there was a massive backlash.

        • Moreover all of these studies are many months old and thus subject to drastic changes since the likes of May. Moreover they don’t factor in the blow-back effect of withholding aid and the risk of there being a false flag on Israeli soil and how that would be portrayed against Democrats. Moreover it does not reflect the attack ads that would be used in battleground states with further bite by the GOP if Harris/Biden did this.

        • Further aid has also been conditioned on aid surges into Israel. Israel as expected is falling short half-way through the 30-day ultimatum.

        • Biden and Harris have repeatedly sought a permanent ceasefire solution; Trump by contrast reached out to Bibi to undermine said ceasefire negotiation. Both sides obviously deny this call because it would be blatantly illegal and undermining in public optics, but we know this is par for the course for both of them. It is in the interest of both Trump and Bibi to deny the ceasefire in order to make Biden/Harris look bad through the election.

        • @Keeponstalin
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          2 months ago

          The zateo article never says ‘withholding all aid,’ it’s completely congruent with the YouGov data which I also linked. It says ‘withhold weapons’ in the context of Conditional Military Aid, which is where weapon shipments are withheld as long as Israel violates International Humanitarian Law, which they are.

          We, the US, are also continuing to violate International Humanitarian Law, as well as the Leahy Law, by continuing to send weapons unconditionally.

          It was a single shipment, all others were not paused. Plus they continued with that single shipment anyway, regardless of the war crimes. Who gave the backlash? It certainly wasn’t the American public. It was Netanyahu and other members of the Israeli Government, who are currently committing genocide.

          November is not ‘many months old.’

          Also, 51% of Jewish Americans Support Withhold Arms Shipments to Israel. Painting the Democrats decisions to continue unconditional aid as if it’s in the best interest of the majority of Jewish Americans is untrue. Judaism is not Zionism.

          Blowback is the violent retaliation that happens after repeatedly attacking Civilian populations with overwhelming force. Continuing to send billions worth of weapons unconditionally for a genocide certainly isn’t helping prevent blowback.

          30 days after acknowledging that Israel has committed violations of international humanitarian law and is withholding aid to a starving population is insane, especially since it places the window until after the election when people want to see a change now. Those people can’t wait 30 days. The US basically gave Israel a 30-day window to continue violating International Humanitarian Law and starving millions of people before even the semblance of consequences. And it isn’t conditional aid, it’s ‘possible consequences’ while the Administration simultaneously said that the warning was 'not met as a threat. ’

          Rhetoric is not action. The actions of the Biden Administration have certainly not been in favor of a permanent ceasefire.

          The rhetoric coming out of the White House, when it has been focused on peace or restraint, rather than continuous war, has been undercut at every turn by its actions. The constant supply of weapons — $17.9 billion of bullets, bombs, shells, and other military aid in the past year — has allowed Israel to keep waging its war on Gaza, and in recent weeks, expand that war to Lebanon and threaten to escalate its conflict with Iran. Despite documentation of U.S. weapons being used in probable war crimes, and credible allegations that Israel is committing genocide in its war on Gaza, the bombs have continued to flow.

          One Year of Empty Rhetoric From the White House on Israel’s Wars

          Obviously Trump is significantly worse. I’ve never once told people to vote for Trump. Literally the opposite, I’ve only expressed that people should vote for Harris despite the Democratic Administrations unconditional support for this genocide. I will continue to criticize them for it until they change course.

    • @[email protected]
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      72 months ago

      Well it’s being actively used against the democrats. Bibi met with Trump and needed little encouragement to keep his genocide going till election day, to make the democrats look bad.

      • @lennybird
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        52 months ago

        I agree but it’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

        They’re trying to negotiate a ceasefire; they’re trying to get aid into Gaza.

        The problem with withholding large amounts of aid is the antisemitic attack ads will have more bite, AIPAC as the most powerful lobbyist will go crazy, and there’s a non-zero chance Bibi stages a false flag attack to paint Democrats as leaving them defenseless.