Senate Majority Leader Schumer doesn’t seem to be able to connect the dots. Many Americans are angry at the US government, pro-Zionist lobbyists funding lawmakers, and members of Congress for the giving the extremist Israeli government billions in military aid to slaughter thousands of civilians in Gaza with their tax dollars with no strings attached. Americans are watching the carnage and displacement of millions of people on TV. They are rightly asking if Hamas could be neutralized without massive destruction and loss of civilian life. Schumer and others conflate criticism of the Israeli regime, and US support for it, with anti-Semitism – and use anti-Semitism as a rallying cry to suppress political free speech.
Schumer, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and others in the Senate are about to approve billions more in arms for the Netanyahu government whose cabinet members openly advocate ethnic cleansing of the West Bank and Gaza. For example: In June, before the current conflict in Gaza, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said this to Israeli settlers encroaching on Palestinian land:
“I give you my full and complete backing, but I want much more from the settlement here, there needs to be a full settlement here, not only here, but in all the hills around us,” Ben-Gvir said in an address to the settlers at the site.
“The Land of Israel must be settled and at the same time as the settlement of the Land a military operation must be launched. [We must] demolish buildings, eliminate terrorists, not one or two, but tens and hundreds, and if necessary even thousands, because at the end of the day, this is the only way we will hold on here, strengthen control and restore security to the residents, and above all we will fulfill our great mission. The Land of Israel is for the people of Israel, we are backing you, run to the hills, settle down. We love you.”
Here’s another account: Israel’s Ben-Gvir calls for assassination of ‘thousands’ of Palestinians – TRT World “Notorious Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir seeks wider incursions into occupied West Bank, exhorting military to ‘blow up buildings’ and assassinate ‘hundreds, or if needed, thousands’ of Palestinians.”
A Nov. 30 Washington Post article detailing suppression of concerns by international aid agencies about “mass forced displacement” of Gazans and human rights violations quoted two other senior Israeli leaders making similar comments advocating for ethnic cleansing:
“Simcha Rothman, a prominent member of the Israeli parliament, suggested earlier this week that Gazans should be resettled in other parts of the world, alleging they were being held in Gaza by the United Nations ‘for political reasons in order to hurt the state of Israel.’ Earlier this month Israeli agriculture minister Avi Dichter said: ‘We’re rolling out Nakba 2023,’ using the Palestinian term, Arabic for ‘catastrophe,’ for the mass expulsion of Palestinians during the months before and after the 1948 war that created Israel.” See: Aid groups navigate dangers of Gaza war amid growing internal strife
While Sen. Schumer and others play the “anti-Semitism” card – which resonates with many of his supporters – more Americans, and much of the world, see blatant hypocrisy as right-wing Israeli leaders pursue policies that increasingly echo the German push for “lebensraum” during World II. Many Americans don’t want to be associated with the thugs running Israel today and don’t want any more military aid going to them. Instead, Congress should funnel money into humanitarian aid and efforts to stabilize the conflict and develop a peaceful settlement.
Chuck Schumer Is Antisemitism’s Great Enabler – Dave Zirin/Nation
“Schumer is weaponizing the incendiary charge of antisemitism against me and The Nation as cover to slander the left generally—specifically the movement of a new generation of Jews marching and getting arrested in the name of a permanent cease-fire. He is also obfuscating his own craven efforts to ally with actual antisemites and genocidal Israeli politicians in the name of this war on Gaza…
“In addition, Schumer’s desire to hand over billions in weapons to the Musk- and Christian Zionist–supporting government of Benjamin Netanyahu also aids antisemitism. He is providing cover for people who despise our faith, because they also support unconditionally Israel’s total war on Gazan civilians. Schumer, heal thyself, and stop supporting war crimes being committed in our name. By stoking even more antisemitism, it’s dangerous to Jews everywhere.”
Turkish president Erdogan’s strong words for Israel’s Netanyahu – essa news
“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan referred to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the ‘butcher of Gaza” on Wednesday. On the same day, Ankara dispatched another military aircraft to the Palestinian semi-enclave, carrying around 8.8 tons of medicines and medical supplies…
“In his speech, President Erdogan expressed concern and criticism over the actions of the Netanyahu administration. He believes that these actions not only diminishes hopes for turning the current humanitarian pause into a long-lasting truce, but also exacerbates anti-Semitism and threatens the lives of Jews worldwide.”
Israel-Gaza war: A man on a donkey cart shows the destruction of war in Khan Younis – ABC
US tax dollars at work…Is Congress going to ask Netanyahu what kind of arms he wants and what he and his cabinet plan to do with them?
A Nakba is unfolding in the occupied West Bank, too – Al Jazeera