I’ve come across a lot of people here and in other corners of the interwebz who are extremely adamant and passionate about the response the U.S.
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I’ve come across a lot of people here and in other corners of the interwebz who are extremely adamant and passionate about the response the U.S. should have toward the humanitarian crisis and murder campaign that is currently being waged against the people of Palestine.
They are so staunch in their position against the fact the Biden Administration has supplied weapons and military financial support to Israel in support of this campaign, they vow to vote for a third party candidate or not vote at all.
I get it. I am completely with you on your opinion of how fucked it is that we are supporting Bibi’s Zionist movement in the region.
But Rep Acasio-Cortez articulates rather well why she is voting for #HarrisWalz and why I am too.
Harris can be moved. I believe Harris can change course in Gaza. I believe Harris can be persuaded to place an embargo on Israel. Trump absolutely cannot. And under a Trump presidency so many others will be hurt beyond just those in Gaza.
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@WrenArcher What do you base this idea that Harris can be moved on this on?
Because people have been pressuring her, very hard, and she hasn't moved an inch.
I honestly believe there is a better chance of the genocide ending under Trump than under Harris. Not because he opposes it, of course- he probably supports it even more than she does. But liberals will suddenly oppose it once it's not a Democrat in charge of it, and Trump's antisemitism, "America First" mindset, and overall impulsiveness might actually make him get sick of sending billions of dollars to Israel.
Obviously the chance is still extremely small. But the only way for Harris to win the votes of people who oppose genocide is for her to actually oppose genocide, not fantasies about how she might oppose it someday in the future.
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The false dichotomy continues to be abusive.
I, and I'm sure 99.9999% of others, oppose genocide.
Harris still has my (our) vote.
Yet again…
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@mmalc @TheBrieze @WrenArcher
Also, it's wrong and dangerous to simply assume Harris will be bad on Gaza once in office. As the sitting VP she has zero power to change Biden's policies, and can't openly break from them, but there are strong signals that she'll do the right thing by Palestinians:
https://c.im/@msbellows/112992580493523865 -
Mastodon Migrationreplied to M.S. Bellows last edited by
@msbellows @mmalc @TheBrieze @WrenArcher
Think this is a good read of the situation. At this moment Netanyahu's leverage is at a maximum. He can continue to hold out the prospect of a deal, and snatch it back in an effort to discredit the Biden administration and Harris by extension. Any preconditioning of support based on success of these negotiations hands him more power. After the election, this tactic will be mute, so Harris will be free to assert more pressure.
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Flying_Donny for Harris/Walzreplied to Guest last edited by
@TheBrieze @WrenArcher A reason to think that Harris will change policy on Israel/Gaza after she is president is that currently she is vice president -- a part of the Biden administration. In that role, she really can't speak out against the current administration's policies. Once she herself is president, that constraint no longer holds.
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Katanova, the Forest Nomadreplied to Flying_Donny for Harris/Walz last edited by
@kateiacy Kind of seems like the last significant wedge that hostile propagandists can use to prevent unity of the democratic party.
Which isn't to say that people protesting in support of palestine are paid state actors, but that it's beneficial to hostile states to amplify their message.
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Katanova, the Forest Nomadreplied to Katanova last edited by
@kateiacy
And no, this is absolutely not an effective talking point to persuade pro-palestine people of anything.They will only be persuaded by policy actions which are not possible at this point.
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frank :anarchy_bi: (he / they)replied to Wren Archer:bc::trans_heart:🏹 last edited by
@WrenArcher @kamalaharrisforpresidentnews @inthehands y'all said the same thing about "pushing biden left" and then he said "fund the police", dismantled every COVID-19 mitigation program, and supported israel every step of the way. if anything, he managed to push liberals to the right.
you can frame it and reframe it until you're personally comfortable with casting a vote in support of these policies and atrocities, but it won't change reality and anyone with a decent conscious cannot say 'sure it's fucked that we're literally supporting human extermination, *but*' because there is never room for 'but' there
not voting is not signaling support for trump, not only because most of the country doesn't vote and things manage to keep going, but because it's as much a legitimate stance and choice as voting is. in fact, i'd argue if we have a right to vote, it means we have a right to *not* vote too.
if we want to affect change, we have to organize to start pushing for an embargo locally. the reality is that this doesn't begin or end with Kamala or this election. if she wins, that doesn't change the conditions on the ground for Palestinian or Sudanese or Lebanese or Congolese or Tigrayan ppl.
the far right managed to garner the power they have and get to where they are through working at the smallest scales possible *which got trump elected* not the other way around. sure, their march might be slowed by harris winning, but it won't stop and no amount of voting will hault it. we're gonna have to actually log off and get our hands dirty. like fr fr. if this is as 'existential' as ppl say it is, we need to get off of our phones & laptops and go help prevent your neighbor's eviction or show up to a clinic defense. prove to *yourself* that you stand by what you say you believe online.
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Paul Cantrellreplied to frank :anarchy_bi: (he / they) last edited by
@tothedaring @WrenArcher @kamalaharrisforpresidentnews
This long treatise is ahistorical throughout. Leaving aside litigation of the Biden admin’s record, non-voting and 3p voting is one of the left’s most consistently applied, aggressively advocated, and longest-running strategies, and it has been failing spectacularly since before I was born.