Anytime pro-Palestine voters mention being disgruntled with Biden, the immediate - and only - reply to them is “If Trump wins, he’ll be even worse for Palestine than Biden.”
Which is true, but as someone else pointed out, that’s like telling people that they must vote to eat a small shit sandwich or else their only option is to eat a bigger shit sandwich. At some point, they will demand a sandwich that’s not shit.
Pro-Palestine voters have not got the slightest clout within the Republican Party whatsoever, so it’s unsurprising that they chose the Democratic primaries, or other (D) events - the only realm where they have any leverage whatsoever. They’re condemned by Ds if they vote (R), abstain from voting for Ds, or do anything other than toe the line.
Well, there’s no side in this war that’s fighting on behalf of Palestinians, so until the war can be somehow ended, there’s not much way for anyone else to support Palestinians, either.
It doesn’t really matter what your “single issue” is, because life is a lot more than single issues. In which case, it doesn’t matter who they vote for. We’ve got two pieces of shit candidates that just screw up different things, and in some cases even screw up the same things.
I don’t accept the “shit sandwich” argument. But if I did it wouldn’t be a shit sandwich versus a bigger shit sandwich. It would be a shit sandwich versus a strychnine sandwich. (Or maybe a shit sandwich with strychnine mixed into the shit.)
A vote cast for Biden with a loud complaint counts just as much in the ballot box as one cast without a complaint. The complaint wouldn’t be heard from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
We don’t only vote for President, and Presidents do not have a monopoly over how we conduct foreign policy. Pro-Palestine voters can push House and Senate candidates to take a stand and vote for those whose positions they agree with.
Actually, (US) presidents today do have wide latitude on “how we conduct foreign policy”; although the President can’t pass a budget on his own, they can broadly dictate how it is used (or whether to withhold it). The Boland Amendments, which were an extraordinary prohibition by Congress on Presidential authority, were necessary to prevent then President Ronald Reagan from providing aid to the Contras in Nicaragua (and of course the Reagan Administration continued to violate those amendments through various extralegal and illegal operations, culminating in the near-farcical incompetence of the Iran-Contra Affair).
Regardless, Biden is not going to stop providing aid, including weapons, to Israel even as he is cautiously critical of the campaign in the Gaza Strip and the de facto approval by the Israeli government for illegal settlement and violence against Palestinian residents in the occupied West Bank. Biden has been a staunch advocate for Israel for his entire career, and it would be political suicide for him to publicly
oppose Israel to the extent of withholding aid, notwithstanding all of the financial interests behind US military aid to the country. And there is no possibility of “Pro-Palestine voters” swaying enough Congressional seats to make an impact, and especially to overrule executive authority.
The issue can, however, divide Democrat voter bases to the extent that they lose marginal or even winnable seats to Republican opponents, who will be even less inclined to do or say anything in support of Palestinians or against Israel. So, in answer to the o.p., there are no good options besides just making a lot of noise, and then holding your nose to vote for the least worst option. So it goes.
Sure – as I said, the President does not have a monopoly on how we conduct foreign policy. As you note, Congress has the power of the purse to deny or condition funding for foreign policy endeavors. [sidebar: the President cannot withhold appropriations duly signed into law, as this would violate the Impoundment Control Act of 1974] Congress has approved the statutes that govern arms sales, military and nonmilitary foreign aid, foreign trade, etc. and could pass legislation to amend these statutes. It can be difficult for Congress to exercise these powers because they require passing legislation, which is subject to veto. But Congress can wrap them in a much larger package that includes things that the President wants, putting him in a tough position. Congress also has the independent power of oversight and investigation to hold the Administration’s feet to the fire. The Senate can and has used it’s authority to approve Presidential nominees to obtain policy concessions from the Administration as well.
But my larger point is that – for voters who want to advance the Palestinian (or really any other) cause – thinking that the Presidential election is the only one that matters is short sighted. Congress can, through powers both direct and indirect, shape US foreign policy. And the more members of Congress there are sympathetic toward that cause, the greater the likelihood that their views will help shape policy.
Yes. Vote Biden. You can debate about how he was when this started, but he’s been clearly pro-Palestine for quite a while now. The problem is that people expect him to do Trump-style diplomacy, using tweets and acting like a bull in a china shop with no awareness of the actual foreign policy issues.
Bibi and Biden are not chums. They’re clearly hostile towards each other. Biden is clearly threatening to slow walk any aid, and even pulling aid in some situations. He’s publicly stated that he’s for a two-state solution, which Netanyahu is completely against. He’s been against any attack on the Palestinian capital.
But the US is allied with Israel. Biden knows better than to try and do Trump’s “pull out of NATO.” It’s harmful to national interests for any nation to completely pull out of an alliance. He has to work within what exists, not just take the ball and go home.
Now, before you get mad at me: does this mean that people should stop pushing a pro-Palestinian thing with Biden? Absolutely not. The more this happens, the more political power he has in negotiations. But I get tired of this narrative that acts like Biden is siding with Israel on this.
He’s “pro-Israel” because Israel is an ally. It’s political talk. He clearly does not align with Israel’s objectives or tactics. The issue is solely that he doesn’t necessarily push as far as some want him to. And, even then, a lot of that is from people who don’t know what they’re doing.
I won’t say there’s no one who knows something he could be doing better. But I’ve not seen them.
It’s odd. Biden was never my man. But this attack on him has made me respect him more than I used to. And I’m very much pro-Palestine. (Something that I hadn’t considered before this war. This is part of why I think Israel screwed the pooch. I’m not saying I was pro-Israel, but I was not pro-Palestine. I was “it’s complicated, and both sides” before. )
I mean, what is Biden supposed to do? He cant call back the IDF or anything. He cant withhold aid, that is Congress. Could he have vetoed that aid bill? And left Ukraine in the lurch?
Iran is clearly the enemy of Democracy.
And the GOP and trump are sworn and deadly foes to Hamas, etc… At least Biden is putting pressure on Netanyahu, which seems to be having some effect. So, to continue the silly shit sandwich analogy the Op gives us- Biden is giving you a bread sandwich- no meat, nothing else, but at least it is something. Herr trump would give you shit- and no bread. No one is gonna give you a delicious halal sandwich. Its either bread or shit.
Handing the election to trump would be the worst possible thing pro-palestinians could do.
I agree with @DrDeth that Biden is pretty limited in his options here. He can say (and has already said) “you should be more careful with the civilians” but no matter how he phrases the request the only response he is ever going to get back is “you should be more careful when you get deez nuts”.
Biden doesn’t have any kind of magic power to compel Netanyahu and/or the IDF to do anything. The only thing Biden can do is get himself and the US uninvited from the discussion. Netanyahu isn’t complaining about the student protests in the US because he gives a shit what university students think. But if he can sell the narrative that there is a massive wave of antisemitism that Biden is allowing to happen, well then of course Israel would be foolish to take advice from the US.
I think the best bet for pro-Palestinian voters is to hope that this war is over long before November and everyone has largely forgotten about it. Because if Trump ends up voted back in, you get genocide. Not like the current situation which generates a lot of discussion about whether it is a genocide or whether it just looks a lot like one. No, under Trump you get full-on genocide as in no more Palestinians anywhere. You get an insane person who hates Muslims and is fascinated by nuclear weapons and wants to use one on anything and anyone. When Trump says he’ll end the conflict in 24 hours, he isn’t talking about his negotiating skills. He is talking about nuclear annihilation of people who he considers to be vermin so that Israel can put up beachfront hotels with TRUMP on them in big shiny gold letters.
I know this probably sounds outlandish but Trump getting back into office means that every layer of accountability in the US has been defeated and this childish, selfish, insane man will have been handed unlimited power at zero possible consequence to him for any of his actions past, present or future. Bearing this in mind, I expect that in this scenario, pro-Palestinian voters in the US will be considered to fall into the same “vermin” category as Palestinians (and Democrats and people of color and the LGBT community and RINOs and Jewish-Americans who don’t show Trump sufficient loyalty and journalists who don’t print pro-Trump headlines and etc. etc.) and their best bet at this point will be to hope that Trump dies or is overthrown. At least they won’t have to worry about the Palestinians any more.
If anything, you are understating the case. Trump has essentially stated this as his intent, and while he alone is too inept and impulsive to actually make a concerted effort to deliberately undermine remaining protections and institutions of democratic governance, there is an entire legion of enablers, scheemers, and supplicants looking to use such a situation to achieve their own interests in rough alignment with Trump’s infantile narcissism and petty vengeance toward anyone who has ever challenged or disagreed with him.