#AbandonBiden and other new Israel-Gaza thoughts

#AbandonBiden is the hashtag a group of Muslim-Americans are trying to get trend, and not just trend on social media, but trend in the real world 11 months from now.

For the dickheads like Marc Elias or your average neighborhood #BlueAnon, an undervote in the presidential election is no more a "vote for Trump" than a vote for presumed Green Party nominee Jill Stein, independent leftist Cornel West or wingnut Robert F. Kennedy is a "vote for Trump."

That said, could these people undervoting (I hope they vote elsewhere rather than undervote) increase the likelihood of Trump winning? Yes.

And, the organizers fully know that, and fully accept that.

So, fuck off Marc Elias et al.

And take note that Amed Khan is the first larger-level Muslim-American donor to abandon Biden financially.

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Remember: If you hear an Israeli claim they're concerned about their government, they're probably lying. 94 percent say that either the IDF is using enough firepower against Gaza or not enough.

Other findings? Only 10 percent support pauses in fighting to negotiate for hostage releases. And, 27 percent said no negotiations period. (The rest want negotiations during fighting.)

And, it extends to Israel's relations with the Palestinian Authority. Only 25 percent want their government to talk to them.

Again, on Twitter and elsewhere, you hear about liberal Zionists. Exactly. They're still Zionist, and usually deep-fried, at end. Leftist Israelis, who by using that phrase themselves, indicate they're not Zionist? Much rarer birds.

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Yes, per Ryan Grim, it may be a trap, but I will never, never, vote for any Democrat who supports House Resolution 894, which officially claims that anti-Zionism is antisemitism. Vote "present" if you feel you have to. But if you vote "yes," I can never support you. Contra the resolution's language, teh IHRA definition of antisemitism is NOT widely supported. Search Mondoweiss if you don't believe me. OR let me do it for you, where you'll find out that, shockingly, Tex-ass was the first US state to adopt the IHRA definition, and that #GenocideJoe thinks it's the gold standard. (It's not widely supported because it enables Zionism in multiple ways, and while not directly calling anti-Zionism antisemitism, certainly pushes people that way.) In addition, the resolution, while listing anti-Israel hate crimes, says nothing about anti-Muslim or anti-Palestinian hate crimes. And, it repeats the usual Zionist bullshit about "from the river to the sea." Mondoweiss has more.

It has passed with 311 yeas. One Republican, Thomas Massie, which actually does not shock me, voted no. About half of Democrats did vote "present," while 13, including, to his credit, Jamaal Bowman, who will reportedly be primaried for not kowtowing to Israel enough, voted no.

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Leaders of both duopoly parties are talking about pressuring other Middle Eastern states to sign off on Israel's ethnic cleansing by talking about tying their foreign aid to how many Gazan refugees they accept. Naturally, the idea of accepting Gazan refugees in the US simply isn't on the table.

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Monday morning, via NPR, I heard on the BBC World Service about Israel's attempt to prevent Gazans from getting bomb blasted. It includes a smartphone alert system, even with a QR code! How high tech! Partial information on that from the AP. And, via Mondoweiss, here's an update on the 2,000-grid system.)

I was reminded of a couple of things.

One is Wallbuilder Joe's Title 42 lite smartphone-based application for asylum. First, how many Guatemalan migrants have smartphones? Second, how good of reception do they get in deserts near the Mexico-US border? The BBC presenter raised similar questions during an interview of a doctor at the Europe Hospital in the Gaza Strip.

Two, sadly, is the old joke about what to do in case of a nuclear attack, with the list of instructions finishing with "and kiss your ass goodbye."

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Remember that even during the cease fire, Israel shelled southern Lebanon, southern Syria, and had troops active in Palestine/West Bank. 

And, Israel has a LONG HISTORY of targeted assassinations.