Harris, Biden re Israel -- Re: Tianenmen square history - Livin the BatSoup Dream - A vote for "D" is a vote for Xi - China goes "Mr. Hyde" on the world - [PEACE]
Zenaan Harkness
zen at freedbms.net
Fri Aug 28 21:21:00 PDT 2020
On "Unconditional" Military Aid To Israel, Biden-Harris Far To The Right Even Of Bush Admin
Brett Wilkins via CommonDreams.org,
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/27/citing-unbreakable-commitment-harris-vows-biden-would-never-place-conditions-us
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/unconditional-military-aid-israel-biden-harris-far-right-bush-admin
Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris told a group of Jewish donors Wednesday that a Joe Biden White House would not place any conditions on military aid to Israel, and that a Biden-Harris administration would continue the "unprecedented" military and intelligence cooperation with the Jewish state the country received from the Obama administration.
Haartez reports the California Democrat's comments came during a virtual campaign call with donors in which she assured attendees that "Joe has made it clear he will not tie security assistance to political decisions Israel makes," adding that she "couldn't agree more" with that policy.
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-kamala-harris-says-biden-white-house-will-not-place-conditions-on-aid-to-israel-1.9104809
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/kamala-harris-will-speak-to-jewish-community-in-virtual-campaign-event-1.9089082
"The Biden-Harris administration will sustain our unbreakable commitment to Israel's security," Harris reportedly said, "including the unprecedented military and intelligence cooperation pioneered during the Obama administration and guarantee that Israel will always maintain its qualitative military edge."
The Trump administration frequently touts the $3.8 billion in annual U.S. military aid to Israel as proof of its commitment to Israel's security. However, the record $38 billion, 10-year aid package was drafted and approved in 2016, during Obama's tenure. The White House at the time called the grant a "reflection of President Obama's unshakeable commitment to Israel's security."
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-israel-statement/u-s-israel-sign-38-billion-military-aid-package-idUSKCN11K2CI
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/09/14/fact-sheet-memorandum-understanding-reached-israel
The Obama administration was often criticized by international human rights advocates for its unconditional support for Israel, which had launched three devastating wars against Gaza in 2008, 2012, and 2014,
https://honestreporting.com/israels-gaza-wars/
in which thousands of civilians were killed. Israel also faced growing international condemnation for its ongoing illegal occupation and settler colonization of the West Bank and East Jerusalem,
https://www.amnestyusa.org/lets-be-clear-israels-long-running-settlement-policy-constitutes-a-war-crime/
as well as what prominent international critics have called ethnic cleansing and apartheid in the occupied Palestinian territories.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israels-ethnic-cleansing-was-not-historical-exception-palestine-it-happening-today
https://www.haaretz.com/1.4938644
During the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, there was an historic shift among candidates' stances regarding Israel. For the first time, not only progressive candidates like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), but also more moderate ones like former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg said they would consider attaching conditions to Israel aid.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/harris-tells-jewish-supporters-biden-will-not-condition-aid-to-israel-if-elected/
Biden has called the idea of conditioning aid to Israel "absolutely outrageous."
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium--1.8064328
One critic noted that the Biden-Harris stance falls "far to the right of" former President George H.W. Bush, who initially refused to approve a $10 billion loan to Israel over settlement expansion before ultimately backing down.
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-how-an-ultimatum-from-president-george-h-w-bush-transformed-u-s-israel-relations-1.6702047
Unconditional military aid to Israel puts Biden/Harris far to the right of notorious peacenik
*checks notes*
George H. W. Bush https://t.co/G7GDnFQf0s pic.twitter.com/CVV4BDjsvy
— Dan Cohen (@dancohen3000) August 27, 2020
Harris has long been a supporter of Israel. In 2017, she met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu one day after he announced a plan to expel tens of thousands of African migrants, who he called "infiltrators" who threatened the country's "Jewish character," from Israel.
https://thegrayzone.com/2020/08/11/netanyahu-top-cop-kamala-harris-israel-racism/
In Congress, progressive lawmakers including Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and moderates including Reps. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) have sought to block U.S. aid from funding Israel's proposed annexation of large portions of the West Bank.
https://www.minnpost.com/national/2019/08/rep-betty-mccollum-has-become-one-of-the-strongest-critics-of-israeli-policy-in-congress/
https://www.vanhollen.senate.gov/news/press-releases/van-hollen-speaks-on-israeli-annexation
At the same time, however, even some progressive Democratic lawmakers—most notably Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.)—joined their Republican and moderate Democratic colleagues in supporting a bill that condemned the peaceful Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian human rights.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/25/progressive-except-palestine-khanna-and-pressley-draw-fire-over-vote-condemning
Differences between the Obama and Trump administration on relations with Israel are often more stylistic than substantive. While right-wing politicians and pundits made much of some very public spats between Obama and Netanyahu, there was never any serious doubt that the U.S. would continue to staunchly support its closest Middle Eastern ally.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/reports-netanyahu-humiliated-by-obama-snub
Today I met with Senator @KamalaHarris of California. We discussed the potential for deepening cooperation in water management, agriculture, cyber security, and more. I expressed my deep appreciation for America's commitment to Israel's security. 🇮🇱🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/L5qdcgwWG0
— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) November 20, 2017
It is true that the Trump administration has been exceptionally accommodating toward Israel, notably by moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and by withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal. However, the current administration has continued its predecessors' largely uncritical support for Israel, no matter how many human rights violations it commits, and regardless of world opinion.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-keeps-promise-open-u-s-embassy-jerusalem-israel/
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/world/middleeast/trump-iran-nuclear-deal.html
Both the Obama and Trump administrations stood nearly alone in the world in vetoing United Nations resolutions condemning Israel's illegal colonization, although Obama did abstain from a vote on settlements shortly before leaving office.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/43-times-us-has-used-veto-power-against-un-resolutions-israel
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/23/us-abstention-allows-un-to-demand-end-to-israeli-settlements
Speaking of Iran, Harris told the Jewish donors that a Biden administration "will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon," an apparently superfluous statement given that U.S. and Israel intelligence officials have said since the early 2000s that Tehran is not seeking to build or acquire such weapons. Biden has signaled that he is interested in renegotiating the nuclear deal, with which all parties, including the Trump administration, agreed Iran was compliant.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-usa-nuclear/special-report-intel-shows-iran-nuclear-threat-not-imminent-idUSBRE82M0G020120323
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/skeptics/will-joe-biden-go-back-iran-deal-156186
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/donald-trump-iran-nuclear-deal-barack-obama-complying-terms-tehran-us-a7846566.html
"We will work with our allies... to strengthen and extend the Iran deal and push back against Iran's other destabilizing actions," Harris told the donors on the Wednesday call, which came as Israel continued its near-daily air and artillery attacks on what it says are Hamas targets in Gaza in repsonse to incendiary balloon attacks that have sparked wildfires in southern Israel.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/25/israeli-bombing-gaza-continues-us-media-show-little-interest
Remember - a vote for D, is a vote for Xi.
On Fri, Jun 05, 2020 at 03:00:48PM +1000, Zenaan Harkness wrote:
> Some history, folks:
>
> The June 4 Tiananmen Square Massacre: Five Truths That Still Aren't Widely Known
> https://www.theepochtimes.com/the-june-4-tiananmen-square-massacre-five-truths-that-still-arent-widely-known_3374891.html
> https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/june-4-tiananmen-square-massacre-five-truths-still-arent-widely-known
>
> Following the sudden death of a beloved political reformer, Hu Yaobang, 200,000 students gathered at Tiananmen Square on April 22, 1989, to await the hearse carrying Hu’s body - but it never arrived. The mass of students were angered, and their burning desire for freedom could be contained no more.
> https://www.theepochtimes.com/t-tiananmen-square
>
> For the next few weeks, Tiananmen Square was occupied by these student protesters, who aimed at making reality their dream of ridding the country of communist tyranny and bringing democratic reform to China. Their non-violent demonstration perhaps brought a glimmer of hope … until the army moved in. Although martial law was declared on May 20 that year, what caused the army to suddenly go on a killing rampage on June 4?
> https://www.theepochtimes.com/t-june-4
>
> [image]
> L: Thousands of Chinese gather on June 2, 1989, in Tiananmen Square around “The Goodness of Democracy,” demanding democracy despite martial law in Beijing. (CATHERINE HENRIETTE/AFP via Getty Images). R: “The Goddess of Democracy,” a 10-meter replica of the Statue of Liberty created by students from an art institute to promote the pro-democracy protest against the Chinese government. (TOSHIO SAKAI/AFP via Getty Images)
>
>
> --------------------
> 1. Mass-Murdered by the Chinese Regime
>
> At least 10,454 people were mass-murdered by the Chinese communist regime on Tiananmen Square, according to an unnamed source from the Chinese State Council. The figure is far greater than the “official” fatality count of 200.
>
> On June 4, 1989, students were gunned down in droves and “mown down” by tanks. “APCs (Armored personnel carriers) then ran over bodies time and time again to make ‘pie’ and remains collected by bulldozer. Remains incinerated and then hosed down drains,” reads part of a declassified statement, which was obtained by Alan Donald, Britain’s ambassador to China in 1989.
> https://www.theepochtimes.com/at-least-10000-killed-during-the-tiananmen-square-massacre-according-to-secret-diplomatic-cable_2396905.html
>
> It’s still unconfirmed how many more were massacred during and after the students’ unarmed protest.
>
> [image]
> Waving banners, high school students march in Beijing streets near Tiananmen Square on May 25, 1989, during a rally to support the pro-democracy protest against the Chinese regime. (CATHERINE HENRIETTE/AFP via Getty Images)
>
>
> --------------------
> 2. The Ringleader Is Still Alive
>
> In addition to rolling over the students with tanks, the army fired high-explosive shells that expand on impact, also known as dum-dum bullets, (forbidden by the Geneva Convention) to kill the students in the most harm-inflicting way possible.
>
> The question remains—what kind of a human being would order such a brutal mass murder of freedom-seeking civilians?
>
> [image]
> Former leader of the Chinese Communist Party Jiang Zemin (Feng Li/Getty Images)
>
> Former paramount leader of the party Deng Xiaoping was impressed with Jiang Zemin’s iron-fisted proposition to use the army to crack down on the students, and promoted him from Party Chief of Shanghai to General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party days before the massacre, giving him free rein to do as he liked.
>
> Jiang Zemin, the mastermind behind the massacre, ordered the army to carry out his bloody strategy on June 4. The “gate of heavenly peace” was suddenly turned into hell on Earth.
>
> [image]
> Taken care of by others, an unidentified foreign journalist (2nd-R) is carried out from the clash site between the army and students on June 4, 1989, near Tiananmen Square. (TOMMY CHENG/AFP via Getty Images)
>
>
> --------------------
> 3. Ruthless Abuse of Power
>
> The Tiananmen Square Massacre was just the start of Jiang’s ruthless abuse of power. He went on to commit the most heinous crimes that couldn’t bear the light of day. In the bloody wake of the massacre, Jiang became Deng’s ideal heir for the next Party Chief, a position Jiang secured in 1993.
>
> Jiang, a Marxist hardliner and ex-senior spy for the KGB’s Far-East Bureau, had only begun to show his true colors with how he dealt with the protesting students and went on to orchestrate even bloodier campaigns. In 1999, Jiang sought to “eradicate” Falun Gong—a popular spiritual practice—after the number of people practicing it rose some 100 million, outnumbering the then 70 million Party members, according to state-run reports at the time.
> http://faluninfo.net/
>
> [image]
> Falun Gong practitioners doing the group exercise in Guangzhou, China, in 1998. (Minghui)
> http://photo.minghui.org/photo/Eindex.htm
>
> Under Jiang’s rule, an adroit misinformation campaign inundated China, turning public opinion against Falun Gong by subjecting the spiritual practice to extreme vilification—including the infamous Tiananmen Square “self-immolation” hoax, which successfully deceived the nation—paving the way for Jiang’s next phase: to forcibly “transform” or “eliminate” the meditators who refused to give up the practice.
>
> In response to Jiang’s genocidal policy, believed to have caused a widespread yet unascertainable amount of state-approved killings, including forced organ harvesting, over 209,000 lawsuits have since been filed against Jiang, making him the most sued dictator in history.
>
> [image]
> Falun Gong practitioners at a rally in front of the Chinese embassy in New York City on July 3, 2015, to support the global effort to sue Jiang Zemin. (Larry Dye/The Epoch Times)
>
>
> --------------------
> 4. Horrifying Accounts Kept Secret
>
> A Blacklock’s Reporter obtained secret telex messages concerning horrifying accounts of what really happened on Tiananmen Square that day via access-to-information laws.
> https://www.theepochtimes.com/cables-reveal-canadian-officials-dark-views-on-1989-tiananmen-square-massacre_1228054.html
>
> “An old woman knelt in front of soldiers pleading for students; soldiers killed her,” the Canadian embassy in Beijing reported at the time.
>
> Blacklock’s writes: “A boy was seen trying to escape holding a woman with a 2-year old child in a stroller, and was run over by a tank”; “The tank turned around and mashed them up”; “Soldiers fired machine guns until the ammo ran out.”
>
> An unbelievable amount of bullets were fired on civilians at Tiananmen that “they ricocheted inside nearby houses, killing many residents.”
>
> “The embassy described the killings as ‘savage,’” according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
>
> “They are now entering a period of vicious repression during which denunciations and fear of persecution will terrorize the population,” reads another cable obtained.
>
> [image]
> Chinese onlookers run away as a soldier threatens them with a gun on June 5, 1989, as tanks took position at Beijing’s key intersections next to the diplomatic compound. (CATHERINE HENRIETTE/AFP via Getty Images)
>
> Diplomats added that some 1,000 executions took place following the massacre, but an exact figure is unconfirmed. “It was probably thought that the massacre of a few hundreds or thousands would convince the population not to pursue their protests. It seems to be working,” reads a statement by the diplomats.
>
> The secret British cable, obtained by news website HK01, reveals more detail about the crimes of the 27 Army of Shanxi Province on the day.
> https://www.hk01.com/%E7%A4%BE%E6%9C%83%E6%96%B0%E8%81%9E/140801/%E5%85%AD%E5%9B%9B%E5%AF%86%E6%AA%94-%E8%8B%B1%E5%BC%95%E4%B8%AD%E5%9C%8B%E5%9C%8B%E5%8B%99%E9%99%A2%E6%88%90%E5%93%A1-27%E8%BB%8D%E6%8E%83%E5%B0%84-%E5%AD%B8%E7%94%9F-%E5%A3%AB%E5%85%B5%E7%9A%86%E4%B8%AD%E6%A7%8D
>
> “27 Army ordered to spare no one and shot wounded SMR soldiers. Four wounded girl students begged for their lives but were bayoneted. A 3-year-old girl was injured but her mother was shot as she went to her aid as were six others who tried.”
>
> “A thousand survivors were told they could escape via Zhengyi Lu but were then mown down by specially prepared M/G (machine gun) positions.”
>
> [image]
> Ailing student hunger strikers from Beijing University receive first aid treatment under a makeshift tent set up on May 17, 1989, at Tiananmen Square as students enter the 5th day of a marathon hunger strike as part of a mass pro-democracy protest against the Chinese government. (CATHERINE HENRIETTE/AFP via Getty Images)
>
>
> --------------------
> 5. “June 4”: A Highly Taboo Subject in China Today
>
> Despite Hong Kong lighting up every evening on June 4 in an annual candlelight vigil to commemorate the victims of the massacre, Chinese mainlanders across the border are without such freedom of speech. Talking about the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or even mentioning “June 4,” or “6.4,” could have one disappear.
>
> In 2007, Zhang Zhongshun, a lecturer from Yantai University, showed his class a video of the massacre he obtained from an overseas website. He was subsequently jailed for three years by Laishan City Court on Feb. 28, 2008.
>
> [image]
> Tens of thousands of people hold candles during a vigil in Hong Kong on June 4, 2018, to mark the 29th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown in Beijing. (ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images)
>
> “I imagined that the worst case would just be that the university president would criticize me in front of my colleagues in a meeting. I would not have thought that the communist regime would imprison me,” Zhang told The Epoch Times in an interview after his release from the detention.
> https://www.theepochtimes.com/tiananmen-square-massacre-june-4-china-ccp-human-rights-taboo-topic_1512400.html
>
> “Is it illegal even if I include a historical event into my lecture?” he asked.
>
> [image]
> A student displays a banner with one of the slogans chanted by the crowd of some 200,000 pouring into Tiananmen Square on April 22, 1989, in Beijing in an attempt to participate in the funeral ceremony of former Chinese Communist Party leader and liberal reformer Hu Yaobang. His death in April triggered an unprecedented wave of pro-democracy demonstrations. The April-June 1989 movement was crushed by Chinese troops in June when army tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square June 4, 1989. (CATHERINE HENRIETTE/AFP via Getty Images)
>
>
>
> Who’d dare raise this for discussion in China knowing the consequences? This year marks the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Will the current Chinese leaders redress the issue and bring Jiang Zemin to justice for his litany of crimes? Only time will tell.
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jun 04, 2020 at 11:15:46PM +1000, Zig the N.g wrote:
> > Hey hey, livin it up in Bat Stew land? NO? Well sweriously muh n.gs, you ain't not knowin what yuze missin :)
> >
> > >From the dept. of the CCP writing the Chinese memes on deyselves .. comes ... The CCP - making Tank Man great again :D
> >
> > One could say "At least the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) has a sense of black humour."
> >
> >
> > Hong Kong Makes "Disrespecting Chinese National Anthem" A Crime - On Anniversary Of 'Tiananmen Square'
> > https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/hong-kong-makes-disrespecting-chinese-national-anthem-crime-anniversary-tiananmen
> >
> > As if the imposition of a new "National Security" law by the Politburo Standing Committee wasn't enough of a kick to the face for Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement, the city's own executive council, which over the years has been packed with pro-Beijing lawmakers via anti-democratic tactics, has just made it illegal to "disrespect" the Chinese national anthem.
> >
> > What's worse: the new law, perhaps the biggest move by the legislature to suppress political freedoms in the city to date, was passed on the anniversary of "the June 4 incident" - better known in the US as the Tiananmen Square massacre, which WSJ noted is a "poignant day" for Hong Kong.
> >
> > For the first time, the HK Tiananmen vigil is banned.
> > Anyone calling the crackdown on demonstrators here “America’s Tiananmen” is being facile.
> > We’re able to talk honestly about our flawed past and move the moral needle. For 31 years, China has buried the memory of Tiananmen.
> > — Melissa Chen (@MsMelChen) June 4, 2020
> > https://twitter.com/MsMelChen/status/1268385700631793669?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
> >
> > Many suspect that the law was passed as part of an effort mandated by Beijing to crack down on an annual vigil to honor the victims, which the authorities are refusing to allow this year for the first time since the incident occurred.
> >
> > The vote was held on a poignant day in Hong Kong, where for the first time in 30 years, authorities refused permission for a mass vigil to mourn the deaths of the pro-democracy students gunned down by Chinese soldiers in Tiananmen Square 31 years ago. Police objected to the vigil, citing social-distancing rules amid the continuing coronavirus pandemic, and threatened to arrest those who violated the ban.
> > ...
> >
> >
> >
> > There are regimes, and there are regimes.
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Jun 01, 2020 at 12:34:25PM +1000, Zig the N.g wrote:
> > > When presented with essential propaganda, it is most important to not find the humorous side, and only treat everything with the utmost seriousness...
> > >
> > > So remember y'all, a vote for D is a vote for Xi :D
> > >
> > >
> > > Xi Takes Up Trump's Challenge
> > > Patrick Buchanan via Buchanan.org,
> > > https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/xi-takes-trumps-challenge
> > > https://buchanan.org/blog/jinping-takes-up-the-us-challenge-138600
> > > .. “China’s been ruled by a brutal, authoritarian regime, a communist regime since 1949. For several decades, we thought the regime would become more like us through trade, scientific exchanges, diplomatic outreach … (but) that didn’t happen.
> > > .. Who did this to us? We did it to ourselves.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Schlichter: This Election Is Republicans Versus China
> > > Kurt Schlichter, op-ed via Townhall.com,
> > > https://www.zerohedge.com/political/schlichter-election-republicans-versus-china
> > > https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2020/05/28/this-election-is-republicans-v-china--oops-i-mean-democrats-n2569512?2810
> > >
> > > It’s pretty clear who the commie bastards known for their shoddy lab practices and their weird fetish for gnawing on pangolins badly want to win in November, and it's not Trump and the Republicans. The Chinese communists want their money’s worth, and they will go all-in for the Democrats who find the chance to hurt Trump at the same time they hurt America too delicious to pass up. Plus, the Dems heartily approve of what Mao’s Pals are doing to freedom-loving Hong Kongers, seeing it as a template for what they would love to do to freedom-loving us.
> > >
> > > We need to understand and accept that a vote for anyone with a “D” is a vote for Xi.
> > > ...
More information about the cypherpunks
mailing list