Democratic National Convention (DNC) organizers have decided to shut out pro-Palestinian speakers who would talk about Israel’s military operation in Gaza, a Washington, DC news outlet said.
Voters who are withholding their support from US Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running for presidency, were hoping that just one of several speakers would be allowed to make a statement regarding the Biden administration’s support of Israel. Those who requested to speak were not given a reason as to why they were denied that opportunity.
Robert Fantina, an author and Palestine activist, spoke to The Critical Hour on Thursday, and accused the DNC decision as “appalling” but “not surprising”.
“...the people who are relatives of hostages being held by Hamas were given airtime and such sympathy and everything. But, what about the over 40,000 Palestinians who have been slaughtered? What about the thousands of Palestinians being held as political prisoners in Israeli jails? None of this is mentioned,” Fantina explained. “Zionism is a part of the US government and the injustice at the Democratic National Convention is appalling but not really surprising.”
“There's such organizations as Jewish Forces for Peace that are very involved in fighting this genocide. They've been involved in Palestinian liberation activities for years. So, this is not a Jewish issue. This is not a religious issue. This is an issue of international law and human rights and Blinken, Biden, Harris, and that whole US government refuses to see that only because it's convenient for them not to,” the guest said.
According to a recent report from a Turkish newspaper, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) presents itself as having the aim of strengthening goodwill between the US and Israel, but with over 3 million members it is the largest lobbying group in terms of human resources, the report explains. Security assistance for Israel and combatting “terrorism” is one of the key fields that AIPAC pursues.
Republican Representative Thomas Massie said that accepting funding from AIPAC means having to obey their orders, and if a political candidate or even an elected Senator tries to ignore AIPAC, the punishment is “immediate”. Their funds are redirected to a different politician and then their reputation is smeared by gossip columns and leaked documents. AIPAC offers funding to both Democratic and Republican candidates and politicians.
“Netanyahu, for whom International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan issued an arrest warrant, was welcomed in Congress, and his arrival was applauded 72 times during his address,” the report details. “Despite a massive protest outside Congress, the representatives and senators chose to turn their backs on their constituencies, aware that their political reputations could be compromised unless they demonstrated obedience to their benefactor, namely AIPAC.”
“...every year at AIPAC’s convention elected leaders from the highest level, including the president, go and speak to the AIPAC convention and they talk about [...] US’ ironclad security to Israeli security. They talk about the wonders of Israel, etc, etc, etc.. These are people who are terrified of losing the support of AIPAC and losing their campaign donations,” Fantina explained.
“We have to remember two pro-Palestinian representatives recently lost their primary elections because AIPAC and other pro-Israeli lobbies sunk millions and millions of dollars into their opponents campaigns,” he added. “Now, US officials talk about Russian interference in elections and Iranian interference in elections, what about Israeli interference in elections, which is clear and right in front of everybody?”
“They never talk about that because those candidates, those elected officials benefit from those, from that interference. So, this is why the DNC is ignoring the pro-Palestinian delegates and not allowing them to have any voice. Because AIPAC will issue consequences if they do,” the activist explained. “[The Gaza conflict] could end today if the US would stop the flow of money and weapons to Israel.”
Hostage deal negotiations between Israel and Hamas have come to a standstill after the new US proposal that was submitted last week showed too much favorability towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demands, a US-based, anti-war outlet reported. However US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Netanyahu had accepted the US proposal and the ball was now in Hamas’ court to agree to.
Two Arab officials from a mediating country and another official involved in the talks said that the talks have reached a standstill, and that negotiators likely won’t convene in another meeting unless the US puts pressure on Israel to fall back on some of their demands. Israeli negotiators believe Netanyahu is trying to sabotage the ceasefire deal by refusing to back down from his demands, Israeli media reported.
“The US used to broker so-called negotiations between Israel and Palestine. The negotiations are ridiculous anyway between those two parties.They're not needed and the US cannot be an honest broker,” Fantina explained. “They're gonna do whatever they want to accommodate Israel, which is what they're doing.”
“The demands that Israel is making now are such that no country would agree to under any circumstances. It's close to total surrender. And yet, [US Secretary of State Antony Blinken], will say, well, we’re waiting for Hamas to agree to this. We've got a deal in place. We just need Hamas to agree to this. Well, Hamas is never going to agree to this, as any reasonable country wouldn't agree to it,” he added.
“So, this is the US, again, favoring Israel not only in the negotiations for the ceasefire, but in seizing the narrative and saying that it's Hamas who is resisting the ceasefire. And yes, Hamas is resisting the ceasefire because it gives Israel everything and Palestine nothing.”
Khalil Maqdah, a senior official in the Palestinian Fatah Movement, was killed by an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanon city of Sidon on Wednesday in the first direct attack on a Fatah member since the Gaza conflict first broke out in October. The attack will undoubtedly worsen the tension between Hezbollah and Israel.
Israel made a claim that Maqdah had been working with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in helping to transfer weapons and funds to militants in the West Bank. But senior Fatah member Tawfiq Tirawy criticized the attack as “further proof that Israel wants to ignite a full scale war in the region”, a US-based, anti-war outlet reported.
“They continue with everything that is going to violate a ceasefire. Hezbollah is supportive of the Palestinian people and the reason it’s acting aggressively toward Israel now is in response to the slaughter in Gaza,” Fantina explained.
“Now, it's very interesting that this article talks about how Israel targeted the car and killed this senior official of the Palestinian movement, and yet, Israel refuses to use the same targeting in Gaza. It'll blow up, as it did a couple days ago, a school and a mosque, killing over a hundred Palestinians because there were three or four suspected Hamas leaders there. Nothing about targeting, just indiscriminate killing of whoever's there.”
“But this continued killing of senior officials of other governments, along with the unprecedented slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza just shows that Israel's intentions are not for peace,” he added.
“They're not toward justice. They're not interested in international law. They're not interested in human rights. And yet, the US is complicit in all of it. How can anyone negotiate a ceasefire with such entities as the United States and Israel?”