Some Senators Have Become "Hostage Takers"

The following is part of an editorial by the editorial board of The Washington Post:

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) announced during former president Donald Trump’s arraignment in federal court on Tuesday that he will use what are known as “procedural holds” to stop the confirmation of Justice Department nominees. “We have to grind this department to a halt until Merrick Garland promises to … stop going after his political opponents,” he said in a video posted to Twitter. To decry what he wrongly claims is the politicization of law enforcement, Mr. Vance is, well, politicizing law enforcement.

Mr. Vance is not the only senator taking hostages. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) is blocking more than 200 military promotions, typically approved by unanimous consent, in a gambit to stop the Pentagon from reimbursing service members who need to travel out of state for abortions. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said Monday that he’ll block President Biden’s pick to lead the National Institutes of Health, as well as any other health nominee, until the White House releases a comprehensive plan to cut prescription drug prices. Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, announced blanket opposition last month to every nominee for the Environmental Protection Agency until the Biden administration rescinds proposed power plant regulations. . . .

Holds cannot ultimately stop confirmations, but breaking through them requires significant and valuable Senate floor time — typically two or three days per nomination — that is better used, for instance, to confirm judges to lifetime appointments. While we might like to see Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) keep the Senate in session seven days a week and cancel summer recess to force the hands of obstinate members and push through the president’s nominees, that’s not realistic.

Senators in both parties need to respect a president’s right to make appointments. It’s unconscionable to treat the people charged with keeping us safe, whether career prosecutors or generals, as pawns in partisan fights. These senators should drop their holds.

Israel Seizes Ship Bound For Palestine

The picture above is of the Finnish-flagged ship, the Estelle. It sailed from Naples on October 7th. The ship had about 20 people of eight different nationalities aboard, and was carrying a cargo of medical supplies and construction materials (mostly cement). It was bound for the Gaza Strip in an effort to end the Israeli blockade and get needed supplies to the desperate Palestinian people.

The effort failed though, as the Israeli Navy once again violated international law. They seized the ship as it was 30 miles off the coast of Gaza. That means the ship was not in Israeli waters, but was instead still in international waters -- making the seizure nothing more than an illegal act of piracy. The Israeli government said there were no injuries among the Estelle's passengers (unlike last time when some were killed and injured by the Israeli Navy), and the ship had been taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod.

The Israeli's are trying to claim that they are just trying to defend themselves by preventing military materials from entering Palestinian lands. That is nonsense. If that was true, then the ship should have been allowed to continue to Gaza after being searched (since it had no arms or other military supplies). It should not have been seized and taken to Israel.

The truth is that the Israelis are trying to force the Palestinians into submission by denying them their basic needs, like food, medical supplies, and construction materials. The have been unable to suppress the Palestinian desire for their own country, free from Israeli control, so they are now trying to starve them into submission by denying them the basic commodities necessary for a minimally decent standard of living. This blockade of the Palestinian territories is an abominable crime against humanity, whose victims are innocent people (mostly women and children).

It is time for the United States (and other nations) to put their foot down, and demand that Israel stop the illegal blockade -- and also stop building new settlements on Palestinian land, and negotiate a two-state solution in good faith. Israeli actions have made it clear that they do not want to negotiate in good faith. They want to continue stealing Palestinian land suppress any dissent with their harsh blockade. Israel is in the wrong this time, and it is time for the international community to make that clear.

Greece Stops The "Freedom Flotilla"

Last year the Israelis attacked a peaceful convoy of boats trying to bring peaceful supplies to the people of Gaza. They were trying to stop the illegal blockade of Gaza by the Israelis (who are trying to starve Gaza into submission). Israeli commandos killed several of the activists on the boats, including one American -- even though the ships were carrying no weapons or anything that could be made into a weapon.

Recently, peace and human rights activists organized a new "Freedom Flotilla". This new convoy of ships is also manned by unarmed people and carrying no weapons. The purpose is to expose the inhuman blockade of Gaza being perpetrated by Israel. But it looks like the Israelis, burned by the bad publicity they received after attacking the flotilla last year, have come up with a new tack to stop the flotilla.

The Israelis have made some kind of deal with the Greek government to stop the ships before they can even get out of the harbor. Last Friday the American ship, the Audacity of Hope, was stopped by the Greek government as it tried to leave. The ship was forced to return and its captain was arrested. He was charged with "setting sail without permission" and "endangering the lives of passengers".

These are obviously trumped up charges, since all the passengers are activists who know well the dangers of sailing to Gaza and there is no logical reason to deny the ship permission to leave Greece.

Yesterday, a second ship in the flotilla tried to sail out of the Greek harbor in Crete -- the Canadian ship Tahrir. This ship was also stopped by the Greek Coast Guard (and damaged while being towed back into the harbor). The Canadian ship is pictured above (after being forced back to the harbor dock).

Why are the Greeks doing this? Have they made some kind of deal with the Israeli government? Is some of the billions of dollars the U.S. sends to Israel being diverted to Greece (which has serious economic problems)? Or has some other kind of deal been done (like helping Greece in some future conflict with Turkey)? The whole situation stinks.

Meanwhile, the blockade continues and the people of Gaza, at least half of whom are children under the age of 18, must go without adequate food, medical supplies, and other necessary basics. The Israelis claim the blockade is to prevent weapons from being shipped to Gaza. But if that was true, there would be no reason to stop/attack ships that are known to not be carrying weapons -- only humanitarian supplies. The real reason for the blockade is to starve the Gaza population into doing what the Israelis want -- to elect pro-Israel leaders.

Israel is not an innocent victim as some people seem to think. It is the bully, and most of its victims are children. It is time for the world to demand that Israel follow international law and cease the blockade.

And the Greeks should just be ashamed of themselves.

Israel Must Comply With International Law And Morality

I used to be a supporter of the state of Israel (and I still believe it has the right to exist and create a decent life for its citizens). But recently I have been very disappointed in the Israeli government. They seem to be graduates of the Bush/Cheney school of politics, where anything they want to do has to be the right thing to do. Unfortunately, that was not true for this country and is not true for Israel, and they are now in the process of making themselves an international pariah.

It would be bad enough if all they were doing is ignoring international law and delaying the peace process, so they can steal more land from the Palestinians in the form of the continual building of new settlements on Palestinian land -- land which they have no intention of returning. But it gets much worse than that.

During the last military excursion into Palestinian territory, the Israelis fired indiscriminately at targets with no regard as to whether there were innocent civilians there or not. This was not an accident, but the policy of the government (as we have learned from the testimony of Israeli soldiers who were the recipient of those orders).

But when they withdrew, they still would not go to the peace table with the Palestinians. That's because they did not approve of the duly-elected Palestinian leaders. Israel has decided it will only negotiate with Palestinians that they approve of (which of course are those that are willing to sell out their own people).

So the Israelis decided to blockade the Palestinians (especially in the Gaza Strip) and starve them into submission. No supplies are allowed to reach the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza without Israeli approval, and the number of supply trucks allowed into Gaza are nowhere near enough to supply the Palestinian people there. The idea is that starvation will make those people choose leaders who will do what Israel wants them to do.

Israel has tried to defend these actions by saying it is necessary for their security, and many people in this country seem to be buying into that lie. It is not. Their security is not threatened by allowing food and other non-military supplies into Gaza. The blockade is nothing more than an illegal and immoral effort to force the Palestinians to give in to Israeli political demands.

In an effort to bring the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza to the world's attention, many peace and humanitarian volunteers (some of them pictured above) organized a small convoy of ships to bring badly needed aid to Gaza. They hoped that Israel would let the unarmed convoy (carrying no military supplies of any kind) through, but expected they would not. They hoped that at the very least, the attempt to deliver food and supplies would focus world attention on Gaza. But they did not expect what actually happened.

When the convoy neared its destination, they were boarded by Israeli commandos. At least 10 of the aid workers were killed by the Israelis and dozens were wounded. The Israeli government tried to say their soldiers were fired upon, but the aid workers were unarmed and couldn't fire on anyone. They then tried to claim their soldiers were physically attacked, but that makes no sense either. What unarmed protester would attack a fully-armed commando?

The truth is they killed and wounded unarmed people who were just trying to bring food and other non-military supplies to people who desperately needed those supplies. This is a shocking violation of every moral code known to civilized men. The Israelis say the convoy was a provocation. I suppose it was. That still does not justify the killing of unarmed people.

This last ridiculously immoral and unnecessary act by Israel has made it very clear that it is time for the United States to act. The U.S. has in the past supported Israel without question, but that must end. President Obama must make it clear to Israel that they must stop building settlements on Palestinian land, allow sufficient supplies into Gaza and return to the peace table and negotiate with the duly-elected Palestinian leaders. If they do not, then all U.S. aid should be stopped until they do.

I repeat, Israel should have the right to a secure existence. But that does not give them the right to starve the people of Gaza into submission, target innocent civilians, or kill unarmed protesters on the high seas. It was wrong for Jews to be targeted for annihilation during and after World War II, but it is also wrong for Israel to act in a violent and immoral way toward the Palestinians.

I think Cul over at the blog ratboy's anvil 2 puts it best when he says:

"What happened to you, Israel? You have become one of the worst terrorist states. You deserve neither the respect or protection of the US. Chosen people my ass....you have become nothing but smug thugs."