'Sanders smashes the Israel status quo,' his new ad boasts

[Uncle Joe]

Bernie Sanders is officially running against Israeli apartheid! Yesterday Sanders posted an ad on his Facebook page featuring excerpts from activist Shaun King’s introduction of the Vermont senator at his Brooklyn College campaign launch March 2. King embraced the label that Donald Trump has given Sanders, of being crazy.

Listen, he has always rejected the status quo. He spoke out against apartheid in South Africa when crazily that was an unpopular thing to do. And even today he speaks out against apartheid-like conditions in Palestine even though it’s not popular. Listen, I don’t care if 45 calls him Crazy Bernie because he is a little crazy.

The ad uses the apartheid reference with the graphics above and below, including the statement, “Bernie smashes the Israel status quo.”

(snip)

The ad is surely a tactical shift by Sanders from 2016, when the senator, who is Jewish, largely avoided foreign policy, couched his criticisms of Israel in praise and bashed Netanyahu by saying, “There comes a time when if we pursue justice and peace we are going to have to say that Netanyahu is not right all of the time.”

And that was seen as revolutionary! But that was then and this is now. The progressives base of the party is pro-Palestinian, and Sanders is speaking to them.

https://mondoweiss.net/2019/03/sanders-smashes-israel/

Here is the ad on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/berniesanders/videos/2010265955949511/?v=2010265955949511

[Uncle Joe]

1. Everyone is under siege

(snip)

'Everyone is under siege'

Mohsen Abu Ramadan, a Gaza-based political analyst, said that the movement was a result of the unprecedented high rates of poverty and unemployment in the Gaza Strip, which has reached 70 percent among the youth.

Around 20,000 university graduates each year find no jobs, which has caused a number of social problems in the strip. Furthermore, the withdrawal of a number of international NGOs working in Gaza has deepened economic problems.

"The violent reaction of the Hamas security forces has incensed public opinion," Abu Ramadan said, explaining that Hamas should have dealt better with the movement without resorting to physical attacks.

"Everyone in Gaza is under occupation and under siege," he said. "People here have embraced the resistance wing of Hamas and are still participating in the weekly Friday return march protests.

(snip)


https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/gaza-rights-groups-denounce-hamas-crackdown-economic-protests-190318093948229.html