Tomás Ó Flatharta

Looking at Things from the Left

Archive for the ‘Joe Biden USA President’ Category

USA President Genocide Joe Biden

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What public figure do you disagree with the most?

Genocide Joe Biden has the blood of thousands of innocent Gazans on his hands.

Who Organised a Belfast Patrick’s Weekend Palestine March – Minus the Original Speakers? Bernadette McAliskey looks for answers

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Bernadette McAliskey asks questions :

The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) should provide answers.

Bernadette McAliskey :

Was this march organised by Belfast ISPC? On what date did the platform change from the three speakers below and become a platform of primarily spokespersons for political parties of the NI Assembly,? On what date were the political parties first invited to speak? Why was the list of political party speakers including Sinn Fein not announced prior to the March and rally itself, allowing those who didn’t want to hear from political parties whose leaders were in the White House, or those doing little or nothing for Palestine to have stayed away? Who made these decisions, the consequences of which must have obvious to them at the time, given the depth of feeling from anger to disappointment? What did they expect from an unsuspecting audience when a Sinn Fein speaker was sprung on them? Did they, through naivety, expect Sinn Fein to decline or was the reaction foreseen and thought to OK?

Without some transparency and explanation of the who, when and why, the organisers have very little credibility left with independent activists who are daily raising awareness; building support for boycott of Israeli goods on the ground; fund raising for medical aid, for children, for food aid in Gaza and helping as best they know how, Palestinians living here to cope with the pain and trauma of their fear for family and friends at home as well their exile.
Either lack of foresight and transparency, intentional deceit, or plain old-fashioned elitism needs to be owned up to, unless the organisers have a better explanation. This is no way to build any principled unity on Palestine, or anything else for that matter.

Vincent Doherty :

This is a moment of decision nationally for the IPSC. Sinn Fein would prefer if we all forgot their treachery in fine wining and dining with Biden in the midst of the genocide. Just like a few years ago when they were meeting with Likud despite having signed up to the BDS campaign. It’s the elephant in the room, and one that needs to be addressed.

Sally Rooney: Killing in Gaza has been supported by Ireland’s ‘good friend’ in the White House

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Sally Rooney: Killing in Gaza has been supported by Ireland’s ‘good friend’ in the White House

Our Government is basking in the moral glow of condemning the bombers, while preserving a cosy relationship with those supplying the bombs

Source :

Sally Rooney – Palestine

“The cries of the innocent will haunt us forever if we stay silent.” These are the words of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, speaking at an event in Boston this week about Israel’s devastating assault on Gaza. And who could disagree? What is taking place in Palestine now is one of the most profound and shocking moral catastrophes of our time.

Already for months on end, Israeli military forces have been pounding the besieged, starving and largely homeless population of Gaza with relentless aerial bombardment. Cut off from the outside world, Palestinian survivors have been forced to document the crisis in real time, sharing stories, images and footage of mass graves, destroyed buildings and abandoned bodies. And with no end in sight, the United States continues to pump money and weapons into Israel to prolong the onslaught.

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“IF YOU CAN’T SAY NO TO THE WHITE HOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF A GENOCIDE – THEN YOU’D NEVER BE ABLE TO STAND UP – NOT EVEN FOR IRELAND.”  Poster, Belfast Pro-Palestine Demonstration

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An interesting political coalition is assembling in Ireland, the USA, and elsewhere calling on public representatives to boycott USA President Joe Biden’s annual White House Patrick’s Day celebration in 2024. As Bernadette McAliskey says :

Colum Eastwood’s decision to absent himself and SDLP from ‘rocking the sham’ in the White House is very welcome.
The Irish government parties and Sinn Féin might want to reconsider their positions.

Bernadette McAliskey, Impartial Reporter, February 9 2024

A Pro-Palestine activist, Art Ó Laoghaire, has sent the following message to several Irish public representatives :

Do you believe that Israel is justified in its military campaign in Gaza, and that the US should continue to supply weapons to them?
The last four months has seen more than 27,000 people killed in Gaza, including 10,000 children, and more than 60,000 wounded.
South Africa believes Israel is guilty of genocide.
Amnesty says today that Israel is committing war crimes.
And António Guterres said that the people of there don’t have enough to eat, while Israel continues to block food supplies.

Yet today Joe Biden has asked Congress for billions of dollars to continue to supply arms.

How can you in all honesty go to Washington for St Patrick’s Day to enjoy Biden’s hospitality, while he continues to facilitate this carnage?
Some may claim that face-to-face conversation gives them an opportunity to express Ireland’s views on the situation.
But this is absurd. Biden knows our views. It would say much more to him if his celebrations were boycotted.
It would also be a message to the Irish American voters he is trying to canvas.

If you have any moral principles you will stand by the Palestinians and refuse to join in Biden’s re-election party.

Art Ó Laoghaire

Bernadette McAliskey’s Article :

Sharing thoughts on Northern Ireland politics and American policy

Bernadette McAliskey, Impartial Reporter, February 9 2024

Thank You, Mr. Eastwood.

Colum Eastwood’s decision to absent himself and SDLP from ‘rocking the sham’ in the White House is very welcome.

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Sinn Féin Leaders are attending President Joe Biden’s Washington DC White House on Patrick’s Day, March 17 2024 – “drowning of the shamrock” decision has generated an avalanche of hostile left-wing criticism in Ireland

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A Patrick’s Day “Drowning of the Shamrock” celebration in Washington DC’s White House, including Irish politicians and the USA President, is a long-established tradition. President Joe Biden is an Irish-American who enjoyed a warm welcome “home” to Mayo and Louth in 2023. Biden’s Irish-American links are very strong and genuine – but many people who welcomed him to Ireland less than a year ago have broken with “Genocide Joe” because of USA political and military support of the Israeli murderous assault on the people of Gaza and Palestine.

An articulate response came from a Derry GAA All-Ireland winner, who is related by marriage to Mr Biden – Joe Brolly’s wife is Laurita Blewitt, a third cousin of Mr Biden.

Joe Biden, Laurita Blewitt and Joe Brolly

“President Biden has pledged 14 billion in state of the art weapons of war for Israel to continue to pummel this defenceless population. And 20 trucks of humanitarian aid for Gaza.
“I cannot think of anything sicker or more obscene bombing churches, hospitals, indiscriminate slaughter. Israel is a rogue state, completely out of control, as described by many leading Jewish academics and thinkers, acting beyond all norms of morality and anything that we could conceive of as decency and humanity.
“And when Joe Biden goes to Israel and hugs, quite rightly, the parents of those slaughtered children and human beings who lost their lives on 7th October, he doesn’t f***ing go to Palestine and do it and hug the children there and hug the mothers and fathers and tell them that he loves them.
“That alone would bring about a ceasefire. I stand with humanity he should be saying.”

https://tomasoflatharta.com/2023/10/24/irish-podcast-host-and-former-gaelic-footballer-joe-brolly-slams-president-joe-biden-over-usa-support-of-israel-a-rogue-state-completely-out-of-control/#more-7255

The leaders of Sinn Féin are going to the White House to shake hands with “Genocide Joe” on March 17 2024.

Here is one typical online response :

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Ukraine Needs Extra Aid – Everywhere, far-right forces are trying to facilitate Putin’s genocide – Oppose genocide in Ukraine and Palestine

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Dublin City Council has voted unanimously to fly the Palestinian flag at City Hall on Dame Street for seven days. Great decision.

The Ukrainian flag should flutter alongside the Palestinian flag. Solidarity with the people of Palestine and Ukraine – under genocidal bombardment from the states of Israel and the Russian Federation.

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More Than 500 USA Officials Sign Letter Protesting Against President Biden’s Israel Policy – International Solidarity With Palestine is Growing Very Rapidly

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International solidarity with Palestine is growing very rapidly. The Jewish state of Israel is conducting a war of genocide against people living in Gaza. The world’s population is also witnessing a Russian war of genocide against the people of Ukraine. These statements are not made lightly. Here is a recognised definition of genocide :

Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people[a] in whole or in part. In 1948, the United Nations Genocide Convention defined genocide as any of five “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”. These five acts were: killing members of the group, causing them serious bodily or mental harm, imposing living conditions intended to destroy the group, preventing births, and forcibly transferring children out of the group. Victims are targeted because of their real or perceived membership of a group, not randomly

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide

The alarm has spread to the highest levels of the United States government. We re-publish a New York Times report, dated November 14 2023.


More Than 500 U.S. Officials Sign Letter Protesting Biden’s Israel Policy

The signers, representing some 40 government agencies, reflect growing internal dissent over the administration’s support of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

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Irish podcast host and former Gaelic Footballer Joe Brolly slams President Joe Biden over USA support of Israel : “a rogue state completely out of control”

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We thank Joan McKiernan for drawing our attention to Joe Brolly’s blistering attack on Joe Biden’s support of Israel.

Irish podcast host and former Gaelic Footballer Joe Brolly has criticized President Joe Biden over America’s support of Israel. The American President has requested a package worth $105 billion to be used towards humanitarian and military assistance for both Israel and Ukraine.

Joe Brolly is married to Joe Biden’s third cousin, Laurita Blewitt (Image: Twitter/@joebrolly1993)

The $ 14.3 billion earmarked for Israel includes $10.6 billion – via the Defence Department – including provision for air and missile defense. There is also $3.7 billion from the State Department to be used to bolster the Israeli military and strengthen the US Embassy’s security.

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Why Ukrainians should support Palestinians – Daria Saburova

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We thank Dick Nichols for drawing our attention to this article.

Source : Open Democracy https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/ukraine-israel-palestine-russia-zelenskyi-hamas-gaza-offensive/

Why Ukrainians should support Palestinians

How can we look at images of Gaza and not see Mariupol or Bakhmut?

Daria Saburova

(c) Mahmoud Khaled/Getty Images. All rights reserved

As Israel’s assault on Palestine continues, apparent similarities with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine grow. Israel’s “complete siege” of the Gaza Strip – cutting off water, electricity and food to more than two million inhabitants – echoes Russia’s intentional destruction of our energy infrastructure last winter. This, among other things, earned Russia the label of a “terrorist state” among Ukrainians.

From the moment an evacuation order for northern Gaza’s 1.1 million inhabitants was announced, Ukrainians must have known it would expose the most vulnerable – the elderly and sick – to certain death. We know that when people have no viable alternatives, they often prefer to stay.

The images of widespread devastation that reach us from Gaza, which suggest the Israeli army’s disregard for international humanitarian law, also resemble those from Mariupol or Bakhmut last year. Israel – like Russia in Ukraine – has been accused of bombing residential areas, evacuation corridors and the only exit point from the city, Rafah.

Of course, Hamas’s brutal attacks on civilians in Israeli kibbutzim also appear similar to Russia’s massacres in Bucha in March 2022. It is only right that these were condemned by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. But their messages of support for victims and their families were accompanied by problematic assertions, including Zelenskyi’s truly catastrophic conclusion that Israel has the unconditional right to defend itself.

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The Israeli Defence Forces Blew Up that Hospital – October 18 2023

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James Doyle writes :

The IDF blew up that hospital. The fact that they’re now lying about is just insulting to everyone’s intelligence. Netanyahu is a war criminal. Of course, he has been for 15 years now, but this is genocidal.

Steve Bell, for 40 years, has drawn brilliant cartoons for the British newspaper, the Guardian, which has banned this image from its site :

https://www.belltoons.co.uk/hotoffpress

The British Guardian has sacked Steve Bell.

https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/nationals/guardian-steve-bell-cartoons-sacked-israel/


The Israeli Defence Forces have form on incidents like this :

Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan noted that some observers have questioned Israel’s version of events, with some pointing to Israel’s history of falsely attributing acts carried out by its own forces to armed Palestinian groups.

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