this post was submitted on 14 Feb 2024
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CNN reports: An American died in the West Bank on Saturday, the US State Department confirmed Monday, the second death in less than a month of a US citizen in the occupied Palestinian territory.

“We can confirm the death of a U.S. citizen civilian in the West Bank on February 10, 2024,” a State Department spokesperson told CNN, adding that department officials “are working to gather more information and have pressed the Government of Israel for further information.”

“We extend our deepest condolences to the family,” the spokesperson said. “Out of respect to the family, we have nothing further to share.”

Last month, another American, 17-year-old Tawfiq Hafiz Ajjaq, was fatally shot in the head, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA. Israel’s police have opened an investigation into the incident, the IDF and Israeli police told CNN last month.

Defense for Children International – Palestine adds: Mohammad Ahmed Mohammad Khdour, 17, was shot in the head by Israeli forces around 4:30 p.m. on February 10 west of the Palestinian town of Biddu, northwest of Jerusalem in the central occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International – Palestine.

read more: https://israelpalestinenews.org/israeli-forces-killed-2nd-american-citizen-west-bank-under-month-day-130/

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Time for the US to liberate Israel after discovering oil there

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

So if they're US citizens, they could've left? But their family chose to stay there with their children?

But the State Department isn't saying anything, and the propaganda sources aren't going into those details.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Sure is a lot of unarmed people getting shot in the head. I wonder at what range they were shot in the head.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

I guess they didnt get the memo to gtfo?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (3 children)

I would rather die than vote for this.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Have I got news for you if that username is accurate...

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (9 children)

So which candidate do you plan to vote for who will NOT be supporting Israel? Obviously not Trump, since he's already shown that not only will he support anyone who throws money or favors at him, but he has also been willing to stand behind terrorist countries and defend them. I guess that means you'll be voting third-party then? Not that you'll find any of those candidates able to stand against Israel either...

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Third party for me. The total third party vote is less than a quarter of the spread between the major party candidates (usually like 65/30), so there's no chance my third party vote will impact anything. However, if my third party candidate gets an interesting precent of the vote, maybe they'll get a platform for 10 min or something on the news, and that sounds a lot more effective than picking one of the two awful candidates.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Or if we manage to get a politician's worst nightmare -- ranked-choice voting! They tried voting it in here in Colorado and oh boy the misinformation bots were out in full force for that one, making a lot of idiots think that somehow this meant their individual vote would no longer matter.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Don't vote, then politicians will ignore you as a non-factor and you will deserve it.

Vote for an irrelevant third party, then politicians that matter will ignore as a non-factor and you will deserve it.

Vote for politician that has a chance of winning, do it consistently, then politicians will pay attention to you and you will deserve it.

Don't just vote, but show up at town halls and contact your politicians, politicians will pay more attention to you and you will deserve it.

This is how old conservative people have been controlling this country far past their welcome. They show up. It's no secret. Gen Z has been pretty good about turnout compared to previous young generations, so that's encouraging.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

It would be nice if more older people would simply look at the facts. Don't vote for the same party just because that's what you've always done. The beliefs of the Republican party from 50 years ago are pretty in line with the beliefs of today's Democratic party because things have shifted so much. My area is very heavily Democratic so my individual vote doesn't really matter that much, but I still show up for every election because the overall number of voters still matter to the political algorithms. I find it rather telling that the GOP party (and especially Trump) is having an absolute conniption over Taylor Swift encouraging people to get out and vote, one might think they have realized that the only way they can win an election is by actively preventing people from voting and through educational deform to keep them stupid.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

I vote for the one that'll have a funnier presidency

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

you've just been banned from political memes

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

We've got a live one here

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

It's still Her turn.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

There's Cornell West and the Greens. Or there's staying home.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Magically, either of those choices is the same. "I am perfectly and equally happy with either of the two serious candidates". We'll thank you for your support when our candidate wins.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I'll be casting write-in votes for Hillary Clinton in all five states I'm registered to vote in.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (7 children)

Despite all the progress we've made, Colorado still doesn't allow write-in votes.

Also, you just admitted your intent to commit voter fraud on a public forum, definitely not a smart move.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Thank you! Crime rules! It's HER TURN!

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

I love committing voter fraud. Every election day I do a road trip and see how many times I can vote. My apartment is wallpapered in "I voted" stickers 10 deep. I am responsible for every single Bernie Sanders write-in vote in 2020.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

As the only real leftist on this site, I will be travelling to each state just so I can commit voter fraud in each one and write in "Karl Stalin."

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

I love voting. I voted for hillary 5 times in 2016, had a whole ballot box thrown out. I'm not even american, i just do it for the love of the game.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago
[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

It's her turn

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

I will also be committing voter fraud.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

But would their candidates be allowed to push back if by some miracle they were to be elected? Even with a full presidential order sanctioning support of a foreign nation, there are still two other branches of government deeply in their pocket who would try to prevent this.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

No you're making an excellent point, this entire system is irredeemable and must be immediately destroyed rather than dignified with ritual participation in a meaningless game

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (3 children)

So you’d rather an insurrectionist get elected??

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

they said they would rather die.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

I'd rather literally kill myself than vote for either of the fascists and become complicit in their genocide.

I should, actually. I deserve it.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (2 children)

More to the point, they would rather see someone who will with absolute certainty escalate this situation by orders of magnitude get elected.

Smells like a Russian troll to me.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

"If you're not with us you're with the enemy!"

You are a fascist.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

In a two-party first-past-the-post system, it's not wrong.

Having ideals is nice, but unless you manage to get the majority of the districts in your state to vote for a specific third party candidate, not voting for the minority lesser evil is indirectly supporting the greater evil.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

No, it is wrong. Most people don't live in a swing state, so the third party vote won't be anywhere close to spoiling the election. If that's the case in your area (which, statistically it is), voting third party signals that neither of the two candidates are sufficient. There's no harm to it, and it can only result in positive press for the third party.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Biden isn't a lesser evil! He's a different evil, a more reasonable evil that follows norms and rules, but he's still a génocidair that is responsible for a lifetime of evil and actually kept most of Trump's worst policies on the border and around the world. You can argue Biden is better for Americans in particular, but I'm not interested in supporting genocide elsewhere to save myself.

You're just supporting polite fascism to stop vulgar fascism. America is a fascist country that must be stopped. No more evil.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Except the kinds of genocide that will happen under Trump will, by any shred of evidence that anyone has ever seen, be far more frequent and more aggressive than the ones that happen under Biden. It's not just about Biden being the less bad choice for Americans, he is also the less bad choice for the world.

Trump has literally said that he will break treaties by not supporting from NATO allies who "haven't paid" if Russia attacks them. He would certainly pull support from Ukraine if elected, which will effectively be a genocide of the Ukrainian people. When he was president he practically initiated a war with Iran, and it was only prevented because Iran uncharacteristically decided to be the adult in the room.

Allowing Trump to get reelected only empowers everything you claim to oppose, and we can't even pretend that there's any uncertainty in that this round because we've actually seen it. Maybe you're an accelerationist who would like to see Trump literally destroy America inside-out, but let me tell you there's going to be a whole lot of genocide along that path before America actually collapses, so...

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

Except the kinds of genocide that will happen under Trump will, by any shred of evidence that anyone has ever seen, be far more frequent and more aggressive than the ones that happen under Biden.

And Democrats will oppose Trump's genocide, rather than lining up behind the genocide like they have under Biden. That matters and that's why I'm voting for Democrats down ticket. I want them to obstruct the genocide instead of be complicit like they are under Biden.

Also, there's no basis for assuming that Biden's second term won't be even more genocidal. Right now he has to worry about the election, how bad is he going to get without that hanging over his head? You're just assuming Trump will be worse because he's more vulgar.

They're just bad in different ways.

He would certainly pull support from Ukraine if elected, which will effectively be a genocide of the Ukrainian people.

Biden and his NATO allies are keeping the war going by stopping negotiations. Biden made the war worse.

Again, he's just bad in different ways. (Also, if there was any risk of genocide in Ukraine then why hasn't anyone brought a case to the ICJ?)

When he was president he practically initiated a war with Iran, and it was only prevented because Iran uncharacteristically decided to be the adult in the room.

Biden is putting us on the brink of war with Iran! And Yemen! And Lebanon! We're on the verge of fucking WWIII under Biden. That's what you're voting for!

Again, he's just bad in different ways. (Also, revolutionary defeatism is not accelerationism. Different political tendencies.)

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Russia is stopping negotiations, not any other party. Don't fall for propaganda

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

And Democrats will oppose Trump's genocide, rather than lining up behind the genocide like they have under Biden. That matters and that's why I'm voting for Democrats down ticket. I want them to obstruct the genocide instead of be complicit like they are under Biden.

Republicans control the majority of the House. Republicans also hold the most seats in the Senate. If Trump wins, they'll have presidency as well.

The system of checks and balances falls apart when one party controls all three bodies involved in passing legislation. The best Democrats could hope for is indefinitely delaying legislation at the Senate level.

Also, there's no basis for assuming that Biden's second term won't be even more genocidal. Right now he has to worry about the election, how bad is he going to get without that hanging over his head? You're just assuming Trump will be worse because he's more vulgar.

There's nothing to assume; if Trump gets what he wants, he will cause an even greater loss of human life globally.

Biden and his NATO allies are keeping the war going by stopping negotiations. Biden made the war worse.

Negotiations with a party holding the stance that they would not settle for less than the full annexation of Ukraine? The only way to not make that worse in the short term is to give Putin exactly what he wants—which will be far worse in the long term.

Biden is putting us on the brink of war with Iran! And Yemen! And Lebanon!

I can't refute or argue against this without citations, and I'm not finding much other than speculation.

We're on the verge of fucking WWIII under Biden.

Same as above, and that's also the rhetoric Trump is using in his campaign against Biden.

Again, he's just bad in different ways.

I don't disagree that they're both bad, but Trump is magnitudes worse. Until he either finally dies or gives up on a second term, the best thing United States citizens can do for the country and rest of world is make sure he doesn't ever get re-elected.

revolutionary defeatism is not accelerationism

Revolutionary defeatism without a revolutionary class willing to or capable of starting a civil war isn't much more than political nihilism in practice. To that effect, inaction in mitigating capitalist interests from overtaking the interests of the proletariat performs the same role as accelerationism: allowing a capitalist society to destabilize itself and implode.

After that, by all means, eat the formerly-rich.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Nailed it. Biden sucks but Trump is a complete nut job.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Not just a complete nut job. Biden's coalition includes many people sympathetic to Palestinians. That's why we're seeing at least some actions trying to pressure Israel into not being total shits towards Palestinians. As imperfect as Biden is, I've never seen Trump so much as utter a word in their defense. Reelecting Biden means having someone where there are levers to get them to do the right thing. Electing Trump means leaving Palestine to the mercy of Israel.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Bingo. People can rightfully be pissed at Biden but “both sidesing” this is stupid af.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

This is also why I'm so critical of efforts to discourage voting in some illusory mission to pursue some fake chaste purity. In terms of domestic politics, Biden clearly has defenders of Palestinian rights in his coalition on his mind. At the same time, there are supporters of Israel in his coalition and people who want a balance. Trump just doesn't have these sorts of people in his coalition. There are a hell of a lot of people in Trump's coalition who just hate Muslims and would love to see all Muslims and Arabs ethnically cleansed from Israel-Palestine.