Bernie Sanders has been repeatedly uttering the phrase “Israel has a right to defend itself” on his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour with Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, which in the year 2025 can only be interpreted as blatant genocide apologia.
Israel does not have “a right to defend itself” against an occupied population in a giant concentration camp. Under international law it has a right to end the occupation, and that’s it. “Israel has a right to defend itself” is just a slogan people say when they want to justify supplying an ongoing genocide.
Sanders has been mixing his support for Israel in with periodic criticisms of Netanyahu and the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza, always taking care to make his criticisms about the behavior of Israel’s current leadership and not the nature of the racist apartheid state itself.
Sanders is doing this for two reasons. Firstly, he is working to galvanize a big tent inclusive coalition of Democrats in opposition to Trump, and he wants that big tent to include people who think genocide is bad and people who think genocide is fine. He doesn’t want to offend the pro-genocide liberals.
Secondly, Sanders is doing this because he himself is a Zionist. Like other liberal Zionists, Bernie Sanders upholds a vision of an Israel that has never, ever existed: one which remains an ethnostate dominated by Jews, but which conducts itself in a kind and just manner, without constantly murdering and abusing Palestinians.
This iteration of the state of Israel is a fiction. An imaginary fantasyland, like Narnia. Everything about Israel is stacked against the possibility of such a status quo ever emerging, and Israel has always done everything it can to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state. By pretending it is possible to have the Zionist entity and also have peace and justice, liberal Zionists help manufacture public consent for continuing to feed weapons to the genocidal apartheid state of Israel.
Israel is the Israeli government. That is kind of the definition.
Do you believe the Israeli government has a right to exist?
A country is not its government. If half the people vote in the current government then the other half didn’t.
No I don’t believe this Israeli government should exist.
No a government very much defines the country. Especially in the case of a colony. Let me word the question to specifically describe Israel:
Do you support the existence of a colonial ethnostate based on Jewish racial surpremacy?
You’re saying that if I vote for person A and then person B gets elected that I support person B.
You see how that’s illogical right?
Israelis in every party support what I described above. A few fringe Arabs in it do not but they recently got booted.
The Israeli surpreme court, the highest order of the countries foundational laws said that Jews have a religious right to genocide others in Israel.
Israel by its very core definition is what I described above. If you disagree let me know why.
Don’t see why I should answer when you didn’t answer my last one.
But sure, plenty of Israelis protesting their government. That kind of debunks your suggestion.
Here is an Israeli newspaper with an article from 2 days ago explaining how terribly wrong you are.
Here’s a list of Jewish anti-Zionist organisations. Perhaps you could go and volunteer and meet the Jewish people there.
Those organisations aren't Israeli you dishonest Nazi.
Here we go again with the name calling because you appear to be illiterate.
From the very link I provided, odd it’s in Jerusalem and founded by a Rabbi.
Anyway I’ve given you enough good will I will cease communications now as you’re no debating in good faith.
You linked a list of Jewish organisations, not Israeli. The fact that some of them happen to be Israeli doesn't change that. You can't link a list of Jewish organizations in general as evidence of a point about Israel specifically.
Are you dense?
It’s a list of Jewish Anti-genocide organisations, which is literally the wording I used when I posted the link, perhaps you’re projecting as you’re being disingenuous.
Then that list contains groups of Jewish people against genocide in various countries around the world, some of which so happen to be in Israel.
So, it would appear you’re dense. If you’re ever in the UK I would love to sit down and we could discuss this in person because I find your behaviour and reasoning quite staggering.
Least dishonest genocide supporter.
Care to refute my claim above, perhaps with some sources that show these organisations are in fact not real.
Asshole.
What claim? You just linked a list of Jewish organizations in general as representative of Israel specifically, what exactly was your point, Nazi?
No. The other person said that all Israeli’s were Zionist. I posted a link with Israeli organisations of Israeli people who are anti-Zionist.
So just refuting their generalisations.
No, you posted a lost of Jewish organisations, that was literally my point, a point that you agreed with a few posts ago
This is about the level of dishonesty I expect from Nazis
Thank you for making my argument for me.
Perhaps you could go and volunteer and meet the Jewish people there.
So your argument against Jewish people being anti-Zionist is that US and Israeli leaders are condemning Jewish anti-zionists and that they should be denounced.
Seems contradictory no? Either there are Jewish people that are anti-Zionist or these people are denouncing something that doesn’t exist.
I have been more than accommodating hoping you might start to make some sense and not just post on vibes. So in that vain, I am regrettably going to have to block you. I have no ill feelings towards you and I wish you every success in life, I just don’t want to waste any more of my time conversing with someone who is either stupid or being purposefully ignorant.
Free 🇵🇸
These Jewish people oppose the existence of the Apartheid state of Israel. They are literally burning Israeli flags.
Do you support the existence of of Israel?