Biden's policy website leans heavily anti-BDS anti-Palestinian

[T'Chenka]

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/biden-draws-ire-palestinian-activists-shunning-bds-efforts-200521154945064.html

Biden said the movement "singles out Israel - home to millions of Jews - and too often veers into anti-Semitism, while letting Palestinians off the hook for their choices".


https://mobile.twitter.com/BDSmovement/status/1263181996899082253

[Ferguson97]

Don't you mean anti-BDS?

[Devils30]

You mean anti- BDS. The final sentence Biden has is unnecessary and he might as well remove it. That said, BDS is basically a vehicle designed to eliminate Israel.

[T'Chenka]

Don't you mean anti-BDS?

Edited. I hit "create thread" too early by accident and then my internet decided to not work for 2 minutes.

[Ferguson97]

Biden has a lot more to lose by going pro-Palestine than he does pro-Israel

[Frozen Sky Ever Why]

In American politics there are only two acceptable positions on Israel, pro-Israel (Obama, Sanders ect.) and super pro-Israel (Trump, Biden ect.).

[T'Chenka]

That said, BDS is basically a vehicle designed to eliminate Israel.

Not everybody supporting the movement believes in that and subscribes to that.

Biden has a lot more to lose by going pro-Palestine than he does pro-Israel

I understand why Biden would take this position, but the wording on his website is... unfortunate. If I was Palestinian, I would be offended.

[Devils30]

The far left will find more sympathy on the Israel-Palestine issue with anti-semites on the far right than the center-left supporters of Biden and even Warren types.

[Horus]

I don't think anyone expected Biden to be better than Trump on Israel-Palestine. Both are thoroughly awful here.

[Devils30]

The correct policy should be to get Israel (mostly) out of the West Bank and have the Palestinians renounce claims to mainland Israel. The idea of a one state solution is laughable, to Jews its code for allowing the Arabs to kill.

[Lief 🗽]

Great news! BDS is an anti-Semitic hate group.

[longtimelurker]

Every four years the Palestinians try to convince themselves and the electorate that United States presidential elections are all about them.  And then act so surprised when nobody else feels that way.

And this election is less about the Palestinians than any US presidential election in decades, for obvious reasons.

[PSOL]

Not surprising.

[DrScholl]

Wiping Israel off the map is never going to be an option. The litmus test that some people want from Democratic nominees is never going to be met.

[Devils30]

To the majority of voters this is just not a major issue.

[Donerail]

Joe Biden isn't a progressive? I'm shocked, truly.

[Nightcore Nationalist]

Umm... based?

[jdk]

In American politics there are only two acceptable positions on Israel, pro-Israel (Obama, Sanders ect.) and super pro-Israel (Trump, Biden ect.).

Sanders is hardly pro Israel.  His lack of support for Israel were a factor in me voting for Biden over him.  We need someone like Biden to take a strong pro Israel stance to prevent the Republicans from monopolizing the issue

[GeneralMacArthur]

Very good.  BDS needs to be stamped out.  This hot new anti-Israel trend on college campuses, by teenagers who couldn't even find Israel on the map but think they have all the answers, is the dumbest thing.

[T'Chenka]

Wiping Israel off the map is never going to be an option. The litmus test that some people want from Democratic nominees is never going to be met.

LOL

Boycotting the current Israeli administration = wiping Israel off the map? C'mon man...

[Coldstream]

Wiping Israel off the map is never going to be an option. The litmus test that some people want from Democratic nominees is never going to be met.

LOL

Boycotting the current Israeli administration = wiping Israel off the map? C'mon man...

Perhaps there are some BDS supporters who are specifically talking about Netanyahu, and would be happy to work with a hypothetical Pro-Peace Israeli government and/or support a two state solution. But the overwhelming majority want to see Israel removed, either via a one state solution or violently expelling the Jews (though I suspect in practise they are the same thing, Yugoslavia proved binational states don’t work).

There’s also very little to gain from supporting Palestine in an election, given that most people’s sympathies in America are with Israel. His campaign probably also saw the fate of Corbyn in the UK and the dangers of being seen as too pally with anti-Semites so they are perhaps overcompensating with this statement (that I’d agree is probably too forcefully pro-Israel).

But the worst case scenario from a Biden presidency for the Palestinians is that he is like Obama/Clinton whereby he pays lip service to the peace cause whilst doing nothing. Bad, but certainly better than Trump who will allow Netanyahu to annex the West Bank settlements with impunity.

[T'Chenka]

the overwhelming majority want to see Israel removed, either via a one state solution or violently expelling the Jews (though I suspect in practise they are the same thing,

BDS is a non-violent movement with some inspiration taken from South Africa. Those who want violence are not in accordance with the BDS manifesto.

[Former President tack50]

To the majority of voters this is just not a major issue.

This.

Honestly even what Biden has is way too much imo. I'd personally just dispatch Israel with generic empty platitudes about how "Biden supports a 2 state solution for Israel" and "The Biden administration will work to encourage dialogue and peace in the Middle East" or something like that.

Plus maybe another generic point on supporting US traditional allies, including Israel on a list alongside the likes of Germany, the UK, Japan and Canada.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

More & more i'm starting to think that endorsing Biden was a mistake i've made.

[GMantis]

In American politics there are only two acceptable positions on Israel, pro-Israel (Obama, Sanders ect.) and super pro-Israel (Trump, Biden ect.).

Sanders is hardly pro Israel.  His lack of support for Israel were a factor in me voting for Biden over him.  We need someone like Biden to take a strong pro Israel stance to prevent the Republicans from monopolizing the issue

You have more or less confirmed his statement with that bizarre claim. Only the existence of the extreme pro-Israel majority can make Sanders' qualified support of Israel be considered not "pro-Israel".