cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/36142552
By Syma Mohammed
Published date: 12 September 2025 19:49 BSTVan Hollen of Maryland and Merkley of Oregon produced the report after a week-long visit to Israel, the occupied West Bank, the Rafah border with Gaza, Jordan and Egypt at the end of August. The damning 21-page report is titled, “The Netanyahu Government is Implementing a Plan to Ethnically Cleanse Gaza of Palestinians. America is Complicit. The World Must Stop It.”
The report observed that overwhelming evidence shows “Israel is…implementing a plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza of Palestinians and dealing a death blow to the vision of a future Palestinian state”.
A little late. How many times did these same two senators vote Israel Aid since October 7th? Did they just vote to send more assault rifles for Israel to hand out to settlers this summer? Ron Wyden the other senator from Oregon just did.
These Senators knew from the start what Israel was, what they wanted to do, and how they were going to do it. I knew all that and I do not have access to their intelligence or news. I am glad a couple of old cynical cunts finally decided to do the bare minimum 2 years after the fact but it hardly atones for pretending to give Israel the benefit of the doubt until now, with what, 20, 25% of gaza’s population exterminated?
That information is available from the CRS; unfortunately it really isn’t completely clear in the way you’re suggesting because of the role of the Senate - in the few instances where the Senate has voted on a bill that includes provisions relating to Israel, they have been part of some other enormous bill, often in bills that were already contentious on their own.
The article linked makes it clear that these Senators understand that America is complicit and they’re using their limited power to call attention to the issue.
There are no single issue voters in Congress, and certainly none who place the affairs of Israel-Palestine over the issues that the voters in their districts care about. That these two men took the time to travel to the other side of the world and return to share their finding should be celebrated, held up as an example, not treated with derision.
While your rhetoric sounds geared in favor of ending the genocide, you’re either not considering the above or your goal is to cause further division. It’s unclear if you consider yourself to be a Progressive, and I’m not suggesting you do or don’t, but for those of us who do use that label, ask yourself: when elected leaders take steps towards our ultimate goal (ending the conflict/genocide), is that worth encouraging or discouraging? Progress is defined by incremental positive change over time, changing everything all at once is a revolution.
Conflict in Palestine has raged cyclically for millenia, and while I understand the outrage, it sounds like the demand is for these two Senators, 1/50th of the Senate, from the party that currently holds no power in any branch of government, to single-handedly solve the conflict. Anything less is a failure. How could anybody possibly meet that standard? Just for sharing this report, both of these Senators will face an uphill battle in their next election as Israel funds their opponents’ campaigns. It is therefore unsurprising that so many politicians have given up on this issue, realizing that the costs vastly outweigh the benefits.
@[email protected] - you seem to have a lot of feelings about this issue, which is awesome. Instead of being enraged about it online, insisting that the entirety of the Congress is fully aware of the intricacies of this issue and therefore complicit, perhaps channel some of that energy into making positive change? Amplify the messaging from these Senators, whose report you seem to wholly agree with, and become a thorn in the side of the other 98 Senators who, frankly, probably don’t know enough about this issue.
Learn more about the way that Congress operates; did you know most Congresspeople spend a majority of their time fundraising? It makes sense if you think about it, but unfortunately it leaves an insufficient amount of time to focus on the issues they need to make tough decisions about. Instead of assuming maliciousness, assume ignorance, because the average person is not evil, just lazy. Congress too. It’s shitty, and it should be different and better, but it’s the system we’ve got until someone like you has enough rage-fueled energy to make positive change.
Oh trust me. I know. But something has to give. I need it to for our own personal lives. I have a personal connection to Gaza. I need something, anything, to give. Even just a trickle more of aid is something. Everyone is sick and there’s no steady clean water and no food. I can’t do anything when there’s nothing there physically. They’re bones and fighting infection. Everyone is already so so weak and everyone is dehydrated and ill. Calories. Just calories. Two kids were hospitalized last week. None of the adults are eating. Watching someone lose weight day by day is only something I ever dealt with with cancer patients. Not healthy adults. They’re dipping into the realm of they’re going to need extensive treatment to recover. But anything is better than nothing. We just need something hearts are going to start giving out soon and I can’t. I just can’t.
I don’t need politicians absolved. I need hope. And we need food.
Indeed. And the only one that could make that happen is the US government. But since they have evidence of politicians and business leaders fucking underage girls and whatever else there is apparently nothing that would cause them to put the brakes on Israel.
The leak of all the Epstein info there being blackmailed with is about the only thing that may help at this point.
Starvation and disease are going to cause more deaths than anything, and they’re not even counted in the bullshit figures that they still disputes and claim our lower. Wish there was something I could do to help.