@BlackAzizAnansi The backlash against Israel is going to last long probably because the violence isn’t going to stop there. It will most likely last a few more decades as it has in the past.
People tend to forget about stuff when it stops or changes form. Also when China or Saudi Arabia commit crimes the US isn’t systematically using its veto to defend them. This has an effect on public opinion.
@BlackAzizAnansi 1. I don't think most people know the Uyghurs exist, and there's a faction of the left that's fully committed to minimizing the harm the Chinese gov't is directly causing.
2. It's easy to boycott a small country that exports few tangible consumer goods to the US. (Sabra hummus is not made in Israel, btw.)
@BlackAzizAnansi I am a little dubious about the #US narrative of #China “treating Uyghers badly”. I have read fairly widely on th subject, and believe that claim to be fabricated. This is one such article (link at end) that offers a coherent account of what has occurred in Xinjiang. I must add a few more points:
I have recently watched half a dozen videos on YouTube of young Westen travellers in Xinjiang showing a harmonious, peaceful and happy people (eg https://youtu.be/V976H5Gz3aw?si=BPPwAubibHD0_iM3). These are readily available. 2. You (or anyone else) is free to go to Xinjiang and see for yourself. You don’t need a guide, but are only restricted from going to military bases or to the border where there are not offical crossings. 3. Being an Autonomous Zone, the Provincial Adminstration of Xinjiang is comprised of nearly all Uyghers. https://www.unz.com/article/uyghurs-political-islam-the-bri/
Is the US sending them weapons? The UK? A whole lot of this has a lot to do with the West's complicity. And the fact that what they are doing is to a people outside their borders, and is illegal under international law, and has been condemned by the UN (except by the countries abetting them).
Right, and they have shit human rights domestically, and if I recall Carter cut them off because of it. But there is a big difference between that and what Israel is doing. And they have done a lot of shit, but their recent flirtation with genocide was the tipping point for most moral people to finally say enough and push to end support.
@BlackAzizAnansi
Or our dear NATO allies Turkey and the Kurds.
Or the awful circular firing squad in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Or …
It is 100% true that the Istraeli government has been practicing some kind of ethnic cleansing for decades. And it SHOULD be stopped. And it's absolutely true that it's not antisemitic to criticize the Israeli government.
But I do question whether antisemitism influences which genocidal governments get criticized.
@stevegis_ssg I don't think it's anti-Semitism, as opposed to the images have been pumped into people's algorithm non-stop, and now folks feel like it's a problem because they can actually see it.
@BlackAzizAnansi@zzzeek It is wild to me that these days Obama gets a pass for the many, many extrajudicial murders of his drone war but Biden gets no credit for grounding the dones.
I hope so too. I think if the US were directly arming those countries with weapons while they flattened 70% of the buildings, there would be a much greater pressure towards big protests and boycotts here in the US.
Are we still arming SA against Yemen? There were a lot of protests against Trump's/Pompeo's policy of arming SA and I thought Biden made changes to Trump policy in 2021?
I am not wanting to minimize harm to Yemen but the scale of bombing of Gaza is worse than anything I've seen since US attacks on Baghdad. Maybe even worse than that?
I looked back & while I correctly recalled that Biden made big, consequential changes in early 2021 (in his first foreign policy speech to State Dept) to fulfill his campaign promises, including a commitment not to sell arms to Saudis to use against Yemen, HRW says that he left a loophole. We are still selling arms to SA - ostensibly for use in other conflicts. https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/02/15/biden-doubles-down-failed-yemen-policy
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