In a letter published Wednesday on Medium, an anonymous group of Biden’s campaign staffers demanded the president call for a ceasefire in Gaza, citing concerns that not shifting his policy on the issue could hurt his 2024 chances.


“Biden for President staff have seen volunteers quit in droves, and people who have voted blue for decades feel uncertain about doing so for the first time ever, because of this conflict,” the Medium letter read.

“It is not enough to merely be the alternative to Donald Trump,” the campaigners continued. “The campaign has to shift the feeling in the pits of voters’ stomachs, the same feeling that weighs on us every day as we fight for your reelection. The only way to do that is to call for a ceasefire.”

  • phoneymouse@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    I’m upset too, but there is more than one issue in the world. These people need to put things in perspective. If Trump wins, America is literally over.

    • CommanderCloon@lemmy.ml
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      10 months ago

      So, genocide is a “single issue” which means it should be ignored? How can you hope for any semblance of change if you start by overlooking literal genocide

      • dvoraqs@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        How can you hope for any semblance of change…

        You balance it against your other priorities

      • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        It isn’t overlooking it to accept that there’s nothing we can do about it. There will be no viable candidate who opposes Israel, and that’s the unfortunate truth. There are still significant differences however between the two candidates, and I don’t want the one who’s likely to start a domestic genocide to win.

        There’s blood on our hands, and we don’t have a way to wipe it off. I’d rather accept it and try to move forward than try in vain to clean them.

      • SCB@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        It isn’t a literal genocide, but a figurative one, which is the source of the disagreement.

        0.0044% of Gazans have been killed. The US killed the same net amount of civilians during the Battle of Mosul, and Gaza is three times as dense as Mosul.

        This number will go up, because this war is being brutally waged, and Israel does deserve criticism for it. But words matter, and genocide is a dumb word to use because it has actual meanings, and requires specific intent

        • Silverseren@kbin.socialOP
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          10 months ago

          0.0044% of Gazans have been killed.

          ???

          The population of the Gaza Strip is just over 2 million (2.048). The amount of Gazans killed in the past three months is 22600, as of today. That is, by my math, 1.13% of the population that has been killed in those three months, or 1 out of every 100 people.

          • Prophet@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            To add to this, genocide (as defined by the UN) does not just include directly killing a particular group:

            Definition Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

            Article II

            In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

            1. Killing members of the group; 2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; 3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; 4. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; 5. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

            So in addition to killing 20k+ Gaza civilians, Israel’s response has displaced countless others with their intense and indiscriminate bombing (see points #2, #3, possibly #4). NYT and other sources claim that up to 1.8 million Gazans have been displaced, which NYT claims is 80% of their population. This is in addition to the conditions Gaza was already being subjected to, such as being denied water and electricity (#3) by Israel.

            The evidence overwhelmingly shows that this is genocide. “Figurative” is such a sleazy doublespeak way of excusing the behavior here.

            Edit: sorry my link should work now

    • Aabbcc@lemm.ee
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      10 months ago

      Too bad trump and Biden are the only two people so I just have to be pro genocide.

      • phoneymouse@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        You don’t have to. You can have your own views and make the best decision available to you given the circumstances.

          • phoneymouse@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            No I’m saying that you can vote for someone and not agree with everything they stand for because that’s the best option you have. We do need reforms in America, but is that a reason to not vote or to wait around until all the conditions are perfect for you to vote your ideals?

            • knightly the Sneptaur@pawb.social
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              10 months ago

              So if I disagree with one pro-genocide politician less than the other, I should support a pro-genocide candidate? That’s not reasonable, it’s falling prey to a false choice. I hate to paraphrase the Declaration of Independence at Americans, but at least the founders understood when the course of human events made it necessary to dissolve political ties.

            • dtc@lemmy.world
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              10 months ago

              So what is the move? It’s clearly wrong to vote for Biden and you say not voting is a waste. So be frank and say what you’re thinking clearly and plainly.

              • HipHoboHarold@lemmy.world
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                10 months ago

                They did say it clearly. But let me see if I can’t help.

                You can have a slap in the face

                Or a rusty shank to the neck

                One or the other.

                If you don’t pick, one will be picked for you.

                I get not wanting to vote for him. I do. But not all of us get that luxury.

                I’m gay. Me and my boyfriend are talking about leaving the country. He’s got one last semester of nursing school. Lots of places are desperate for nurses. We can probably get out. If we do, then I can say we get to move.

                If the Republicans win, it won’t just be get to, it will become need to as well. Any queer person who stays is taking a big risk. But not everyone will be able to leave.

                Between the push for a fascist theocracy with Trump as the dictator as he uses phrases pulled from the Nazis and gives us their plans under Project 2025, I don’t get the luxury of saying “Well, let’s see if we can’t come back from this.” When we talk about being terrified of a Republican presidency, we are not exaggerating.

                This isn’t a light decision to make. I hate it. Even if the dems win, we might still leave. Project 2025 will just turn to Project 2029. Project 2033. Eventually they will win. But in the mean time I have to decide between voting for Joe who supports Isreal

                Or risk Trump who supports Isreal, but also supports the same thing here

                It’s Biden or Trump

                A slap in the face or a rusty shank to the neck

                • HACKthePRISONS@kolektiva.social
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                  10 months ago

                  if the choice is leaving or voting for genocide, I’d pack my bags. I can’t believe you’re about to vote to send more money to Israel to kill Palestinians.

                  • HipHoboHarold@lemmy.world
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                    10 months ago

                    Thanks for proving you’re not here for a real conversation. But yeah, if it’s vote for genocide or genocide either way, feel free to leave. Guess I’ll just go volunteer myself for the gas chamber.

                  • GodlessCommie@lemmy.world
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                    10 months ago

                    If genocide isn’t enough of a red line for liberals, they are the larger threat to society and worldwide safety.