It's been widely reported that the IDF recently opened fire on starving Palestinians who swarmed aid trucks from Egypt. What will it take for Kennedy to change his tune?
First, I would say that Kennedy still has my vote, and not because of his stance on the Israel/Hamas issue. There are other important planks in his platform which are also important to me which no other candidate will address.
Obviously his opinion with regard to Israel runs counter to his positioning as the "peace" and "heal the divide" candidate. Moreover, he has written in depth about the malevolence of the war complex his uncle had to grapple with throughout his shortened term in office.
He knows a lot more about politics and running for the WH than I do. I have to think that he is doing and saying what is necessary to maximize his chances this November. It would be a remarkable and unprecedented thing if he were to win. My guess is that he has to court the powers that be before he can begin dismantling their stranglehold on American politics.
From what I gather from those in his inner circle, he is very resistant to changing his mind. It could be because he is pigheaded. I think, or hope, that it is because he is disgusted by having to play their game. I would like to think that it pains him to see the senseless slaughter of innocent Palestinians knowing that his hands are tied.
At first hearing that members of Congress have all made an oath to Israel..I thought, "WHAT?" why would they do that? Well after hearing more and the fact that our government has been sending millions and millions of dollars to Israel for decades..then listening to Whitney Webb re: Israel, Epstein, 911 etc..and now reading the book, Final Judgement...NOW I understand and realize that the term Anti semitic was actually created so no one questioned anything to do with Israel...just like the term Conspiracy was created...to stop people from looking deeper or behind the curtain as we say. Worse than that the word Conspiracy also created people to control each other thru judgements and condescending comments. That's how they do it folks. But anyone who has read any books on the JFK assassination...knows nothing has been spoken about Israel having a part....and the book 'FINAL JUDGEMENT, is a serious eye opener about the Israeli Mafia, their assassination teams (US has those as well) , Mossad and how they control just about everything. You do what they bid or you are done politically, financially...or just plan dead. Again...We Have Been Lied To ABOUT Everything.
Thank you for this, Madhava. Excellent questions and references. I asked RFK Jr several months ago to clearly lay out his platform in regards to Israel and Palestine. He replied that he would not do this. End of conversation. End of my support for or interest in anything he says or does. I believe that this article lays out what is probably RFK Jr.s true platform and vision in regards to maintaining U.S. interests in the Middle East:
Thank you for this. I'm deeply disappointed with RFK. I was one of those who hoped for his candidacy long before he entered the race. My concern isn't his support for Israel, but rather the way he employs Zionistic rhetoric dehumanizing Palestinians, while tens of thousands of innocent people are bombed, shot, and starved by this demonic Israeli government. This stance is abhorrent and unacceptable, and it's completely at odds with the world view that he has projected over the last four years. Consequently, I've distanced myself from him. It's puzzling. Is Bobby engaging in three-dimensional chess? Is he aligning with the Israeli lobby and its outsized power over our discourse to gain the presidency and finally put them in their place? Or has he been coerced or blackmailed? I don't have the answer, but any man who can condone or make excuses for this genocide can not receive my support.
Thank you Mr Setty for exposing yet another key point of the status quo (the mess we are in). A harsh, deep, uncomfortable look at our own humanity and human dignity - or whatever is left of it. At the moral, amoral or immoral compass for ourselves and, hence, the Other.
Weird how Bobby has no problem with Israel blockading Gaza for over a decade Or it’s military shooting any Palestinian they feel like. Bottom line is if Israel wasn’t oppressing Gaza there would be no need for Hamas.
Bobby is pigheaded when he reduces to see the reality of Israel’s actions.
This is an outstandingly thorough, clear, and balanced discussion of the issues. Thank you so much for this. I hope RFK Jr. moves to a position on this issue that recognizes the vast size of the power difference and the horrors of decades of military occupation, for which there is no excuse just as there's no excuse for massacring people in line for food.
Many people think that being "balanced" means that the writer comes out somewhere in the middle on the issue. What you've written here demonstrates how mistaken that view is; we can take very balanced, carefully-considered looks at an issue and then take strong moral and ethical stands, based on humanity and justice.
Kennedy also does not explain how he equates a heavily armed and brutally murderous occupier and coloniser, which is Israel, with the people whose land it has stolen and whom it crushes under barbaric military, colonial, occupation rule.
That is like saying the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto were terrorists for rising up against their oppressors and the fighters were using the civilians as human shields.
You cannot, cannot, cannot, separate the reality of Palestinian suffering from the existence of an increasingly desperate, determined and violent Resistance militia. The Palestinians have suffered the longest holocaust in modern history at the hands of the Israelis and the most barbaric, murderous, venal and evil colonial occupation in modern history. What is remarkable is how generally patient they have been for nearly 80 years.
Kennedy, like the rest, talks as if this is a war between two equal States when it is not. It is a colonial war of repression and punishment waged by Israel with the fourth largest military in the world, backed by the largest, against an occupied people with no army, navy, airforce and a very limited supply of weapons and military capacity.
Israel's occupation is evil but what is more evil are the apologists, and Kennedy is one of them, for the genocidal slaughter which has been going on from 1947. Nay, from 1943 when Jewish terrorist gangs launched a bloody rampage through Palestine to pave the way for the invasion of Zionist forces.
Unfortunately ZIJ - Zionist/Israeli/Jewish agendas control the United States, its Government and virtually all of its politicians. Not even Kennedy has the courage to stand up to them.
The warhawks love "events" because it can generate a justification for a full-scale invasions. We have to be very critical about these events and the subsequent rush to action.
To be honest, I stopped listening to Kennedy on Dave Smith’s show when he justified the slaughter in Gaza by comparing it to the bombing of German cities in WWII, as necessary to defeat a greater evil. This end-justifies-the-means moral relativism is just staggering. Sure, the Geneva Conventions and laws against genocide are great, but sometimes you have to throw them out when confronted with [fill in the blank]. It’s actually the same reasoning as, Sure, the Bill of Rights and the US Constitution are important, but when you’re dealing with a novel virus, go ahead and violate them and any other “rights” people might have. My Kennedy hat, sweatshirt, t-shirt, etc. are on the shelf now, I don’t have the heart to wear them in public anymore. But yeah, I'll still vote for him.
I cannot reconcile Kennedy’s waving off the slaughter of Palestinians as nothing-to-see-here with his empathy for the slaughter of Ukrainians. His position on Palestine is abhorrent and a grotesque contradiction that is impossible for me to disregard. When Kennedy opens his mouth to justify Israel’s cynical pogrom in Gaza I see a caricature of the man I once supported with great enthusiasm.
Kennedy is supporting things which blacken his name and that of the country he wishes to represent.
We have seen the videos of Israeli soldiers playing games with female underwear looted from Palestinian homes; playing cards on top of a Muslim prayer mat; snipers shooting children desperately trying to reach food and water and then shooting adults trying to rescue an injured toddler; pushing naked Palestinian males into pits and shooting them; snipers shooting doctors inside a hospital trying to perform surgery; shooting a pregnant woman trying to get inside a hospital; shooting starving, desperate, men women and children wherever they can; executing women and children in schools and the latest, laughing and congratulating themselves for shooting a deaf Palestinian inside his home:
All of it attests to a very, very sick society and culture, desperately in need of help from others and help which their supporters are not providing. The atrocity that is Israel is a creation of the US mostly, but also every nation which has supported its bestial behaviour through omission or commission.
The Israelis really do not know what they do, most of them, and we betray them utterly in not holding them to account.
It's not such a mystery. Having kept himself from the temptation to repeat history with a political career, RFK suddenly found himself in the right time and place for an historic underdog run at the legacy. He gives a good speech, he's got a track record of fighting the power. And of course, the name. He reached out for that brass shackle he's always denied himself, and clung to a ring of corrupting influences. This happens to anyone who makes a serious attempt at a Presidential run, because your priority in such a situation is damage control and donors. Viability becomes more critical than credibility. Signing on for Zionism was a political calculation, and he took a hardline stance before Oct. 7, to escape the stigma of antisemitism.
If he "wins" the election, it will be because the Establishment considers him a wholly owned subsidiary. It's not likely, but none of the current candidates pass a classic viability test.
I wonder how many people who are so disappointed in RFKjr actually read this article, at least up until where Madhava offers a list of bullet points summarizing RFKjr’s stance on the Israel issue.
Thank you all for the comments so far...
First, I would say that Kennedy still has my vote, and not because of his stance on the Israel/Hamas issue. There are other important planks in his platform which are also important to me which no other candidate will address.
Obviously his opinion with regard to Israel runs counter to his positioning as the "peace" and "heal the divide" candidate. Moreover, he has written in depth about the malevolence of the war complex his uncle had to grapple with throughout his shortened term in office.
He knows a lot more about politics and running for the WH than I do. I have to think that he is doing and saying what is necessary to maximize his chances this November. It would be a remarkable and unprecedented thing if he were to win. My guess is that he has to court the powers that be before he can begin dismantling their stranglehold on American politics.
From what I gather from those in his inner circle, he is very resistant to changing his mind. It could be because he is pigheaded. I think, or hope, that it is because he is disgusted by having to play their game. I would like to think that it pains him to see the senseless slaughter of innocent Palestinians knowing that his hands are tied.
It's all very, very sad and disgusting.
At first hearing that members of Congress have all made an oath to Israel..I thought, "WHAT?" why would they do that? Well after hearing more and the fact that our government has been sending millions and millions of dollars to Israel for decades..then listening to Whitney Webb re: Israel, Epstein, 911 etc..and now reading the book, Final Judgement...NOW I understand and realize that the term Anti semitic was actually created so no one questioned anything to do with Israel...just like the term Conspiracy was created...to stop people from looking deeper or behind the curtain as we say. Worse than that the word Conspiracy also created people to control each other thru judgements and condescending comments. That's how they do it folks. But anyone who has read any books on the JFK assassination...knows nothing has been spoken about Israel having a part....and the book 'FINAL JUDGEMENT, is a serious eye opener about the Israeli Mafia, their assassination teams (US has those as well) , Mossad and how they control just about everything. You do what they bid or you are done politically, financially...or just plan dead. Again...We Have Been Lied To ABOUT Everything.
Thank you for this, Madhava. Excellent questions and references. I asked RFK Jr several months ago to clearly lay out his platform in regards to Israel and Palestine. He replied that he would not do this. End of conversation. End of my support for or interest in anything he says or does. I believe that this article lays out what is probably RFK Jr.s true platform and vision in regards to maintaining U.S. interests in the Middle East:
https://open.substack.com/pub/michelchossudovsky/p/expanding-middle-east-war-planned-attack-iran?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=7w1it
It is pure geopolitics. The rest is theatrical maneuverings.
Thank you for this. I'm deeply disappointed with RFK. I was one of those who hoped for his candidacy long before he entered the race. My concern isn't his support for Israel, but rather the way he employs Zionistic rhetoric dehumanizing Palestinians, while tens of thousands of innocent people are bombed, shot, and starved by this demonic Israeli government. This stance is abhorrent and unacceptable, and it's completely at odds with the world view that he has projected over the last four years. Consequently, I've distanced myself from him. It's puzzling. Is Bobby engaging in three-dimensional chess? Is he aligning with the Israeli lobby and its outsized power over our discourse to gain the presidency and finally put them in their place? Or has he been coerced or blackmailed? I don't have the answer, but any man who can condone or make excuses for this genocide can not receive my support.
Thank you Mr Setty for exposing yet another key point of the status quo (the mess we are in). A harsh, deep, uncomfortable look at our own humanity and human dignity - or whatever is left of it. At the moral, amoral or immoral compass for ourselves and, hence, the Other.
Or not.
I hope he reads your piece as well as Ed's here : https://edwardcurtin.com/an-epistle-to-robert-f-kennedy-jr/
Weird how Bobby has no problem with Israel blockading Gaza for over a decade Or it’s military shooting any Palestinian they feel like. Bottom line is if Israel wasn’t oppressing Gaza there would be no need for Hamas.
Bobby is pigheaded when he reduces to see the reality of Israel’s actions.
This is an outstandingly thorough, clear, and balanced discussion of the issues. Thank you so much for this. I hope RFK Jr. moves to a position on this issue that recognizes the vast size of the power difference and the horrors of decades of military occupation, for which there is no excuse just as there's no excuse for massacring people in line for food.
Many people think that being "balanced" means that the writer comes out somewhere in the middle on the issue. What you've written here demonstrates how mistaken that view is; we can take very balanced, carefully-considered looks at an issue and then take strong moral and ethical stands, based on humanity and justice.
Kennedy also does not explain how he equates a heavily armed and brutally murderous occupier and coloniser, which is Israel, with the people whose land it has stolen and whom it crushes under barbaric military, colonial, occupation rule.
That is like saying the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto were terrorists for rising up against their oppressors and the fighters were using the civilians as human shields.
You cannot, cannot, cannot, separate the reality of Palestinian suffering from the existence of an increasingly desperate, determined and violent Resistance militia. The Palestinians have suffered the longest holocaust in modern history at the hands of the Israelis and the most barbaric, murderous, venal and evil colonial occupation in modern history. What is remarkable is how generally patient they have been for nearly 80 years.
Kennedy, like the rest, talks as if this is a war between two equal States when it is not. It is a colonial war of repression and punishment waged by Israel with the fourth largest military in the world, backed by the largest, against an occupied people with no army, navy, airforce and a very limited supply of weapons and military capacity.
Israel's occupation is evil but what is more evil are the apologists, and Kennedy is one of them, for the genocidal slaughter which has been going on from 1947. Nay, from 1943 when Jewish terrorist gangs launched a bloody rampage through Palestine to pave the way for the invasion of Zionist forces.
Unfortunately ZIJ - Zionist/Israeli/Jewish agendas control the United States, its Government and virtually all of its politicians. Not even Kennedy has the courage to stand up to them.
The warhawks love "events" because it can generate a justification for a full-scale invasions. We have to be very critical about these events and the subsequent rush to action.
I think he gets a lot of money from pro-Israeli sources. This is likely the reason for his position on the issue.
To be honest, I stopped listening to Kennedy on Dave Smith’s show when he justified the slaughter in Gaza by comparing it to the bombing of German cities in WWII, as necessary to defeat a greater evil. This end-justifies-the-means moral relativism is just staggering. Sure, the Geneva Conventions and laws against genocide are great, but sometimes you have to throw them out when confronted with [fill in the blank]. It’s actually the same reasoning as, Sure, the Bill of Rights and the US Constitution are important, but when you’re dealing with a novel virus, go ahead and violate them and any other “rights” people might have. My Kennedy hat, sweatshirt, t-shirt, etc. are on the shelf now, I don’t have the heart to wear them in public anymore. But yeah, I'll still vote for him.
I cannot reconcile Kennedy’s waving off the slaughter of Palestinians as nothing-to-see-here with his empathy for the slaughter of Ukrainians. His position on Palestine is abhorrent and a grotesque contradiction that is impossible for me to disregard. When Kennedy opens his mouth to justify Israel’s cynical pogrom in Gaza I see a caricature of the man I once supported with great enthusiasm.
Kennedy is supporting things which blacken his name and that of the country he wishes to represent.
We have seen the videos of Israeli soldiers playing games with female underwear looted from Palestinian homes; playing cards on top of a Muslim prayer mat; snipers shooting children desperately trying to reach food and water and then shooting adults trying to rescue an injured toddler; pushing naked Palestinian males into pits and shooting them; snipers shooting doctors inside a hospital trying to perform surgery; shooting a pregnant woman trying to get inside a hospital; shooting starving, desperate, men women and children wherever they can; executing women and children in schools and the latest, laughing and congratulating themselves for shooting a deaf Palestinian inside his home:
https://news.antiwar.com/2024/03/10/video-shows-israeli-soldiers-executing-unarmed-palestinian-man/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
All of it attests to a very, very sick society and culture, desperately in need of help from others and help which their supporters are not providing. The atrocity that is Israel is a creation of the US mostly, but also every nation which has supported its bestial behaviour through omission or commission.
The Israelis really do not know what they do, most of them, and we betray them utterly in not holding them to account.
It's not such a mystery. Having kept himself from the temptation to repeat history with a political career, RFK suddenly found himself in the right time and place for an historic underdog run at the legacy. He gives a good speech, he's got a track record of fighting the power. And of course, the name. He reached out for that brass shackle he's always denied himself, and clung to a ring of corrupting influences. This happens to anyone who makes a serious attempt at a Presidential run, because your priority in such a situation is damage control and donors. Viability becomes more critical than credibility. Signing on for Zionism was a political calculation, and he took a hardline stance before Oct. 7, to escape the stigma of antisemitism.
If he "wins" the election, it will be because the Establishment considers him a wholly owned subsidiary. It's not likely, but none of the current candidates pass a classic viability test.
I wonder how many people who are so disappointed in RFKjr actually read this article, at least up until where Madhava offers a list of bullet points summarizing RFKjr’s stance on the Israel issue.