cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/48345159

When he launched his campaign last week for a Massachusetts U.S. Senate seat, Representative Seth Moulton made sure that one of his first moves was to announce that he is returning campaign donations that he received from individuals affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and would no longer accept campaign support from the group. Also last week, popular podcast hosts Jennifer Welch and Angie Sullivan pressed Senator Cory Booker to answer whether he considered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal; The Ringer’s Van Lathan told Governor Gavin Newsom that Lathan would not support a 2028 candidate who took money from AIPAC, resulting in the governor literally squirming and using the word “interesting” repeatedly; radio host Charlamagne tha God asked Governor Josh Shapiro if AIPAC donations improperly influence U.S. decisions on Israeli-Palestinian issues; and MSNBC’s Eugene Daniels asked Kamala Harris if Israel’s actions over the last two years constitute genocide.

  • xyzzy@lemmy.today
    471·
    2 days ago

    This is excellent. The progressive pressure campaign is starting to turn some liberals and the politicians are starting to feel it. I’ve been reading the New York Times’ comment section and

    1. Lately the comments are just venomous toward Israel where they were previously mostly blaming Hamas or both sides-ing the issue.
    2. The comment screeners are letting through a LOT more anti-Israel comments. These comments are always the most highly “recommended” (liked). The Times actively shapes the ideology of the comment section, so this is a big deal.

    Here are the reasons the article’s author thinks this is happening:

    1. Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become one of the defining issues of progressive politics.
    2. Israeli-Palestinian issues have become a proxy for a broader divide within the Democratic Party.
    3. The rise of Zohran Mamdani is reshaping Israeli-Palestinian politics within the party.
    4. The exit of Biden [who held back progress on the issue].
    • Garbagio@lemmy.zip
      9·
      2 days ago

      It is cool, but I would hazard anyone excited about this to note that they are by and large dropping AIPAC funding just for J-Street funding. Liberal Zionism is still Zionist, and even if J-Street is nominally critical of Bibi, they still couch the ongoing genocide in dismissive language, to say nothing of their ongoing support of Israel continuing as an apartheid ethnostate.