Buttigieg, Biden, Booker, and Beto
7 events. 4 candidates. 1 weekend.
It’s been a whirlwind. Every few hours I get a new video of IfNotNow members asking another 2020 Presidential candidate to take a stance against the Occupation.
With so many important developments so quickly, I wanted to take a moment to update you and bring you more deeply into this effort.
- Biden 7/12: “The occupation is a real problem, a significant problem.”
- Buttigieg, 7/13: “The Occupation has to end.”
- Biden, 7/13: “Not one single solitary Palestinian has said, I agree that there will be a Jewish state in that region
- Booker, 7/13 “If that is your issue, I would understand if you want to support somebody else.”
- Beto, 7/13 “We cannot impose that solution on anyone.”
After this weekend we’ve gotten almost every leading candidate to take a stance against the Occupation. That should be the absolute baseline for Democrats, but we know that as recently as 2016 there was a fight over whether to use the word “Occupation” in the party platform — and the establishment wing of the party won.
It’s just the beginning: now that we have them on record talking about the Occupation, we can begin to ask them how they plan on pressuring the Israeli government to end it. And we won’t accept two-state platitudes for an answer.
It only takes a few people to create one of these viral videos. But Jerry, it’s going to take all of us to move these candidates towards concrete plans to achieve freedom and dignity for all Israelis and Palestinians.
This weekend has shown that our movement has a chance to bring the entire Democratic Party to our side in opposing the Occupation. We must insist that representing our community means standing up for freedom and dignity for all Israelis and Palestinians. We must insist that representing our community means fighting back against the weaponization of antisemitism to dehumanize and divide progressives.
That’s why IfNotNow members spent the weekend driving all over New Hampshire to question Buttigieg, Biden, Booker, and Beto. And they succeeded in getting answers: two more stances against the Occupationand as always, an earful of the same AIPAC talking points I’ve been hearing my entire life.
On Friday, Buttigieg stated for the first time that he believes “the occupation has to end.” Buttigieg’s stance has varied widely on this issue, but this is the first time he explicitly even mentioned the Occupation — our pressure is working. Buttigieg even said himself, that he believes there is “a healthier discussion in the American Jewish community than there is in the American Congress right now.”
Over two days, with questions from multiple IfNotNow members, we were able to get Biden to name the Occupation as a “real” and “significant problem” too. Of course, after stating so he quickly regressed back to anti-Palestinian talking points.
Cory Booker was less friendly. We asked him if he would take meaningful action to pressure Israel to end the Occupation and he responded with, ‘If that’s your issue I would understand if you want to support somebody else’. It’s sad to hear, but clearly he’s choosing to side with current AIPAC-enforced status quo over our generation.
On Sunday one of our members asked the same question of Beto O’Rourke. He gave a meandering 4-minute answer that failed to even use the word ‘Occupation’. Instead, he spouted talking points similar to those in a memo sent by the Democratic Majority for Israel (aka AIPAC for Democrats) on how to respond to us.
Of course, the work we are doing is receiving intense push back. The Democratic Majority for Israel released a memo warning the candidates about us. The Republican Jewish Coalition released a statement condemning Warren, prophesying that her alignment with “the rapidly-growing left-wing, anti-Israel base” of the Democratic Party would cost her votes. Fox News aired a segment in which Republican Congressman Lee Zeldin attacked the IfNotNow Fellows for asking the question in the first place
We need to turn up as a movement and show that dodging our questions with talking points isn’t going to work any longer. We stand for a future where Israelis and Palestinians live with freedom and dignity, and we won’t stop working until our elected officials take meaningful action to make that future possible.
Click here and choose a way to get involved with this crucial effort
Together, we can win.
