Biden welcomes new Israeli government

Global climate change strike - No Planet B

By Christopher Overfelt

The new Israeli government has been established, and it is one defined by openly racist rhetoric, policies of ethnic cleansing, and unapologetic apartheid. Joe Biden has so far welcomed this new government. Money and weapons continue to flow to Israel in order to slaughter more Palestinians.

The current American foreign policy can be a difficult one to interpret. On one hand, Americans are told we must sacrifice in order to save Ukraine from Russian despotism. Times are hard for ordinary Americans, yes, but the fight for Ukraine is one worth fighting. And so billions of our taxpayer dollars flow out the door.

And then on the other hand, our same taxpayer dollars are funding despotism around the world. Our money imprisons political activists in Egypt. Our weapons slaughter children in Yemen. Our embassies save corrupt governments in Central America. So which is it? Are we fighting despotism or funding it?

This is why it is so difficult for me to swallow the benevolent narratives that surround the American effort in Ukraine. When policies of fighting despotism in Ukraine are paired side by side with funding openly apartheid governments like the one in Israel, trust in our leaders is eroded, and their integrity questioned.

—Christopher Overfelt, a member of Veterans for Peace, serves on the PeaceWorks KC Board.

Related Stories

“Are we fighting despotism or funding it?” asks Christopher Overfelt.
Henry Stoever, in an open letter, urges President Biden to immediately stop the manufacturing, deployment and targeting of US nuclear weapons. “Use your better angels,” pleads Stoever.
Pictures in our slide show, plus a video, reflect peace activists’ demand at our Feb. 5 rally in KC MO, No War with Russia over Ukraine.
KCTV5 spliced quotes from speakers at our Feb. 5 rally, No War with Russia over Ukraine, into a report that Russia sent “long-range nuclear-capable bombers on patrol over its ally Belarus.”
Come to a “No War with Russia over Ukraine” rally at 11 am this Saturday, Feb. 5, at the Plaza Fountain at 47th Street and Main in KC MO.
The results of Biden's revenge attacks mirror perfectly the cycles of America's war against Afghanistan.
As the mother of an Army Infantry Officer who served for 13 months during Obama’s Afghanistan surge, I feel an overwhelming sadness for the men and women who served in Afghanistan. I also feel great sadness for the huge losses and suffering the Afghan people endured. The military and the U.S. government knew early on that the Afghanistan War was a debacle.
Are you discouraged by the growing threat of nuclear weapons? There may be en-couraging news on the horizon. A recent Politico article raises hopeful prospects that a new Biden administration could reverse the Trump administration’s trend toward heightened nuclear tensions and a renewed nuclear arms race.
Man hanging origame peace cranes.