Sen Welch (D-VT): Schumer isn't the leader when it comes to where the Democratic Party is on what's going on with Israel

“Senator Schumer is not the leader when it comes to where the Democratic Party is on what's going on with Israel, in Lebanon, in Iran. And the war is extremely unpopular… This war is a killer… it's not going to make us more secure, but it is going to make a lot of Americans more poor.”

In this ‘Mehdi Unfiltered’ interview, Mehdi Hasan speaks with Vermont Senator Peter Welch who urges Democrats to reject AIPAC’s influence, taking a stand agains the pro-Israeli lobby. He calls for a change in US foreign policy following Israel’s violent actions in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.

Co-sponsor of the Justice for Hind Rajab Act, Senator Welch has long been an outspoken critic of US complicity in Israel’s genocidal actions and Trump’s illegal war in Iran. He was also one of 40 senators across the nation who voted to block the sale of weapons to Israel, signaling a shift as the Democratic Party slowly distances itself from Israel.

Mehdi and Welch also discuss Joe Biden’s legacy, Democratic leadership and Trump’s threats to upcoming midterm elections in this interview. This panel was published on zeteo.com last week. If you want early, exclusive access to this kind of independent, unfiltered journalism — subscribe to our Substack here: https://zeteo.com/subscribe

CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
01:42 Iran negotiations
05:53 War powers vote
07:51 Democrats
09:48 Weapons to Israel
13:36 Is Trump mentally unfit?
18:08 Biden, Democrats and Israel
24:31 AIPAC
25:35 Hind Rajab
28:33 November elections




related:


Killing of Hind Rajab

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Hind_Rajab


Hind Rajab, graduating from kindergarten, later killed by Israeli forces at the age of 5

Hind Rami Iyad Rajab (3 May 2018 – 29 January 2024) was a five-year-old Palestinian girl in the Gaza Strip who was killed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the Gaza war, which also killed six of her family members and two paramedics coming to her rescue.

Rajab and her family were fleeing Gaza City when their vehicle was shelled by the IDF, killing her uncle, aunt and three cousins, with Rajab and another cousin surviving and contacting the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) to ask for help while noting that they were being attacked by an Israeli tank. The cousin was later also killed and Rajab was left stranded in the vehicle for hours on the phone, as paramedics from PRCS attempted to rescue her. Both Rajab and the paramedics were later also found dead on 10 February after an Israeli withdrawal.

Israel claimed that there were not any troops present in the neighborhood and denied carrying out the attack. However, this was refuted by The Washington Post and Sky News's investigations relying on satellite imagery and visual evidence, which concluded that a number of Israeli tanks were indeed present and one had likely fired 335 rounds on the car that Rajab and her family had been in, with tank operators being able to see that the car had civilians including children in it. The Forensic Architecture investigation also concluded that an Israeli tank had also likely attacked the ambulance that came for Rajab.

In the aftermath of the killing, Western media outlets were criticized for their coverage of the incident, including for not attributing who killed Rajab and for their adultification of her. American student protesters occupied and renamed Hamilton Hall in her honor at Columbia University, drawing increased attention to the incident.

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