Sanders Leads Call for DOJ Probe of Israel Targeting US Journalist | Common Dreams
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A dozen members of Congress demand a U.S. investigation into an Israeli attack on journalists, including American Dylan Collins, in Lebanon last year.

A dozen members of Congress led by Sen. Bernie Sanders sent a Tuesday letter demanding the Biden administration open an independent investigation into an Israeli attack on journalists, including U.S. citizen Dylan Collins, in Lebanon last year.

Collins, a Vermonter working for Agence France-Presse, was the only American in a group of reporters who endured Israeli tank fire on October 13, 2023, just days after the Hamas-led attack on Israel. He and five others were injured, and Lebanese Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah was killed.

The journalists were covering cross-border fire between the Lebanese political and paramilitary group Hezbollah and Israeli forces—armed with diplomatic and weapons support from the Biden administration and Congress—during the early stages of a retaliatory assault on the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip for which Israel is now on trial for genocide.

“To date, Mr. Collins has received no explanation for the attack, and there have been no steps toward accountability,” the letter states, taking aim at Israel’s leader. “Given the inaction of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, the United States must open an independent investigation into this incident.”

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
    202·
    13 days ago

    Remember when Biden said:

    No one is above the law

    He said that while actively breaking the Leahy law, and continues to do so.

    He won’t hold himself accountable, and sure as shit won’t hold Israel accountable for anything.

    Fuck man…

    He hasn’t really held anyone accountable for anything. He put Garland in charge of the DOJ because he thought it would piss Republicans off, not realizing Obama nominated him because he’s an ineffectual bipartisan and just to highlight how Republicans wouldn’t vote on any SC pick.

    Biden picking him as head of the DOJ has to be the stupidest thing Biden’s ever done, and it’s not a short list…

    • TimLovesTech (AuDHD)(he/him)@badatbeing.socialEnglish
      6·
      12 days ago

      Biden doesn’t do anything to piss Republicans off, he bends over constantly to make everything bipartisan. And picking Garland was probably because he knew that he would play it “safe” and do nothing rather than have anyone be able to begin to say he was doing something political. Garland has been in such contrast to Barr who just shit all over the law like he had done in the past (and I wouldn’t doubt got a secret pardon before the end just in case he ever needs to play that card).

  • Asafum@feddit.nl
    12·
    12 days ago

    “We have investigated ourselves and Israel and found that we actually missed a few journalsts. We’ll do better next time.”

    • MagicShel@lemmy.zipEnglish
      32·
      12 days ago

      Journalism has been dying for twenty years. That’s an altogether different issue. That said, I’m aware of and concerned about the critical situation for journalists in that part of the world in particular. Journalists are also targeted in Mexico. They are targeted all over the world by both governments and militants.

      Should we investigate this? Yes. What are we going to do about it if we find it was deliberate? Fuck if I know. Our relationship with Israel and Israels relationship with the rest of the Middle East is extremely complex. Geopolitics is no place for moral high ground when doing a thing only because it is moral could result in the unnecessary deaths of millions.

      That (among many other reasons) is why you’ll never catch me running for President. I don’t presume to know what is best for the world. And anyway the answer to that probably depends on time frame anyway. If I knew for certain the best possible future for humanity in 1000 years demanded a genocide today, I couldn’t do it.

      But what I do know for certain is, working against Harris defeating Trump leads to the worst outcome in 18 months. Probably for everyone not too rich to care who gets elected. So posting badly written articles that take an anti-Harris slant and then blaming that on the Israeli government (which is certainly fucking atrocious, but pretty far removed from an article about an event in Detroit) feels like a bad-faith position to me.

      I hope this is somehow the response you were looking for.

      • sub_ubi@lemmy.ml
        42·
        12 days ago

        It’s not really that complex, Israel is a US vassal state that has killed more journalists than any country during any war in living memory.

        The slaughter of journalists and civilians is rarely mentioned by the Harris / Biden administration, who otherwise applaud Israel’s terrorism.

        • MagicShel@lemmy.zipEnglish
          21·
          12 days ago

          No. They don’t applaud it. Israel is a geopolitical ally. It is in our best interest to maintain a good relationship. But no one is happy about what Israel is doing. We just don’t want to yank the leash too hard. Getting Israel wiped off the map isn’t in US interests. Nor is them forsaking us and finding some other sugar daddy.

          And even if all the worst things you could say about Harris were true… Trump would still be 100x worse, so it doesn’t matter. I’d crawl across a mile of broken glass to vote for Harris. I’d crawl across a mile of glass to vote for fucking Hillary, and that’s saying something. Because I know what the alternative is.

          • sub_ubi@lemmy.ml
            32·
            12 days ago

            It’s a vassal state, not an ally. An ally means there’s a bi-directional relationship. Israel is a colony created under Truman, and the relationship is unidirectional. They cannot exist without direct US support, and their economy isn’t going to run without foreign investment.

            Here’s Biden celebrating the war he’s responsible for: https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/2024-09-28/live-updates-822145