Ralph Nader
Updated 2024-08-29
Ralph Nader Letters to Political Leaders https://nader.org/blog/
2024-04-06 The Mutually Reinforcing American and Israeli Empires The U.S. government’s unwavering commitment to Israel’s annihilation of Gaza – torrents of heavy weaponry, diplomatic and political cover, and vast majorities in Congress swearing fealty to Netanyahu’s extremist regime – is usually attributed to AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), the powerful domestic pro-Israeli government lobby, organized in every Congressional District, with its abundant campaign cash and its many personal contacts in Congress and the Executive Branch.
This is only a partial explanation of the US-Israel alliance. A far more formidably entrenched factor is that Israel and the U.S. have overlapping Empires – one in the Middle East and the other globally – with deep common purposes. Here are some examples of how these empires operate in tandem.
Both Empires violate international laws with impunity. Both Empires consider every military operation defensive. Both Empires have collaborating military-industrial complexes and are major arms exporters. Both Empires wield “force projection” as atomic bomb powers. Both incurred a rare counter-attack (9/11 & October 7) when advance warnings by advisors were ignored. Both Empires lie repeatedly regarding their tactics and strategies. Both Empires control the United Nations Security Council with the U.S. veto shielding whatever Israel does. Both occupy or control land that is not theirs, violating international laws. Both Empires vio, late their legal duty as occupiers to protect the civilian population’s well-being. Both Empires’ leaders, Biden and Netanyahu, profess to practice their respective religions, though they are violating the basic precepts of both their religions in implementing their violent wars. Both Empires spend little time pressing for ceasefires, peace negotiations, and the stability of peace treaties. Both Empires, contrary to their fundamental juridical documents, in the case of the U.S., our Constitution, operate as elected dictatorships in conducting military and foreign policy. Both Empires have a so-called free mainstream media that mostly toes the Empire party line. https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/israel-and-u-s
2024-03-05 Stop the Worsening UNDERCOUNT of Palestinian Casualties in Gaza With virtually no healthcare left, no medications, and infectious diseases spreading especially among infants, children, the infirm and the elderly, can anybody believe that the fatalities have just gone over 30,000? With five thousand babies born every month into the rubble, their mothers wounded and without food, healthcare, medicine and clean water for any of their children, severe skepticism about the Hamas Health Ministry’s official count is warranted.
Netanyahu and Hamas, which he helped over the years, have a common interest in lowballing the death/injury toll. But for different reasons. Hamas keeps the figures low to reduce being accused by its own people of not protecting them, and not building shelters. The Health Ministry is intentionally conservative, citing that its death toll came from reports only of named deceased by hospitals and morgues.
It matters greatly whether the aggregate toll so far, and counting, is three, four, five, six times more than the Health Ministry’s undercount. It matters for elevating the urgency for a permanent ceasefire, and direct and massive humanitarian aid by the U.S. and other countries, bypassing the sadistic cruelty against innocent families of the Israeli siege. It matters for the columnists and editorial writers who have been self-censoring themselves, with some, like the Post’s Charles Lane fictionally claiming that Israel’s military doesn’t “intentionally target civilians.” It matters for accountability under international law.
Above all, it lets weak Secretary of State Antony Blinken and duplicitous President Joe Biden be less servile when Netanyahu dismisses the low death toll by taunting them: what about Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki? https://nader.org/2024/03/05/stop-the-worsening-undercount-of-palestinian-casualties-in-gaza/
2024-02-27 Ralph Nader at 90 on the “Genocidal War” in Gaza & Why Congress Is a Weapon of Mass Destruction On his 90th birthday, the legendary consumer advocate, corporate critic and four-time presidential candidate Ralph Nader joins _Democracy Now! for an in-depth conversation about U.S. democracy and why “Congress is a weapon of mass destruction.” He says lawmakers have shredded the country’s social safety net, refused to rein in the U.S. war machine, allowed white-collar crime to go unpunished, failed to enforce tax fairness and more. “All of these are very unpopular with the American people,” Nader says. He also discusses the 2024 presidential race and encourages people to “vote their conscience” and “find some way out of this two-party duopoly gulag.” Nader, who publishes the monthly print-only newspaper the Capitol Hill Citizen, was recently profiled in The Washington Post for his ongoing advocacy. Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09SPBEqFniI
2024-01-19 Green Party of New York, former presidential candidates Ralph Nader, Howie Hawkins call on Stefanik to resign The Green Party of New York and about 125 upstate New Yorkers have signed onto a letter demanding Rep. Elise M. Stefanik resign from her seat representing the 21st Congressional District because of her support of Israel in the violence in Gaza.
The letter was authored by David Doonan, the former mayor of Greenwich, Washington County, and the web manager for the Green Party of the United States, with the help of Nader and constitutional lawyer Bruce Fein, according to Peter A. LaVenia Jr., co-chair of Green Party New York, who answered questions for Doonan.
While most of the signatures appear to be average, nonprominent residents of upstate New York, if not necessarily Stefanik’s NY-21, one notable exception is Howie Hawkins, the former Green Party 2020 presidential candidate and New York gubernatorial candidate in 2010, 2014 and 2018. https://www.yahoo.com/news/green-party-york-former-presidential-045900866.html
2023-12-02 Behind Israel’s Brutal Genocidal Attack on Gaza Stand Joe Biden and Congress [MEK Note: also see November 14th White House letter]
Biden can get more humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza simply by enveloping them with the American flag and daring Israel to delay, obstruct or destroy these carriers of live-saving food, water, fuel and medicine. But he is too weak and too cowardly to do so. He has made the U.S. a co-belligerent by unconditionally supplying abundant weapons, military intelligence and political cover, including vetoes of United Nations resolutions.
We asked why he wants Congress to make U.S. taxpayers pay another $14.3 billion for a prosperous country’s colossal military and intelligence operations, especially since Israel’s leadership failed to protect its people on October 7th. Biden has another apprehension—the near total control of Congress by the “Israel’s government can do no wrong” lobby. The indentured rubber-stamping Senators and Representatives have no problem supporting Israel’s violent repression and land dispossession in what is left of the original Palestine and its five million encircled Palestinians. Would these politicians deploy such eagerness in helping poor American children and their families in our country?
In response to Biden’s repeated urging that Israel comply with the “laws of war” we described how Benjamin Netanyahu and his regime are doing just the opposite with its brutal terror campaign against defenseless Palestinian civilians and their critical public support structures. Israel’s extremist right-wing politicians use words such as “human animals,” “annihilation” and “extermination” as declared objectives of their mass terrorism. https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/joe-biden-israel-genocide-gaza
2023-11-25 Justifying the Unjustifiable in Palestine Ralph is joined by author and human rights activist Miko Peled. They discuss the excuses that Israel uses to defend the atrocities they commit against Palestinians, and the truth behind all the propaganda.
Anybody who is not courageous enough to stand up and speak the truth and stand up for what is right, because they might be called this name or that name—it’s cowardice, it’s hypocrisy. Being called antisemitic is a small price to pay when you talk about standing for the rights of millions of people who have been living under such terror for so many decades.
This is pure revenge. What we’re seeing is vengeance of a military force and a state that have been humiliated. And just like any bully, any gangster who’s been humiliated, they take it out on the weakest people they can find, people who cannot defend themselves… It’s revenge for the sake of revenge. It’s savagery for the sake of savagery. It’s brutality in its purest form. There’s no other reason than the brutality itself.
Palestinians deserve nothing less than the lifting of the siege, release of all prisoners, and the dismantling of the apartheid state. Nothing less than that should be demanded. And all we’re seeing people talk about is ceasefires, as though a ceasefire is some great accomplishment. Ceasefire does not provide the possibility of a future where this is not repeated. What needs to be demanded now is a political solution that will ensure the safety and security of Palestinians—and that is never part of the conversation. A ceasefire does not secure the lives or the security of Palestinians, because we know Israel will violate it a week later.
It’s not going to collapse because Israelis agree. It’s not going to collapse because Israelis wake up one morning in a good mood. Israel is going to have to be forced on its knees. Just like in South Africa, whites in South Africa were on their knees. We’re talking about severe sanctions. We’re talking about closing down all diplomatic missions. We’re talking about not allowing Israelis to participate in sporting events, cultural events, any events, academic arenas. They need to be shunned. Israeli society and the apartheid state that they created need to be brought on their knees. https://www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/p/justifying-the-unjustifiable-in-palestine
2023-11-22 Israel’s Genocidal Antisemitism Against the Arab Civilians of Gaza “It should never have happened,” an elderly Holocaust survivor of a Nazi death camp told the New York Times. He was referring to the colossal failure on October 7th, of Israel’s touted high-tech military and intelligence operations that opened the door to Hamas’ attack on Israeli soldiers and civilians. In many parliamentary countries, the government ministers who are responsible for this kind of failure would have immediately been forced to resign. Not so with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s ministers.
Instead, Netanyahu’s coalition of extremists, who know that the Israeli people are enraged about their government’s failure to defend the border, has unleashed a “unifying” genocidal war against every child, woman and man that comprise the 2.3 million population of Gaza. “No electricity, no food, no fuel, no water. … We are fighting human animals and will act accordingly” was the opening genocidal war cry from defense minister Yoav Gallant to defend the onslaught that massive military forces are implementing against the long-illegally blockaded Gazan population.https://nader.org/2023/11/22/israels-genocidal-antisemitism-against-the-arab-civilians-of-gaza/
2023-10-27 Mass Media Needs to Probe Deeper Re: Israel/Gaza Conflict In the midst of extensive coverage of the war in Gaza, there are questions that the U.S. mass media should address:
- How did Hamas manage to get these weapons and associated technology for their October 7th surprise raid?
- What is the connection between the stunning failure of the Israeli government to protect its people on the border and the policy of P.M. Netanyahu?
- Why is Congress preparing to appropriate over $14 billion to Israel in military and other aid without any public hearings and without any demonstrated fiscal need by Israel?
- Why hasn’t the media reported on President Biden’s statement that the Gaza Health Ministry’s body count (now over 7000 fatalities) is exaggerated?
- Why can’t Biden even persuade Israel to let 600 desperate Americans out of the Gaza firestorm?
- Why isn’t the mass media making a bigger issue out of Israel’s long-time practices of blocking journalists from entering Gaza, including European, American and Israeli journalists?
- Why isn’t the mainstream U.S. media giving adequate space and voice to groups advocating a ceasefire and humanitarian aid?
- Why is the coverage of the war overlooking the Geneva Conventions, the United Nations Charter and the many provisions of international law that all the parties, including the U.S., have been violating?
- What about the human-interest stories that would be revealing?
- Where is the media attention on the statements from Israeli military commentators?
2023-10-13 After the Attack, Israeli Rulers Launch Genocidal Destruction Last Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken abruptly took down his earlier post which read: “Turkish Foreign Minister @HakanFidan and I spoke further on Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israel. I encouraged Türkiye’s advocacy for a cease-fire and the release of all hostages held by Hamas immediately.” That was the end of any ceasefire talk by Washington – Israel’s historic patron, protector and unlimited weapons provider. Instead, Biden, Blinken and Secretary of Defense Austin have made statements of unconditional support and further weapons shipments for expanding the bombing and destruction of Gaza, targeting homes, mosques, schools, clinics, hospitals, ambulances and critical infrastructure like water mains.
There was no mention of the far greater destruction of innocent Palestinians using F-16s and U.S.-made missiles that was underway. Are there no lawyers advising these politicians? When Israel ordered a complete siege of tiny, defenseless Gaza (an area much smaller than New York City) Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered his Southern Command to cut off essential services to Gaza, declaring “No electricity, no food, no fuel, no water. … We are fighting animals and will act accordingly.”
Reacting to this omnicidal military order, international law practitioner Bruce Fein noted, “The Genocide Convention defines genocide, among other things, as ‘Deliberately inflicting on [a national, ethnical, racial or religious group] conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part’.” https://nader.org/2023/10/13/after-the-attack-israeli-rulers-launch-genocidal-destruction/
This flagrant violation of international law, once again confirmed by various countries and the United Nations, is expected to unleash crushing repression and violence which will be broadcast and shown by photojournalists around the world. This annexation will lead to demonstrations condemning you and the Prime Minister. Inside Israel, there is strong opposition from retired high military and security officials, as well as members of the Knesset from which the Prime Minister is not seeking approval. Sound familiar?
The collateral damage from this unilateral seizure of thirty percent from what is left of Palestinian land (the West Bank is about 20 percent of the original Palestine) will include a rupture of warming relations between Israel and nearby Arab countries, especially Jordan, alienating your friend Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey, and lead to unintended consequences that will be arriving at your door as the Covid-19 pandemic widens. Even with your limited attention to detail, your inability to recognize the consequences of international disputes, and your short attention span, you should be able to envision how much time and energy this war crime will take from you.
For the Palestinians, there will be more dread and devastation. Half of their food comes from the Jordan Valley. It would spell the end of the “two-state solution,” and lead to the possible dissolution of the Palestine Authority security arrangements with the Israeli occupation. That would mean more Israeli patrols, more destruction of homes, more innocent Palestinian casualties, and more responsibility on you stemming from your reckless, mindless endorsement of annexation several months ago.
You can prevent these calamities. First, you need to stop your bigotry against the Palestinian Arabs and desperate Syrian Arab refugees that make you a leading anti-Semite against the Arab peoples. https://nader.org/2020/06/29/letter-to-president-trump-june-26-2020/
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