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Anti-Israel Activists Organize ‘Vote Uncommitted’ Campaign in New Jersey Democratic Primary to Pressure Biden
Anti-Israel protesters demonstrate in front of Congregation Keter Torah in Teaneck, New Jersey, US, on March 10, 2024. Photo: Kyle Mazza/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect
Anti-Israel activists are encouraging New Jersey residents participating in the Democratic primary for this year’s US presidential election to vote “uncommitted” in support of “justice for Palestine” and a “permanent ceasefire” in Gaza, in lieu of voting for President Joe Biden.
The initiative, spearheaded by the group “Vote Uncommitted New Jersey,” aims to use political pressure to change the Biden administration’s approach to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The strategy to get voters to mark “uncommitted” on their ballots mirrors other efforts by anti-Israel groups to use the Democratic primary as an outlet to signal their disgust with Biden’s support for the Jewish state.
The campaign is part of a larger effort by anti-Israel activists to portray Israel’s military response to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel as a “genocide.”
“Voting ‘Uncommitted’ will let the Democratic Party and general public know what’s at stake and how many voters they’re losing over their unwavering position on the genocide in Gaza,” the group writes on its website. “This will pressure the Biden administration to reconsider their position and call for a ceasefire.”
The group adds that Biden’s “defeat is certain” in the upcoming election against presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump if he does not adopt an anti-Israel posture.
“Thousands of New Jerseyans have demanded an end to the genocide of the Palestinian people. Biden is on track to lose the election to Trump unless he chooses to listen to the working class of this country and change course. Defeat is certain if he fails to do so,” the group continues.
The organization is also demanding that Biden secure an “immediate and permanent ceasefire” along with “the immediate and unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid” in Gaza.
Wednesday is the first day when New Jersey voters can go to polling places across the state to cast early in-person ballots. They will be able to cast votes for the presidential race, one US Senate seat, and all 12 of the state’s seats in the US House of Representatives. Voters can also choose party candidates in local and county races.
More than 235,000 people have already voted in the state using mail-in ballots. According to an official sample ballot shared with The Algemeiner, the third option listed for voters in the presidential contest — under the names of Biden and progressive activist Terrisa Bukovinac — is “Uncommitted,” under which are the words: “Justice for Palestine, Permanent Ceasefire Now.”
“Vote Uncommitted New Jersey” does not mention or condemn Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack, which started the ongoing war in Gaza when Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists invaded Israel, murdered 1,200 people, and kidnapped over 250 others as hostages. Nor does it mention the significant amount of aid that has flowed into Gaza. Between March and April alone, over 10,000 humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza, according to data compiled by the United Nations. However, gangs and Hamas itself have reportedly ransacked aid trucks and stripped them of their goods, complicating relief efforts in the war-torn enclave.
Suraj Patel, an organizer with “Vote Uncommitted New Jersey” said in an interview that he believes supporting the Palestinian cause will help usher in a socialist economic system.
“From the beginning, we saw this as a campaign aligned with our socialist values,” Patel told the Democratic Socialists of America.
“What we are doing in New Jersey, deep community organizing, statewide collaboration, leadership development, I believe is the raw material for a real independent full-throated socialist party, with deep roots in labor, immigrant communities, and the multiracial working class, that can go toe to toe with the Democrats and the Republicans in our state,” he added.
In February, US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), an anti-Israel firebrand and the first Palestinian American woman in Congress, endorsed the “vote uncommitted” effort in Michigan and would not clarify whether she will support Biden’s reelection effort.
“We feel completely neglected and just unseen by our government. If you want us to be louder, then come here and vote uncommitted,” Tlaib said.
Primary day in New Jersey is set for next Tuesday.
The post Anti-Israel Activists Organize ‘Vote Uncommitted’ Campaign in New Jersey Democratic Primary to Pressure Biden first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd
Magdeburg Christmas market, December 21, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Christian Mang
i24 News – A suspected terrorist plowed a vehicle into a crowd at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg, west of the capital Berlin, killing at least five and injuring dozens more.
Local police confirmed that the suspect was a Saudi national born in 1974 and acting alone.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his concern about the incident, saying that “reports from Magdeburg suggest something bad. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.”
Police declined to give casualty numbers, confirming only a large-scale operation at the market, where people had gathered to celebrate in the days leading up to the Christmas holidays.
The post Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister
A person waves a flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, as people gather during a celebration called by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) near the Umayyad Mosque, after the ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Photo: December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo
Syria’s new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency which toppled Bashar al-Assad, as defense minister in the interim government, an official source said on Saturday.
Abu Qasra, who is also known by the nom de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group which led the campaign that ousted Assad this month. He led numerous military operations during Syria’s revolution, the source said.
Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed “the form of the military institution in the new Syria” during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.
Abu Qasra during the meeting sat next to Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, photos published by SANA showed.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said this week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Assad’s army.
Bashir, who formerly led an HTS-affiliated administration in the northwestern province of Idlib, has said he will lead a three-month transitional government. The new administration has not declared plans for what will happen after that.
Earlier on Saturday, the ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step “comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability.”
Shibani, a 37-year-old graduate of Damascus University, previously led the political department of the rebels’ Idlib government, the General Command said.
Sharaa’s group was part of al Qaeda until he broke ties in 2016. It had been confined to Idlib for years until going on the offensive in late November, sweeping through the cities of western Syria and into Damascus as the army melted away.
Sharaa has met with a number of international envoys this week. He has said his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development and that he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.
Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family’s decades-long rule.
Washington designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013, saying al Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad’s rule and establishing Islamic sharia law in Syria. US officials said on Friday that Washington would remove a $10 million bounty on his head.
The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble and the economy hollowed out by global sanctions.
The post Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels
View of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash90.
i24 News – Sweden will no longer fund the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) and will instead provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels, the Scandinavian country said on Friday.
The decision comes on the heels of multiple revelations regarding the agency’s employees’ involvement in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
Sweden’s decision was in response to the Israeli ban, as it will make channeling aid via the agency more difficult, the country’s aid minister, Benjamin Dousa, said.
“Large parts of UNRWA’s operations in Gaza are either going to be severely weakened or completely impossible,” Dousa said. “For the government, the most important thing is that support gets through.”
The Palestinian embassy in Stockholm said in a statement: “We reject the idea of finding alternatives to UNRWA, which has a special mandate to provide services to Palestinian refugees.”
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel thanked Dousa for a meeting they had this week and for Sweden’s decision to drop its support for UNRWA.
“There are worthy and viable alternatives for humanitarian aid, and I appreciate the willingness to listen and adopt a different approach,” she said.
The post Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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