Does Bonamici Support a Gaza Ceasefire?
Initially, if you just look at what Bonamici says publicly about Gaza, she may not seem so bad. For example, in a May 31st tweet, she at least superficially seems to call for a ceasefire.
https://x.com/RepBonamici/status/1796629525779939771
However, when you start digging deeper, Bonamici’s words and actions are less promising than they initially seem.
What Biden has advocated publicly is something like this:
1) Temporary six week pause where Israel pulls out of populated areas of Gaza, and Hamas releases hostages who are women, elderly, or wounded.
2) Hamas releases the rest of the hostages in exchange for Israel fully withdrawing from Gaza.
3) Gaza is rebuilt through some reconstruction project with international financing.
Biden sold this as a plan that Israel had already signed onto; unfortunately nobody told Israel.
Shortly after Biden’s speech announcing the three phase plan, Netanyahu stated:
“Israel’s conditions for ending the war have not changed: the destruction of Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel. Under the proposal, Israel will continue to insist these conditions are met before a permanent cease-fire is put in place.”
This is quite a bit different from what Biden proposed. If one side has to be completely defeated before there’s a “ceasefire,” it’s not really a ceasefire at that point. It’s a complete and total military victory.
The Biden administration’s messaging became more confused from that point on. In an amusing moment, Linda Thomas Greenfield (America’s UN Ambassador) first spoke to the New York Times:
Ms. Thomas-Greenfield said that the United States would work to make sure that Israel agreed to the deal
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/06/10/world/israel-gaza-war-hamas
Later that same day, Ms. Greenfield tweeted:
https://x.com/USAmbUN/status/1800258031545950646
This is not the only such slip-up. This is a consequence of the Biden Administration not being able to get its story straight. The reason the Biden Administration can’t get its story straight is that the Biden Administration is lying. Democrats and the Biden Administration know that the war is harming their poll numbers, but they don’t actually want to do anything about it. So, they need to create a narrative that Hamas is the primary force preventing a ceasefire. Below her tweet posted above, Bonamici posted this:
https://x.com/RepBonamici/status/1796629527591817486
Just like the Biden Administration, she lies about Israel accepting the proposal. She also implies Hamas is the primary force standing in the way of a ceasefire, which is ridiculous. Why would the weaker military force be the one more hesitant to agree to a ceasefire? Her narrative only makes sense if its purpose is not to encourage a ceasefire, but to take the pressure off of Israel to agree to one.
Bonamici and AIPAC
During her primary this year, Suzanne Bonamici was endorsed by the infamous Pro-Israel political PAC AIPAC.
https://x.com/AIPAC/status/1793115849009897774
https://archive.fo/TV3oD
AIPAC has been working to primary candidates who stand up for Gaza. AIPAC spent 14.5 million to unseat Jamaal Bowman. The PAC spent $300,000 to try to unseat Thomas Massie.
But, they felt no need to spend against Bonamici. In fact, the PAC gave $1000 to her campaign. And, of course, AIPAC doesn’t primarily send candidates money itself; it sends it through individuals.
Bonamici and UNRWA
Bonamici claims to support Humanitarian aid for Gaza, but she voted to defund the organization that has the best logistical infastructure to distribute said aid. The defunding was done as part of H.Res.1102 – Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 which she voted for. The relevant text is as follows:
The roll-call vote can be seen here.
Bonamici and Military Funding for Israel
Bonamici voted for Isreali military funding as recently as April 19th, 2024, well into the period where what Israel was doing in Gaza was obvious.
The roll-call vote can be seen here.
Further Reading
https://www.columnblog.com/p/the-biden-administrations-fake-ceasefire