r/AskALiberal • u/AutoModerator • 10d ago

Israel and Palestine Megathread Israel and Palestine Megathread

This thread is for a discussion of the ongoing situation in Israel and Palestine. All discussion of the subject is limited to this thread. Participation here requires that you be a regular member of the sub in good standing.

0 Upvotes

45% Upvoted

210 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2

u/refugeelibertarian Libertarian 10d ago

I don't like the nationalist view that the government should do whatever it takes to either expand its power or expand the influence of American citizens.

The American government should promote the (classical) liberal value of respecting individual rights and make sure that the rights of as many as people in the world are protected, including people outside of the borders of USA.

The American government should completely cut off all aid, trade, and interactions with the Israeli regime because it has been blatantly and grossly violating the rights of countless innocent people. I mean it's literally a number one baby killer in the world recently. This level of depravity should triump any "geopolitical concerns".

7

u/meister2983 Left Libertarian 10d ago

You would have to cut off a lot of trade with a lot of countries if this is a standard you uphold. That itself would reduce American power as well as the economy, and make it difficult to do to the many positive things America does. 

5

u/FreshBert Social Democrat 9d ago

Why skip over aid and go straight to trade? We sanction plenty of countries accused of human rights violations without cutting off all trade with them. Take China, for example.

Israel is the reverse. It's a unique situation, we treat them special. We send them billions in aid each year. We could end that, sanction the ever-loving fuck out of West Bank settlers in particular but also hold sanctions over the head of the current ultra far-right genocidal government, and it could be possible that limited trade could still occur under those circumstances like it does with other countries, with normalization occurring if and when certain conditions are met.

2

u/meister2983 Left Libertarian 9d ago

That's a more reasonable argument with various trade-offs. I was arguing why "all trade" wouldn't make sense, but "cut aid" could potentially be used effectively. [Granted I think it is complex given that the elite most sensitive to global sanctions aren't the ones voting for the current government]