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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nProtesters gather in Freedom Plaza during the National March on Washington for Palestine while calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on November 4, 2023 in Washington, DC. Photo by Win McNamee\/Getty Images<\/p>\n\n\n\n
https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/0xIaJ58cSsCG512uF26qAs?si=8e3b5a8943ea4cf3&utm_source=oembed<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Stand with Independent Journalism: Help Us Expose the Truth and Fight Injustice<\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Close to nine months into the genocide in Gaza, the Biden administration shows no sign of stopping the flow of arms and aid to Israel. Earlier in May, Biden declared that he was drawing a \u2018red line\u2019: should Israel invade Rafah, the southernmost corner of the Gaza Strip where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinian families have sheltered in tents for months, US assistance to Israel would end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Over the Memorial Day weekend, Israel began a punishing assault on Rafah\u2019s tent cities, killing countless Palestinians with US-manufactured bombs. As horrific images of charred corpses and decapitated infants spread around the world, the Biden administration denied its red line had been crossed. Many have been left justifiably wondering what it will take for Washington to cease its support for the genocide. Organizers with the Shut it Down for Palestine Coalition<\/a> have an answer: if Biden will not impose a red line, the people will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On June 8th, tens of thousands of activists from around the country will converge on DC for a third national mobilization for Palestine in less than a year. This time, donned in red shirts, the mass mobilization will physically surround the White House to form a \u2018red line\u2019 of its own\u2014demonstrating the power of the mass movement, as well as the growing public rejection of the US\u2019s role in enabling Israel\u2019s atrocities against Palestinians. Layan Fuleihan<\/a>, Director of Education with The People\u2019s Forum<\/a>, joins TRNN to discuss upcoming mobilization, and how the mass movement for Palestine is seizing moral authority after the Biden administration has thoroughly discredited itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additional links\/info:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Studio Production: Ju-Hyun Park The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ju-Hyun Park:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Join thousands of others who rely on our journalism to navigate complex issues, uncover hidden truths, and challenge the status quo with our free newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox three times a week<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Welcome to The Real News podcast. This is Ju-Hyun Park, engagement editor here at The Real News. Today I\u2019m joined by Layan Fuleihan of The People\u2019s Forum, to discuss the carnage Israel is unleashing in Rafah. An area of Gaza where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sheltered for months. Before we proceed, a reminder that The Real News is a 100% independent, not-for-profit news outlet covering the stories corporate media won\u2019t tell. We have a small but mighty team that\u2019s dedicated to using journalism for the people, but we need your help to do it. Become a supporter of The Real News today by heading over to therealnews.com\/donate and make a contribution. It really makes a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rafah is a tiny strip of land the size of London\u2019s Heathrow Airport. For months, it\u2019s become the site of a massive tent city sheltering hundreds of thousands of Palestinian families displaced by Israeli bombing. Israel has alleged that this area would be considered a safe zone, but throughout this war we\u2019ve seen that promise broken time and again by Israeli airstrikes. For weeks now, Biden has claimed that an Israeli attack on Rafah would cross a \u201cred line\u201d, that would end further arm shipments to Israel. In an interview with CNN earlier this month, President Biden finally admitted that the weapons the US is supplying to Israel have been used to slaughter civilians. And so he stated, quote, \u201cI made it clear that if they go into Rafah, they haven\u2019t gone into Rafah yet, if they go into Rafah, I\u2019m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah.\u201d This stern supposed warning has predictably fallen on deaf ears. This week, claiming the tent city is in fact a Hamas stronghold, Israel committed its worst massacres to date in Rafah. And I emphasize here that\u2019s massacres, plural, as these are ongoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019ve been on social media, you\u2019ll likely know what I mean. A video of a father holding his decapitated infant amid the burning remains of their family tent, images of the charred corpses of children and adults burned alive by 2000 pound US made bombs. By any reasonable measure, it would seem that the red line has been crossed, yet Biden still does nothing. So if Biden will not impose a red line, who will? Organizers with the US-based mass movement in solidarity with Palestine have an answer, the people will impose the red line. I\u2019m joined today by Layan Fuleihan, Director of Education at the People\u2019s Forum in New York City. She\u2019s here to discuss this phase of Israel\u2019s genocide in Gaza and the upcoming national mobilization to DC this Saturday, June 8th, to impose a people\u2019s red line on the Biden administration. Layan, welcome to The Real News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Layan Fuleihan:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thanks so much for having me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ju-Hyun Park:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So let\u2019s cut to the chase, Biden said attacking Rafah would be his red line. Rafah has now been attacked more sadly than ever before, yet the Biden administration continues to say that the red line has not been crossed. What\u2019s your take on what\u2019s going on? Does this red line even exist?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Layan Fuleihan:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, I would say no, this red line actually does not exist. Biden and the White House have never, never shown any capacity to care for civilian lives, to care for Palestinian lives. And they\u2019ve never been appalled by the genocide that has been ongoing for the past eight months or the genocide that has been ongoing actually for the past 76 years. Despite the fact that the majority of the US population is now fully against the US role in executing this genocide against the Palestinian people, the White House is not very concerned with ending the genocide. My assessment actually of the so-called red line, is that it was set for two reasons. One, Biden has a red line with Netanyahu. We are in a moment right now where the political pressure and the political crisis that has been generated by this genocidal assault on Palestine and the mass movement that has taken the world by storm in support of the Palestinian people, has resulted in the fact that the White House and the Israeli occupation have a difference in tactics at this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Biden is definitely frustrated with Netanyahu. The White House is definitely frustrated with Tel Aviv because they have a difference in tactics. They would like to find other means at this point, they\u2019d like to exit this phase of the so-called war so that they can move to other means of controlling and occupying. And in their hopes and dreams, repressing and limiting the Palestinian liberation struggle. And Biden doesn\u2019t see the ongoing genocide as a successful strategy at this point here. It\u2019s clear that Israel is unable to actually defeat the Palestinian resistance. They have not met their military objectives no matter how many billions of dollars of weapons are transferred over to them. And so Biden is now moving to other strategies that perhaps we all might be familiar with. The White House does this time and time again, bomb and decimate an area and then come in with aid. Try to use soft power to achieve what you could not achieve militarily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So that\u2019s my assessment. My assessment is actually that the red line in fact was more for the US to try to get Netanyahu in line. The leaked information about the United States pausing a very small weapon shipment, that was not supposed to be public. The White House did not want that to be public. It was the Israelis who leaked it to create chaos and to put the pressure back on Biden so that he would have to face the right wing who would demand him to continue supporting Israel unconditionally. Now the other element here of the so-called red line is I\u2019m sure that the calculation was the fact that the majority of the US population is not only against the genocide, but they are for demonstrating it and creating political crisis until the demand is achieved. We have seen an unprecedented level of mobilization for Palestine over the past eight months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No elected official is able to have a moment of peace at this point. Biden is unable to campaign. Neither of the ruling parties are looking at a clear path to victory. It\u2019s a huge political crisis, unprecedented. And so I\u2019m sure Biden was happy with the idea of going out on CNN and being able to say, we have a red line and thinking maybe this is going to appease the masses that are outraged about the US role in the massacre of the Palestinian people. And it\u2019s backfired on both counts. Netanyahu hasn\u2019t stopped. Not only have they not stopped, they have gone in even deeper into Rafah. They\u2019ve done exactly what they were told not to do. They are still losing by the way. They have expanded their operations back again to the entire territory of Gaza and they are facing losses at every turn. They are committing more and more massacres. The latest massacre, the series of them in Rafah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But there was one that really shocked the world this weekend that was done with US weapons targeted an unmanaged area of Rafah. There\u2019s just 10 of families and that\u2019s where those graphic images that you refer to came from. And those were US weapons that were used to do that. The outrage was so great that Netanyahu was forced to say it was a tragic mistake. It certainly was not a mistake, everyone knows what happens if you bomb a tent city. Of course it\u2019s going to cause major destruction and death and massacre. So we\u2019re in this situation now where it\u2019s backfired on that front. It has not really stopped the Israelis from going forward in their invasion and their occupation. They\u2019d like to do everything they possibly can to just keep using military force to try to distract the world from the fact that they have not yet achieved what they set out to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the other thing is that the mass movement for Palestine has not been appeased. In fact, it\u2019s created even more of a crisis for Biden because people are ready to hold him to account. He said there\u2019s a red line and that red line is the invasion of Rafah. These massacres have been happening. The public are demanding, where\u2019s your red line Biden? Now they\u2019re having over 50 martyrs every day in Rafah. Where\u2019s your red line? And he\u2019s coming up with all these ridiculous excuses saying that it doesn\u2019t actually qualify as a ground invasion because there\u2019s no tanks and troops information entering Rafah. The image that you might get from a military historical film or something like that. That\u2019s not how Israel fights anymore. That\u2019s not how they fight war. That\u2019s not how they do things. Of course, it\u2019s not going to look like that. But we do have tanks now in central Rafah that\u2019s been seen and recorded and there\u2019s been multiple massacres. And Biden is unable to enforce his own political policy on Israel and on his own administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It would be very simple. He just needs to pick up the phone, call the Pentagon, \u201cStop all military, political and economic coordination and transfers with the state of Israel.\u201d And that would be essentially what could call the shots here. Israel cannot do anything that it\u2019s doing without the full support of the United States. And so we really don\u2019t see Biden as having moved his policy on Palestine. We\u2019re not waiting for him to do that either. How many horrific scenes does the White House have to see before they realize that something is wrong? The issue is not that, the issue is that they themselves have the same goal as the Israelis. They would like to see the elimination of the possibility for the Palestinian people to resist occupation and colonization. Their only concern right now is that Israel is not achieving it fast enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so we have over the past eight months, the mass movement has really grown not just in size but also in strength and in level of organization. And it\u2019s very clear to the general public, to people who have been activated by this struggle for Palestinian to end the genocide, that the moral authority actually lies with us. And so this is an opportunity for us to really bring that message home and to be very clear, we are the red line. And in fact the White House is the source of the genocide and of the terror that is being inflicted on the Palestinian people. And so we are going to form a red line around really what the source of these massacres and these killings are and create more political pressure for the White House. And really demonstrate as strongly as possible that there are consequences for Biden\u2019s policy of unfettered genocide and imperialist domination across the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ju-Hyun Park:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019re absolutely right on that point about moral authority, who is now the moral authority in the room? It seems that it can\u2019t be the so-called government authorities that we are supposed to trust any longer. And that\u2019s something that\u2019s completely the result of their own behavior. They have no one to blame but themselves. It\u2019s not only because their actions are so brutal and so grotesque, but it\u2019s really that the way that they lie to us so brazenly about this has also really eroded public trust. As you were saying, they\u2019re claiming that these attacks on Rafah were mistakes. They\u2019ve also claimed that there were somehow Hamas command centers located inside of these tents where there are literal infants and elderly people sheltering. The public understands what\u2019s going on. We can see very clearly with our own eyes what\u2019s really happening. Our memory is not that short. We also know that this wasn\u2019t [inaudible 00:11:44] location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just a few months ago, we saw the deep mass defunding led by the US government among many other Western governments as well. And we know that this is a playbook that\u2019s been used again and again, whether it was in the massacres at Al-Shifa Hospital or the so-called flour massacre that was occurring a couple of months ago. So we can already see that there is an established pattern where there\u2019s mass killing that occurs on the ground. And then there\u2019s an attempt to obfuscate what happened, why it happened, was it a mistake, was it intentional, was it in fact a justified military operation? All those different narratives come out at once, but they only serve to obscure the fact that what happened on the ground was the mass slaughter of mostly unarmed people. We\u2019re talking people who\u2019ve already been displaced from their homes. People who have already been bombed and many cases, people who are children as well as women, as well as families and the elderly who are sheltering and really just trying to survive, really just looking for any way to continue to endure in the face of horrific violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So you\u2019ve hinted a little bit at what\u2019s going to happen on June 8th when the people\u2019s red line will be established around the White House. And your organization, The People\u2019s Forum has been a key convener of the Shut It Down coalition which is calling for this action. Can you tell us more about what\u2019s going to happen on June 8th? What\u2019s the plan? Why are we doing it and how do people get involved?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Layan Fuleihan:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Absolutely. The plan is quite simple, we are going to show up in the tens of thousand at least to the White House wearing red, and we are going to form the people\u2019s red line. We are going to surround the White House with the people\u2019s red line. And why are we doing this? We know that mass mobilizations have had a huge impact on the capacity for US imperialism to maneuver. A couple of months ago we saw Netanyahu, there was a leak of a private conversation he had where he said, these mass mobilizations across the world and the capitals of the countries across the world, they need to be pressured. They need to be stopped. This is creating too much of a political crisis for us. And the concept of the red line is a very clear one. We are going to deliver the message that it is long gone the times when the White House can just manufacture reality and package it and send it out to the American public, and that\u2019s going to be received well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the past eight months, the US has been trying to set the narrative. On October 7th, they said that anyone who stands with the Palestinian people is a terrorist. And so you should be ashamed, you should stay home. You should not be out in the streets. You should not be expressing solidarity. Too bad across the country, it was tens of thousands out on the street that week very clear in solidarity with the Palestinian people. And over time, the mass movement has been able to erode the capacity for the White House to set the narrative. The White House and the Zionist funders and corporate media have been unable to set the narrative. When the Israeli occupation bombed the first hospital in Gaza, Biden went on national television and said, \u201cWe don\u2019t know who bombed the hospital.\u201d And no one believed him, absolutely no one believed him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then when the health ministry of Gaza came out with the first list of the martyred, of the killed, Biden went again on national television and said, \u201cWe can\u2019t verify the numbers.\u201d The thing is that we can verify the numbers. Just now they\u2019re saying that it\u2019s not verified if the tanks are in central Rafah, we are verifying it now. We have on the ground in person photo, video and verifiable evidence that the Israeli military has entered into the center of Rafah. The movement is now the ones who is able to interpret what is happening on the ground and deliver that message without mediation from the corporate media to the American public. It\u2019s very clear and the impacts of this are really threatening to the White House because like you said, it\u2019s created a huge lack of trust. The White House constant lying and maneuvering of information has created a situation where the American public no longer trusts them to actually give the real version of what\u2019s going on around the world and even at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So all that to say, the movement for Palestine is very strong and we know that it\u2019s going to be a long struggle ahead. We know that the US and Israeli interests are completely aligned. And we know that what the US would love most of all, is to close off the possibility for any people to resist and build a struggle for their own sovereignty. And in any way to go against what the US would like to see as the world order for its own prosperity and domination. So this demonstration of a red line, we intend to show the White House exactly who we are, exactly how clear the American public is and exactly how much they have an inability to limit, repress or confuse the mass movement for Palestine. It\u2019s also going to show the media exactly where we are at and deliver that message very strongly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are seeing breaks in corporate media at this point. The crisis of the ruling class has now reached the ruling class institutions and the corporate media. We are seeing even people like CBS News and others saying, \u201cHow many more charred bodies do you need to see before the red line is crossed?\u201d We are at a moment of extreme political crisis for the ruling class, and so this is the moment to actually intensify the political pressure. And lastly but certainly not least, we are going to show the Palestinian people exactly where we stand. And the fact that their cause is now the world\u2019s cause, including inside the center of imperialism, and that the people of the United States are with them and not with the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ju-Hyun Park:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You heard it here folks, June 8th, this Saturday, tens of thousands of people from around the US will roll out to DC to surround the White House wearing red to form the people\u2019s red line. Layan, before we say goodbye, where can people go to more about this and how do they get involved?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Layan Fuleihan:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sure. So you can go to shutitdown4palestine.org. That\u2019s four the number, so shutitdown4palestine.org. Front page there is all about June 8th and there\u2019s a link there for your organization to endorse. Anyone can endorse, please send in your endorsement, and then there\u2019s links to find buses. You can also go to the ANSWER Coalition\u2019s website that is helping to organize the bus information. Major cities and small cities from across the country are already organizing transportation. You can also submit your own transportation there if you want to organize a bus or a van or a car caravan. And we\u2019re going to be there. We\u2019re going to be there by rain or shine. We\u2019re going to be wearing red, show up, 12:00 PM Lafayette Park. We\u2019re going to gather there and then form the red line, and it\u2019s going to be an incredible moment. Like I said before, this is a moment of perhaps the most heightened contradictions for the ruling class, for the genocide enablers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so it is actually the moment for us to mobilize even more urgently than at any other time. If you have been out every single day, keep being with us. And if you haven\u2019t been out in the streets yet, this is your moment to come and join us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ju-Hyun Park:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thanks again, Layan. Once more, that was Layan Fuleihan with The Peoples Forum. Before we sign off, thank you to The Real News studio crew for helping make this episode possible, Alina Nehlich, David Hebden, Cameron Granadino, and Kayla Rivara. This is Ju-Hyun Park and you\u2019ve been listening to The Real News. We\u2019ll catch you next time.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ju-Hyun Park is a genderqueer writer of the Korean diaspora. Their work has previously appeared in The Fader and Public Radio International. Ju-Hyun is a member of Nodutdol for Korean Community Development. Follow them on Twitter:\u00a0@hermit_hwarang<\/a>.More by Ju-Hyun Park<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Source: https:\/\/therealnews.com\/biden-we-are-your-red-line-the-upcoming-national-march-on-dc-for-palestine-on-june-8?utm_medium=email&utm_source=The+Real+News+Network&utm_campaign=4e0f28da04-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_06_05_02_13_Inequality&utm_term=0_-4e0f28da04-[LIST_EMAIL_ID]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Despite prior warnings that an invasion of Rafah would be a \u2018red line,\u2019 Biden continues to ply Israel with weapons and funding for its genocide in Gaza. BY\u00a0JU-HYUN PARKJUNE 4, 2024 (therealnews.com) Protesters gather in Freedom Plaza during the National March on Washington for Palestine while calling for a ceasefire… Continue reading \n
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Post-Production: Alina Nehlich<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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