Tim Walz stands in front of the Israeli flag with Consul General of Israel to the Midwest Yinam Cohen Source: X.com
For some odd reason, many people are celebrating the pick of Tim Walz as VP for the Holocaust Harris ticket. But Tim Walz is no savior of the working class. He is just another corporate democrat in lockstep with the party on all the major issues.
Support for Genocide
It did not take long for pro-genocide and pro-Israel folks to endorse Tim Walz. One of the first was Israeli Consul to the Midwest Yinam Cohen (pictured with Walz above). He tweeted:
It has been an honor to work with Governor Walz on deepening the Israel-Minnesota partnership. Thank you, @GovTimWalz, for standing with Israel during our darkest hour on Oct. 7. The U.S.-Israel strategic alliance is strong and enduring!
According to the Jerusalem Post, “Tim Walz condemned Hamas’ attack on Israel and has a strong record supporting Jewish community and Israel, despite criticism from some Republicans.”
If Walz represented a shift on the genocide, there would be panic among the pro-genocide crowd. Instead, he is being well received by them. Anyone who cares about ending the genocide should not be celebrating this choice. From a policy standpoint, there is no difference between Walz and Josh Shapiro. Ben Samuels, US correspondent for Haaretz tweeted on August 6:
Tim Walz holds positions on Israel largely indistinguishable from Josh Shapiro — just look at his voting record and public comments
Even so, it's a step toward winning back disillusioned progressives, who view Walz as more empathetic toward Palestinians
Both Jacobin and the Intercept have written favorably of the choice of Walz. These so-called progressive outlets are deluding themselves. Walz is no progressive, especially not when it comes to Palestine.
“It’s a good choice for those of us who care deeply about the American political scene for democracy, and it’s a good choice for those of us who care deeply about Israel,” said Morris Allen, rabbi emeritus at Beth Jacob Congregation, a Conservative synagogue in the suburbs of St. Paul-Minneapolis.
Tim Walz has long history of supporting Israel. In fact, he spoke at the AIPAC conference in 2010. At this conference, he said:
Israel is our truest and closest ally in the region, with a commitment to values of personal freedoms and liberties, surrounded by a pretty tough neighborhood. A workable solution in that region can be a catalyst for stability throughout the region. And stability in the region brings stability throughout the world. The United States has a proper role as a world leader being part of the solution.
This conference took place slightly over a year after Israel had completed Operation Cast Lead, aka The Gaza Massacre. This ethnic cleansing operation resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1,417 Palestinians, almost entirely civilians. This massacre did not appear to phase Tim Walz as he had met with Benjamin Netanyahu in early 2009 and only vaguely commented on peace without mentioning the suffering of the Palestinian people.
I see people debating something that I don’t feel is debatable here. The ability of Jewish people to self-determine themselves is foundational to everything […] and the failure to recognize the state of Israel’s taking away that self-determination. So it is antisemitic, that is a statement that is fact.
If you did not find moral clarity on Saturday morning, and you find yourself waiting to think about what you needed to say, you need to reevaluate where you’re at […] What was evident on Saturday morning was the absolute lack of humanity, the terrorism and the barbarism. That’s not a geopolitical discussion. That’s murder.
This is not ancient history. He referred to the cause of Israel as being morally righteous. He is a perfect fit for the Democratic Party, the party of AIPAC and genocide. The only moral clarity that we should find is that the US backed Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people is morally indefensible. There is no morality in genocide. This is the greatest of crimes against humanity and Harris/Walz find themselves on the wrong side of history when it comes to this genocide.
And when Pro-Palestinian protesters confronted Walz about this, what did he do? He had them arrested. When more than 200 protesters gathered at the governor’s mansion to protest the more than $3 billion (the governor’s office only admits to $116 million) Minnesota has invested in Israel, fourteen of them were cited for trespassing and Walz did not comment on their demands.
“I’m ashamed to have my livelihood by funded by genocide,” said Jes Sundin, a retired University of Minnesota clerical worker. “This is happening every day, and you are helping pay for it with my pension money. I don’t want that. I don’t want a full refrigerator when there’s no food in Gaza. I don’t want my mortgage paid off over the dead bodies of Palestinians.”
Minnesota enacted an anti-BDS law in 2017 that prohibits the legislature from entering “into a contract with a vendor that engages in discrimination against Israel, or against persons or entities doing business in Israel, when making decisions related to the operation of the vendor's business.” Tim Walz was elected as governor in 2018, but has never repealed that law. Minnesota remains heavily invested in genocidal Israel today.
The addition of Walz to the Harris campaign does not change the party stance on the genocide in Palestine, it only reinforces that they will do nothing to stop the ongoing slaughter.
Enbridge Line 3
Not only do we find Walz on the wrong side of a genocide, he also supports settler-colonial projects at home. This is shown by his stance on the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline.
“I think I have a very progressive environmental record, but I’m also a realist, and we need to move oil, and we need to move it safely,” Walz said in an exclusive interview with the News Tribune Editorial Board. “So, I said, we are going to replace an aging pipeline because that's what the law says. (The project has) stood up in court.”
He had fought against it earlier, but when push came to shove, he folded like a cheap lawn chair and fully sided with capital against the rights of the Indigenous peoples of Minnesota and against environmental justice. Minnesotans for Line 3 applauded his decision.
Minnesotans for Line 3 today commended Minnesota Governor Tim Walz for recent remarks he shared with the Duluth News Tribune that not only continue his support of the Line 3 project, but called out protestors who continue to try to stop the project.
Ojibwe Tribal attorney and Indigenous rights activist Tara Houska tweeted out upon learning the news of Tim Walz’ selection:
A reminder that VP pick Tim Walz oversaw this:
tara houska ᔖᐳᐌᑴ
@zhaabowekwe
Aug 13, 2021
15 days ago I was shot by police with rubber bullets, mace, pepper balls paid for by Enbridge. I heard shouts, cries and gasping coughing punctuated by the sound of munitions firing and a huge drill out of a sci-fi movie boring thru the river we were there to protect. #StopLine3
This was not the first time that Tim Walz violently suppressed a protest. He was also governor during the George Floyd protests and called in the national guard, a move which President Donald Trump approved of.
"I know Gov. Walz is on the phone, and we spoke, and I fully agree with the way he handled it the last couple of days” - Donald Trump
Blue MAGA liberals can sleep well at night knowing that Donald Trump fully supported Walz’ brutal crack down on protesters. After all, there are still those pesky anti-genocide protesters out there interupting Kamala Harris’ speeches. It must make liberals happy to know that in the future Harris/Walz administration, the national guard might be called to put down these protests. Afterall, no one should interupt girlboss genocide queen Kamala.
Ukraine
Tim Walz declares Solidarity with Ukraine Day in Minnesota
Walz also finds himself in complete agreement with the Democratic Party establishment on the proxy war in Ukraine. On April 4, 2023 he tweeted:
This morning, I joined other governors to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and reaffirm our ongoing commitment to Ukraine. As Ukraine defends freedom against tyranny, Minnesota stands with our Ukrainian community and the people of Ukraine.
In 2022, he signed an executive order "requiring that state agencies terminate existing contracts with Russian entities and refrain from entering into future contracts with Russian entities." He has yet to do so for Israel, nine months into the genocide. In February 2024, he established an agricultural partnership between Minnesota and the Chernihiv oblast of Ukraine. The Kyiv Independent declared that the pick of Tim Walz as VP candidate was good news.
“As a veteran he’s uniquely positioned to speak credibly to Americans on the necessity of American involvement in Europe. Governor Walz has a strong track record on Ukraine and he’s uniquely well-positioned thanks to his background to be a serious advocate of helping Ukraine win.” - Doug Klain, Razom for Ukraine
This means the weapons will continuing flowing to Ukraine and the proxy war will continue under a Harris/Walz ticket. Business as usual for the Military Industrial Complex. And Walz has been highly interested in pleasing them as Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems both produce weapons in Minnesota.
Just Say No To Genocide!
All told, the selection of Walz is not some sort of progressive victory. It is the Democratic Party choosing someone who will serve their interests. Walz has shown himself to be a dutiful puppet on all the major issues. He will continue to serve his corporate masters, not the working class of the world.
The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie. - The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels
The people have been deceived and diverted from their vital interests by means of spectacular and meaningless duels between the two bourgeois parties.
This so-called bipartisan system prevailing in America and Britain has been one of the most powerful means of preventing the rise of an independent working-class, i.e., genuinely socialist, party. - V.I. Lenin
Thanks for all that useful info on Walz. As soon as Jacobin started saying nice things about him I knew all that garbage about him being "progressive" was a Democult psyop. You just proved it.
Oh, one more thing. Walz was career Army National Guard, NOT regular Army. He was a freaking reservist. It's a safer and completely different thing than regular Army, but the liberal media will never tell you that, partly because they themselves might not know the difference. It's not cool to know too much about things military with liberals, you know.
Thank you, very informative. Not surprising at all that Harris picked someone like him. The Clintons, Obama, Biden, Harris, Walz and so many others in the dem party are all Israel flunkies, law-and-order racists, anti-health care for all, anti-free education, anti-affordable housing for all, anti-liveable wages, anti-forgiving of student and medical debt...and on and on. All despicable creatures who only serve the 0.1%. A pox on them all!
Thanks for all that useful info on Walz. As soon as Jacobin started saying nice things about him I knew all that garbage about him being "progressive" was a Democult psyop. You just proved it.
Oh, one more thing. Walz was career Army National Guard, NOT regular Army. He was a freaking reservist. It's a safer and completely different thing than regular Army, but the liberal media will never tell you that, partly because they themselves might not know the difference. It's not cool to know too much about things military with liberals, you know.
Thank you, very informative. Not surprising at all that Harris picked someone like him. The Clintons, Obama, Biden, Harris, Walz and so many others in the dem party are all Israel flunkies, law-and-order racists, anti-health care for all, anti-free education, anti-affordable housing for all, anti-liveable wages, anti-forgiving of student and medical debt...and on and on. All despicable creatures who only serve the 0.1%. A pox on them all!