Watchman
Joe Biden’s silence in the face of Israeli violence is a disgrace
Cracks appear in the wall that has historically separated any criticism of Israel from US policy – but Joe Biden still does not listen to activists and protesters at a rally in support of Palestine near the Washington Monument in Washington, DC on May 15, 2021. Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP / Getty Images On Saturday, an Israeli airstrike killed 10 people from the same extended family after rockets hit the family’s home in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza. A five-month-old baby, the only survivor, has been pulled alive from the rubble, after being trapped alongside his deceased mother. As I write this, at least 180 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, 52 of them children. Ten Israelis were also killed, including two children. All of the killed innocent people, Palestinians or Israelis, should be mourned, and it is not sad to know that the death toll will increase with the passage of days. However, what will remain constant is this unbalanced mortality ratio. More innocent Palestinians will be killed than Israelis. This fact, combined with more than 70 years of continuous dispossession of Palestinians (of which the Sheikh Jarrah evictions are a part), has sparked global opposition to recent Israeli actions. Popular demonstrations erupted around the world in support of Palestinian rights. As the United States provides the main financial, military and diplomatic support to Israel, one wonders where Joe Biden and his administration are during this crucial moment. Not front and lead, it would be a nice way to place it. The New York Times described Biden’s position on Middle East diplomacy as a “reactionary approach,” and noted how his administration had so far done little and accomplished fewer. “Mute” is how National Public Radio described it. In fact, it is much worse. Not only has this administration reacted relatively calmly. She was also ruthless, predictable, and nothing short of a stigma. Not only has this administration reacted relatively calmly. He was also brutal, predictable and no less than a stigma. Bear in mind Biden’s own response when reporters asked him on Thursday whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was doing enough “to stop this violence there from escalating.” Biden replied that “so far there has not been an overreaction” from the Israelis. Given the enormous asymmetry between death and destruction, one cannot help but wonder, in utter horror, what our president would regard as an “overreaction”. The Biden administration twice blocked Security Council statements on the crisis last week, and was alone in opposing the Security Council to holding an open session on the issue on Friday. Last week, a State Department spokesperson, when pressed, could not convince himself to say that the right to self-defense includes the Palestinian people. Nor did a US envoy arrive in the region until Saturday, and the Biden administration did not even nominate a candidate for the US ambassador to Israel. So, while the administration claims to be working “behind the scenes” to resolve this latest crisis, this argument appears more and more as an excuse for being unprepared for the tough demands of foreign policy while at the same time embracing nihilistic actions as usual. An approach to covering Israel’s aggressive policies. If this is the case, then both Palestinians and Americans will lose, as the former loses tens if not hundreds of lives, while the latter loses important status and influence. And who wins? Nobody but Benjamin Netanyahu, who was on the verge of toppling him as prime minister just over a week ago after his repeated failures to form a coalition government – Israel held four elections in two years – while simultaneously facing corruption charges. But here’s the deal, Joe Biden will say. The president’s respect for Israel’s wishes – the American reaction for a long time – may no longer represent the political consensus in his party. The United States, and so is the Democratic Party, are changing, with cracks emerging in the wall that have historically separated any criticism of Israel from American policy. This change was boldly – and influential – visible on the floor of the House of Representatives last week. “The United States must recognize its role in the injustice and violations of the human rights of Palestinians,” said Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during the Special Order Hour organized by Representatives Mark Buchan and Mary Newman. And she continued, “This is not about both sides.” “This is about a power imbalance.” She was hardly alone. Representative Ilhan Omar described Netanyahu as an “extreme right-wing ethnic nationalist” on the grounds of the House of Representatives, and asked how the US government could “pay lip service to the Palestinian state, but do nothing at all to make this state a reality, while we, the Israeli government, is trying to make it impossible?” Representative Rashida Tlaib got up and confirmed that I am the only Palestinian-American member of Congress now, and my mere presence has spoiled the status quo. I remind colleagues that the Palestinians really exist, that we are human, and that we are allowed to dream. ”She breaks her voice after citing a mother from Gaza’s fear of losing her children due to the Israeli bombing, Tlaib said:“ We must link aid to Israel with compliance with international human rights and ending the separation. Racist. ”Representative Ayanna Presley said,“ Palestinians are told the same thing as blacks in America. There is no acceptable form of resistance. We are witnessing gross violations of human rights. The pain, trauma, and terror facing the Palestinians is not only the result of this week’s escalation, but the consequences of years of military occupation. ”Representative Corrie Bush, who is also African-American, explained to the House of Representatives how“ the same equipment they use to scold us is the same equipment that We send it to the Israeli army to police and it treats Palestinians brutally. ”Perhaps Congress has not witnessed such a strong offer to support Palestinian lives. But what matters is not just the support but the way it is expressed. When Ocasio Cortez spoke, she made a personal connection from Puerto Rico to Palestine. Presley said, As a black woman, she was also no stranger to the kinds of police brutality and state-imposed violence that Palestinians endure. “The black and Palestinian struggle for liberation are interconnected, and we will not hesitate until we are all free.” Omar linked her experiences with refugees to surviving war. Tlaib spoke about her upbringing as a Palestinian “in Detroit, the most beautiful and blackest city in America, a city where movements demanding civil rights and social justice are born.” Every woman made the struggle for Palestinian liberation. Ni something very personal, as if they were all meeting at the intersection of their collective lives. For a long time, the Palestinians were seen as problems to be solved or bombed. Once they are seen as people and as a people, and once they understand and define their struggle together, everything changes. This was the change that we heard in the House of Representatives this week. It was an incubation of sympathy for Palestine. In its own way, change is the vibration of the Earth. These are the voices in American politics that demand something different, a new way of looking at Palestine and the Palestinians. Contrary to what this administration offers, this demand can be called leadership. It is a demand that must be heard. Mustafa Bayoumi is the author of How Does It Feel to Be a Trouble? To be young and Arab in America
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