What's wrong with the US response to the Gaza crisis
On October 18, US President Joe Biden travelled to Israel, offering support for its military operations in the Gaza Strip, despite growing global calls for a ceasefire. The visit wasn't just a show of support; it represented a deliberate choice of words that acknowledged one side while overlooking the other. In subsequent press statements, the US president adopted a narrative that appeared to dehumanise the Palestinians and justify ongoing violence against them. He emphasised Israel's right to self-defense against the "evil" Hamas movement, even drawing comparisons to ISIS. But he failed to recognise the suffering experienced by the unarmed Gaza residents who have borne the weight of Israeli attacks, in addition to the decades-long occupation faced by the Palestinian people living under the Israeli apartheid state. Regrettably, the overall US response to the Gaza crisis thus far has been plagued by this oversimplified hypocrisy.
President Biden's unwavering support for Israel didn't stop there. He sent two aircraft carriers to the Eastern Mediterranean and pledged $14 billion in assistance, in addition to the substantial annual military aid. While Biden argued that this would bolster Israel's security, analysts and critics fear it may heighten instability in the Middle East, prolonging the cycle of conflict and complicating long-term prospects for peaceful coexistence between Israel and Palestine further. This approach also appears contradictory to the US' call for preventing the crisis from engulfing the broader region.
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Perhaps the most striking contradiction was President Biden's call for Israel to avoid harming Palestinian civilians while facilitating humanitarian aid into Gaza. Simultaneously, the US exercised its veto power at the UN Security Council, blocking a resolution that called for 'humanitarian pauses' to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip, implement a ceasefire, and lift restrictions on civilians leaving the northern part of the besieged territory.
The two-state "peace process," a staple championed by the United States since the 1970s, has come to resemble more of a "piece process" in reality, as pointed out by Professor Donald Earl Collins. The US's clear bias in favor of Israel has emboldened the latter to exert control over and annex Palestinian territory with impunity. Each time Israel expands its illegal settlements, Washington expresses being 'deeply troubled' by Israeli actions but consistently opposes UN initiatives aimed at condemning Israeli policies.
In the current context, the persistent assaults on unarmed Gaza civilians and the extensive preparations for a ground invasion serve as stark evidence that President Biden's warning against Gaza reoccupation, which he labelled a "big mistake," has fallen on deaf ears. The US' failure to condemn and prevent the Israeli atrocity in Gaza will make it complicit in the ongoing killing of the Palestinians.
Shamsuddoza Sajen is a journalist and researcher. He can be contacted at sajen1986@gmail.com
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