Little has changed in the attitude of the US government. It continues to provide political cover to Israel on Joe Biden’s watch
The US wants Palestine to gain independence by negotiating directly with the country that’s been occupying it since 1967.
Let’s put this in historical perspective. In 1776, would the US have gained independence by negotiating directly with the UK? Would Algeria have gained independence from France in 1962 through negotiations? Is there a single example in history where a colonial power has granted independence to the countries it occupies through direct negotiations?
Then why does the US continue to make these absurd assertions? Because Washington is under the thumb of Tel Aviv.
Israel has said it would only accept a Palestinian State whose security is provided by Israel. That’s like letting the fox guard the hen house. Israel also wants to approve the makeup of any Palestinian government. In other words, the Palestinian state would not be a democracy. It would only be a state in name. In reality, it would be a colony of Israel, with a titular government that is servile to Tel Aviv and without any military whatsoever. Meanwhile, Israel would retain its powerful military, funded and armed by the US, and claim to be the beacon of democracy in the Middle East.
On April 18, the US vetoed a resolution at the UN Security Council, which would have granted full-member status to Palestine at the United Nations. It was the only country that cast a negative vote. Twelve nations voted in favour of the resolution, including Russia and China.
The US ambassador to the UN said if the UN were to approve the resolution, the US would cut its funding to the UN, in compliance with a Congressional requirement.
To add insult to injury, just two days later, the US Congress passed a resolution with a vote of 366 to 58 that would authorise the provision of $26 billion in aid to Israel. No preconditions were provided with the aid, which supplements the $4 billion aid that the US has been giving unconditionally to Israel for decades.
Israeli Prime Minister thanked the US and lauded its commitment to what he termed “Western Civilisation.”
After reiterating their “ironclad” guarantee for Israel’s security, one US president after another going back to Jimmy Carter, has reiterated their commitment to creating a Palestinian State. So, why has the idealised “Two-State Solution” not come to pass? Because the US assertion is nothing but a canard.
At the UN Security Council, the US did its best to get at least one or two countries to vote No. It failed. The best it could get were two abstentions, one from the UK that once colonised the US and the other from tiny Switzerland, which seems to be under the thumb of Germany these days.
Notably, several long-time US allies voted for the resolution, including France, Japan and South Korea. The US covered its abject failure in diplomacy by asserting, without any proof being given, that these three allies simply voted yes because they knew the resolution would be vetoed by the US.
France issued the following statement in support of the resolution: “France would like to thank Algeria for tabling this resolution… It is time to achieve a global political settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, on the basis of the two-state solution, the only option that can respond to the long-term security needs of Israel, as well as the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians for a state.”
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, thanked the US for using its veto and said that the Palestinian Authority does not meet the criteria for an independent state since they have no authority over their territory. Well, that can be said of many member states of the US, including Israel. Erdan also said the PA was a terror-supporting entity, forgetting that in the world’s eyes, Israel is unleashing terror on 2.3 million innocents in Gaza and that it has encroached upon the West Bank by settling 700,000 of its citizens there. Israel is being charged at the International Court of Justice for its illegal occupation of Palestine and its flagrant and continuous violations of international law.
Of course, Israel would like the world to believe that its decision to invade and lay waste to Gaza was made in self-defence after October 7. The Palestinian representative to the UN, Ziad Abu Amr, stated that the plight of the Palestinians began over a century ago. He said, “We have made every … unimaginable historic concessions in order to achieve a peace that is based on the two-state solution.”
During the past six months, world opinion has rapidly shifted away from Israel. Even in the US, the young generation, regardless of ethnicity and religion, is increasingly vocal in its criticism of Israel. Many long-time Israel allies have signalled a greater openness to supporting Palestinian statehood.
However, little has changed in the attitude of the US government. It continues to provide political cover to Israel on Joe Biden’s watch.
Israel’s rampage in Gaza is now dubbed “Joe’s War.” He has provided unfettered support to Israel going back 50 years. According to Chris Hedges, AIPAC funded him more than it did any other US senator.
Joe is now on the verge of senility, mixing up Rafah with Haifa and much else. But his ambassadors must have told him that in the last six months, the global image of the US has taken a larger hit than it has in the last six years. So, why is he so fixated on aiding Israel politically and financially?
Because “Israel is in Biden’s DNA,” says a former US ambassador to Israel, Daniel Kurtzer, and because Biden is an “old-style Zionist”, according to another former ambassador, Martin Indyk. That seems to be an incurable disorder.__The Friday Times
