by B. R. GOWANI
There is no Islamic Lobby in the US which could spend money through its political connections to stop the war nor is there any Muslim country which could pressure the US to ask Israel to halt death and destruction being leashed on the caged Palestinians. One month and two days after the Hamas attack, on November 9, when asked whether there is a chance for ceasefire, US President Joe Biden replied:
The United States basically hates peace and non-violence; it loves wars and violence which is in its nature. In 2003, The New York Times stated that half the world opposing the looming US war against Iraq was on one side, and US President George W. Bush was on the other. Bush was itching for that war and won. According to the Lancet Survey, that resulted in 601,027 violent deaths out of 654,965 excess deaths.
Today, most of the world wants ceasefire in Gaza Strip, but Biden doesn’t want it, so there is no ceasefire — which is to Netanyahu’s advantage who wants the war to be prolonged in order to avoid the corruption charges trial and to dodge his government’s intelligence failure of October 7 and other reasons. I’ll retract myself on intelligence failure because that is not true.
The Biden administration vetoed UN resolution (October 18, 2023) condemning violence by all sides against civilians and vetoed another resolution (December 8, 2023) calling for ceasefire. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s absurd defense of veto: Hamas is “still alive, still intact.” In mid-December, Biden held the occupied ones to be responsible but not the Occupier. In the US, 68% of the people favored ceasefire, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll of November 15. On December 6, the UN Secretary-General invoked article 99 of the UN Charter. On December 12, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a non-binding resolution for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. (123 in favor, 23 abstention, and 10 against, which included US and Israel. The December 18 resolution was postponed to December 19 which was again delayed because the consensus on wording couldn’t be attained.
More than 800 Western officials in US and Europe have called for a ceasefire.
Blinken doesn’t have to fly to Arab capitals and Israel for a ceasefire; it’s a facade plus waste of plane fuel and damage to our environment. The Israeli violence could stop the moment US orders stoppage of all financial and military aid to Israel — it’s that simple.
Two and a half months into Israel’s war against Palestinians, some Western leaders felt Israel’s continuous killing was not good optics. France’s President Emmanuel Macron expressed it thus:
“We cannot let the idea take root that an efficient fight against terrorism implies to flatten Gaza or attack civilian populations indiscriminately.”
Instead of ceasefire, Blinken twice circumvented Congress to supply arms to Israel. On December 9, for $106 million and on 29th for $147.5 million. Not that it would have mattered because most members in the US Congress follow the Israel lobby dictates. (Read “The Complete Unexpurgated AIPAC Tape” to get a sense of how well-connected and well-financed the Israel lobbying group AIPAC is.)
First weekend of January 2024, Blinken was back in Middle East, his fourth visit, not to force Israel for a ceasefire but to see that war is limited to killing of Palestinians without spreading elsewhere and thus saving the US from getting directly involved. By the end of first week of February, Blinken was back in the Middle East on his fifth diplomatic tour.
South Africa brought genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, and was awarded a symbolic victory by a 5-2 ruling without a call for ceasefire. Prem Thakker points out that in one week of the ICJ ruling, Israel butchered around 900 more Palestinians. As of February 6, 2023, Israel has killed 27,968 Palestinians.
On February 2, 2023, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield opposed Algeria’s move to call for an immediate ceasefire:
“This draft resolution could put sensitive negotiations in jeopardy – derailing the exhaustive, ongoing diplomatic efforts to secure the release of hostages, and secure an extended pause that Palestinian civilians and aid workers so desperately need.”
How can one justify this US warring logic? Stating plainly: let Palestinians get killed but “sensitive negotiations,” that is pure bullshit, can’t be jeopardized!
Can’t the talks be held in an atmosphere of Israeli fire ceased? Of course, it could — but neither Israel nor the US want to do that.
Meanwhile, as of February 8 at 2:30pm in Gaza (12:30 GMT):
Gaza
- Killed: at least 27,840 people, including more than:
- 12,150 children
- 8,300 women
- Injured: more than 67,317, including at least:
- 8,663 children
- 6,327 women
- Missing: more than 7,000
Occupied West Bank
- Killed: at least 388 people, including more than:
- 102 children
- Injured: more than 4,450
In Israel, officials revised the death toll down from 1,405 to 1,139.
The world watches helplessly as this deadly travesty continues ….
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com