Israel’s Descent
It’s way past time for the United States to end support for genocide
Journalist Patrick Lawrence, writing at Consortium News, recently described how “Israel’s savagery in its determination to exterminate the Palestinians of Gaza —and we had better brace for what is next on the West Bank of the Jordan— marks a turn for all of humanity. In its descent into depravity, the Zionist state drags the West altogether down with it.”
Lawrence’s point is that somehow tolerating what Israel is doing amounts to complicity in the war crimes that the Zionist state is committing, most particularly for those states that are continuing to insist that Israel has some kind of right to “defend itself” through mass slaughter of civilians and/or providing the arms and political cover that enables people like Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu to get away with his genocide. Foremost among those accessories to the crimes are the United States, Germany and Britain.
Canada, to its credit, has stopped selling arms to Israel and has declared that it no longer supports that nation’s alleged defense policy. Indeed, Netanyahu’s ability to avoid any serious consequences for its behavior is remarkable, and it generates further atrocities that might have been unimaginable when the fighting in Gaza started back in October.
Al Jazeera has reported how Netanyahu is now pushing ahead to formalize what has been referred to as the “colonial project,” whereby “the appropriation of all Palestinian lands will follow on … the outright exclusion of the Palestinian people from their homeland.” Bibi said in a speech to supporters that: These are the basic lines of the national government headed by me: The Jewish people have an exclusive and unquestionable right to all areas of the Land of Israel. The government will promote and develop settlement in all parts of the Land of Israel—in the Galilee, the Negev, the Golan, Judea and Samaria.
Other extreme nationalists in the Netanyahu cabinet have envisioned something even grander, to lead to an Eretz or “Greater” Jewish state running from the Nile River to the Euphrates to include much of southern Lebanon and what are now parts of Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Israel’s willingness to do whatever is “necessary” to guarantee its security has recently led it to expedite the issuance of weapons permits for its civilians, part of a move to strengthen the ability of ordinary Israelis to confront and kill Palestinians that they consider to be threatening.
In fact, the arresting and killing of Palestinians on the West Bank, far away from the fighting in Gaza, has escalated during the first three months of 2024. An estimated 5,000 Palestinians are currently detained and frequently tortured without any criminal charges being filed against them. They are the “hostages” in Israeli hands that Hamas is seeking to free in a reciprocal arrangement. In addition, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed by armed settlers, police and soldiers with no consequences for the killers. In fact, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has proposed legislation that automatically exempts members of the security forces from any criminal charges if they kill a Palestinian.
This is unique among nations that claim to be governed by laws that apply to everyone, but, of course, Netanyahu and company only consider Jews to be full Israeli citizens. One wonders if President Joe Biden is aware of that fact when he scrambles forward to embrace the Israeli leader or when he signs off on another secret weapons shipment to Israel to enable the killing of still more Palestinian children.
Part of the problem in Washington is that the Republican Party is fighting hard to become the champion of Israel, which would mean huge political donations and favorable press coverage from sympathetic sources going into elections. GOP Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee has called on Israel to “Kill them all. … Everybody in Hamas,” while others have urged the Israel Defense Forces to “finish the job.” All of which is not to say that there is no pushback developing against what Israel and the United States are doing.
Opinion polls suggest that Israel is the most hated country in the world due to its brutality, not because of its religion. And it is followed in that disgraceful ranking by Joe Biden’s United States of America. Within living memory, the United States actually had a good reputation worldwide, but now is considered the agent behind numerous wars worldwide.
This process accelerated when President George W. Bush announced post-9/11 that “there’s a new sheriff in town and that would be the United States.” He described how America henceforth would set the rules for everyone and would be the enforcer against those who transgress.
That led to “brilliant successes” like Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq, where hundreds of thousands died, even though they had not been involved in 9/11, nor did they in any way threaten the United States. Surprisingly, some pushback has been generated by the United States, which is in an election year where public opinion is running strongly against the continuation of wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
The current administration is finding its position somewhat precarious in that the public is tired of seeing pictures of rows of dead Arab babies in Gaza, the inevitable result of Washington secretly giving Netanyahu 2,000 bunker buster bombs to destroy buildings in which actual human beings are living, or even hospitals where they are trying to take shelter.
Recently the United States tried to make itself look like a peacemaker, presumably for electoral purposes, by introducing a resolution in the United Nations Security Council calling for, but not demanding, an immediate though possibly temporary ceasefire in Gaza.
In mid-March the resolution came up for a vote and it was vetoed by Russia and China. There were several problems with the text, as it inevitably sought to give Israel considerable flexibility. It included an admonition that the effort to secure a ceasefire must be “in connection with the release of all remaining hostages,” which is an Israeli demand.
The willingness of Israel to participate at all in a ceasefire very much depends on the hostage issue. Hamas is understandably reluctant to give up its hostages in an exchange for Israel’s Arab prisoners, knowing full well that the Israeli government could easily let go some of its Palestinian prisoners and then re-arrest them on the next day while hostages released by Hamas will be safely back in Israel. And there was also conceding to Israel’s viewpoint elsewhere in that the text only expresses “concern that a ground offensive into Rafah would result in further harm to civilians,” instead of demanding that it be prevented, which the Security Council is empowered to do. Language aside, there is no doubt that Netanyahu intends to attack Rafah in any event, where most of the Gazan population is now concentrated, and which will produce many thousands more deaths until the area is “cleansed” of all Palestinians.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is in Israel to try to convince Netanyahu not to invade Rafah, but he will surely fail. So, even if the U.S. proposal had not been vetoed, it would not end the fighting and the bloodshed, and might even encourage an Israeli assault on southern Gaza.
Netanyahu has in fact struck back against the speech by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer calling for new Israeli elections and also against an admittedly slight changing of course at the United Nations by taking the initiative to ignore the U.S. Constitution by appealing directly to Congress. It is the repeat of the trick that he employed back in 2015 when he arranged for the Republicans to invite him to speak to a joint session of the national legislature to urge rejection of President Barack Obama’s JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal) to monitor Iran’s nuclear program, something that was very much in the U.S. national interest, and which was later cancelled by Donald Trump.
Netanyahu received 29 standing ovations at that time. This time around, the Senate Democrats have rallied around Biden and rejected the request for Netanyahu to address them by videolink, while the Republicans welcomed him for a 45-minute session and are also inviting him again to directly address a joint session of Congress.
House Speaker Mike Johnson would, however, need to get approval from Schumer for a joint session speech, and there are reports that Schumer is considering the possibility, a sign that Democrats are disarrayed over the prospect of Netanyahu coming to D.C. to argue his case. Presumptive Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump has also chimed in on the discussion, seeking to paint Democrats as anti-Israel, a message he promoted by saying that any Jewish individual who votes for Democrats “hates their religion.” So, the game goes on with Israel, which has been successfully interfering in U.S. politics since the founding of the state 75 years ago, continues to trample on American interests through the commission of war crimes and other crimes against humanity. At the same time, it takes billions from the U.S. taxpayer and is the beneficiary of American weapons that enable Israel to carry out all the killing. It is time for this one-way street to be closed. One can only hope that the mechanism of national elections will open the door to examine Israel’s role in U.S. politics with an eye to bringing about change.
Lawrence’s point is that somehow tolerating what Israel is doing amounts to complicity in the war crimes that the Zionist state is committing, most particularly for those states that are continuing to insist that Israel has some kind of right to “defend itself” through mass slaughter of civilians and/or providing the arms and political cover that enables people like Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu to get away with his genocide. Foremost among those accessories to the crimes are the United States, Germany and Britain.
Canada, to its credit, has stopped selling arms to Israel and has declared that it no longer supports that nation’s alleged defense policy. Indeed, Netanyahu’s ability to avoid any serious consequences for its behavior is remarkable, and it generates further atrocities that might have been unimaginable when the fighting in Gaza started back in October.
Al Jazeera has reported how Netanyahu is now pushing ahead to formalize what has been referred to as the “colonial project,” whereby “the appropriation of all Palestinian lands will follow on … the outright exclusion of the Palestinian people from their homeland.” Bibi said in a speech to supporters that: These are the basic lines of the national government headed by me: The Jewish people have an exclusive and unquestionable right to all areas of the Land of Israel. The government will promote and develop settlement in all parts of the Land of Israel—in the Galilee, the Negev, the Golan, Judea and Samaria.
Other extreme nationalists in the Netanyahu cabinet have envisioned something even grander, to lead to an Eretz or “Greater” Jewish state running from the Nile River to the Euphrates to include much of southern Lebanon and what are now parts of Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Israel’s willingness to do whatever is “necessary” to guarantee its security has recently led it to expedite the issuance of weapons permits for its civilians, part of a move to strengthen the ability of ordinary Israelis to confront and kill Palestinians that they consider to be threatening.
In fact, the arresting and killing of Palestinians on the West Bank, far away from the fighting in Gaza, has escalated during the first three months of 2024. An estimated 5,000 Palestinians are currently detained and frequently tortured without any criminal charges being filed against them. They are the “hostages” in Israeli hands that Hamas is seeking to free in a reciprocal arrangement. In addition, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed by armed settlers, police and soldiers with no consequences for the killers. In fact, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has proposed legislation that automatically exempts members of the security forces from any criminal charges if they kill a Palestinian.
This is unique among nations that claim to be governed by laws that apply to everyone, but, of course, Netanyahu and company only consider Jews to be full Israeli citizens. One wonders if President Joe Biden is aware of that fact when he scrambles forward to embrace the Israeli leader or when he signs off on another secret weapons shipment to Israel to enable the killing of still more Palestinian children.
Part of the problem in Washington is that the Republican Party is fighting hard to become the champion of Israel, which would mean huge political donations and favorable press coverage from sympathetic sources going into elections. GOP Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee has called on Israel to “Kill them all. … Everybody in Hamas,” while others have urged the Israel Defense Forces to “finish the job.” All of which is not to say that there is no pushback developing against what Israel and the United States are doing.
Opinion polls suggest that Israel is the most hated country in the world due to its brutality, not because of its religion. And it is followed in that disgraceful ranking by Joe Biden’s United States of America. Within living memory, the United States actually had a good reputation worldwide, but now is considered the agent behind numerous wars worldwide.
This process accelerated when President George W. Bush announced post-9/11 that “there’s a new sheriff in town and that would be the United States.” He described how America henceforth would set the rules for everyone and would be the enforcer against those who transgress.
That led to “brilliant successes” like Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq, where hundreds of thousands died, even though they had not been involved in 9/11, nor did they in any way threaten the United States. Surprisingly, some pushback has been generated by the United States, which is in an election year where public opinion is running strongly against the continuation of wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
The current administration is finding its position somewhat precarious in that the public is tired of seeing pictures of rows of dead Arab babies in Gaza, the inevitable result of Washington secretly giving Netanyahu 2,000 bunker buster bombs to destroy buildings in which actual human beings are living, or even hospitals where they are trying to take shelter.
Recently the United States tried to make itself look like a peacemaker, presumably for electoral purposes, by introducing a resolution in the United Nations Security Council calling for, but not demanding, an immediate though possibly temporary ceasefire in Gaza.
In mid-March the resolution came up for a vote and it was vetoed by Russia and China. There were several problems with the text, as it inevitably sought to give Israel considerable flexibility. It included an admonition that the effort to secure a ceasefire must be “in connection with the release of all remaining hostages,” which is an Israeli demand.
The willingness of Israel to participate at all in a ceasefire very much depends on the hostage issue. Hamas is understandably reluctant to give up its hostages in an exchange for Israel’s Arab prisoners, knowing full well that the Israeli government could easily let go some of its Palestinian prisoners and then re-arrest them on the next day while hostages released by Hamas will be safely back in Israel. And there was also conceding to Israel’s viewpoint elsewhere in that the text only expresses “concern that a ground offensive into Rafah would result in further harm to civilians,” instead of demanding that it be prevented, which the Security Council is empowered to do. Language aside, there is no doubt that Netanyahu intends to attack Rafah in any event, where most of the Gazan population is now concentrated, and which will produce many thousands more deaths until the area is “cleansed” of all Palestinians.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is in Israel to try to convince Netanyahu not to invade Rafah, but he will surely fail. So, even if the U.S. proposal had not been vetoed, it would not end the fighting and the bloodshed, and might even encourage an Israeli assault on southern Gaza.
Netanyahu has in fact struck back against the speech by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer calling for new Israeli elections and also against an admittedly slight changing of course at the United Nations by taking the initiative to ignore the U.S. Constitution by appealing directly to Congress. It is the repeat of the trick that he employed back in 2015 when he arranged for the Republicans to invite him to speak to a joint session of the national legislature to urge rejection of President Barack Obama’s JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal) to monitor Iran’s nuclear program, something that was very much in the U.S. national interest, and which was later cancelled by Donald Trump.
Netanyahu received 29 standing ovations at that time. This time around, the Senate Democrats have rallied around Biden and rejected the request for Netanyahu to address them by videolink, while the Republicans welcomed him for a 45-minute session and are also inviting him again to directly address a joint session of Congress.
House Speaker Mike Johnson would, however, need to get approval from Schumer for a joint session speech, and there are reports that Schumer is considering the possibility, a sign that Democrats are disarrayed over the prospect of Netanyahu coming to D.C. to argue his case. Presumptive Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump has also chimed in on the discussion, seeking to paint Democrats as anti-Israel, a message he promoted by saying that any Jewish individual who votes for Democrats “hates their religion.” So, the game goes on with Israel, which has been successfully interfering in U.S. politics since the founding of the state 75 years ago, continues to trample on American interests through the commission of war crimes and other crimes against humanity. At the same time, it takes billions from the U.S. taxpayer and is the beneficiary of American weapons that enable Israel to carry out all the killing. It is time for this one-way street to be closed. One can only hope that the mechanism of national elections will open the door to examine Israel’s role in U.S. politics with an eye to bringing about change.
By: Tracy Griffith
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