moon
Satire for Sanity
When Will the U.S. Get Tired of Helping Israel With UN Vetoes?
As Israel's new government advances an extreme agenda, it's not clear at what point Washington will drop the bromides and declare that it will be increasingly difficult to defend these policies in international forums
On Monday, the Security Council is scheduled to debate a resolution by the United Arab Emirates (one of the 10 nonpermanent members of the Security Council) condemning Israel. The draft calls for Israel to “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory.” It “reaffirms that the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international.”
It also calls for a stop to “all Israeli settlement activities and all other unilateral measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, including, inter alia, the construction and expansion of settlements, transfer of Israeli settlers, confiscation of land, demolition of homes and displacement of Palestinian civilians.”
In a joint statement with the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy and Britain, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “We are deeply troubled by the Israeli government’s announcement that it is advancing nearly 10,000 settlement units and intends to begin a process to normalize nine outposts that were previously deemed illegal under Israeli law. We strongly oppose these unilateral actions which will only serve to exacerbate tensions between Israelis and Palestinians and undermine efforts to achieve a negotiated two-state solution.”
On Thursday the White House issued a statement of its own: “We are deeply dismayed by Israel’s announcement that they will advance thousands of new settlements and retroactively legalize nine outposts in the West Bank that were until now illegal under Israeli law. The United States strongly opposes these unilateral measures, which exacerbate tensions, harm trust between the parties and undermine the geographic viability of the two-state solution.”
“Deeply dismayed” has joined the crowded field of innocuous platitudes such as “deeply troubled” and “strongly opposed,” not to mention the old reliable “the U.S. is against unilateral steps” and “the U.S. calls for restraint and stability.”
These bland themes carry no consequences. They're not much different from the “thoughts and prayers” that American politicians offer after a mass shooting. These hollow statements from Washington have become the foreign policy version of “nothing to see here, carry on.”
Also on Thursday, the State Department said it believed the resolution as drafted was “unhelpful,” but declined to say if it would veto the document or try to water it down to avoid a contentious vote.
Monday will be a test to see whether the United States continues with such bromides or shows signs of a policy shift, at least rhetorically. Israel's actions in the West Bank in the last decade and the new Netanyahu government’s clear intentions totally contradict U.S. policy. This isn't a disagreement on policy or emphasis, but strategic disparity. It will be interesting to see if and how the Americans think they can reconcile these differences with a statement.
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news...n-vetoes/00000186-5fa9-d22b-ad9e-7febfdc60000
Biden has refused , in the face of international agreement , to concede that Israel practices apartheid ( hafrada )
This policy is a green light for racism in America.
Biden has refused, in the face of warnings by the Israeli opposition, to condemn the extremist Israeli government's overt fascism.
This policy is a green light for Rightist extremists in America.
To date, Biden has refused to act against Israel's illegal occupation and annexations of territory in Palestine, Lebanon and Syria. He has also failed to act against Israel's ethnic cleansing policies in both Israel and Palestine.
This is a green light for illegally hegemonic regimes and ethnic-cleansers everywhere.
Of course, all of these Israeli transgressions run counter to international law- which is the adhesive holding the fabric of civilization together. Both the Russians and the Chinese tout America's hypocrisy whenever their own regimes are criticized - but more importantly- for Americans- America's refusal to stand up to international criminality, when it suits it, weakens the fabric of morality at home.
The US, like it or not, is ruled by the gun. January 6th demonstrated just how close the country came to civil war itself when belief and faith in the laws governing the country's political system are disrespected.
Should America fail to support international law on Monday , should it waver in any way against the brute force and criminality of the fascist Israeli state , the world will see the rot exposed and the enemies of democracy will have gained another club with which to beat America .
The decay of American democracy might not be directly and immediately accelerated by such lack of moral leadership- but it sure as hell will filter through over time.
It sure as hell will filter through.
