Diplomats warn Biden: 'We are losing support of Arabs for a generation'
The White House's unbridled support for the mass murder of Palestinians in Gaza has caused great anger both inside the US and abroad
The US embassy in Oman sent a diplomatic cable to the White House this week warning that President Joe Biden's unwavering support for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza “is losing us Arab publics for a generation.”
“We are losing badly on the messaging battlespace,” the cable drafted by the second-highest US official in Muscat reads, according to CNN. It adds that US support for Israel’s actions is seen “as material and moral culpability in what [Arabs] consider to be possible war crimes.”
The cable was sent to the White House’s National Security Council, the CIA, and the FBI.
Anger has been growing across the Arab world against the US for its role in arming, financing, and protecting Israel since the start of the war in Gaza last month. US embassies across the region have become targets for angry protesters, while US bases in Iraq and Syria have been bombed dozens of times over the past three weeks.
This week, US ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea was forced to cancel a scheduled visit to Dar al-Fatwa to meet with the Grand Mufti of the Republic, Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, due to widespread anger at her presence.
Similarly, US State Secretary Antony Blinken faced a cold welcome during his visit to multiple nations in West Asia earlier this month, as diplomats urged the senior US official on the need to stop the genocide unfolding in Gaza.
In Washington, the situation is reportedly just as critical, with State Department staffers harshly criticizing the White House's stance in a recent dissent memo.
[The gap between the US private and public messaging] contributes to regional public perceptions that the United States is a biased and dishonest actor, which at best does not advance, and at worst harms, US interests worldwide,” the memo, leaked to POLITICO, reads.
“We must publicly criticize Israel’s violations of international norms such as failure to limit offensive operations to legitimate military targets,” it adds. “When Israel supports settler violence and illegal land seizures or employs excessive use of force against Palestinians, we must communicate publicly that this goes against our American values so that Israel does not act with impunity.”
The internal strife comes as Biden faces a significant dip in popularity ahead of next year's elections, as recent opinion polls show he is trailing behind former president Donald Trump in five of the six most crucial battleground states.
Furthermore, tens of thousands of protesters have continuously taken to the streets of multiple cities in the US over the past month to demand that the president call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.