Michael F. Brown Rights and Accountability 28 November 2023
President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have abetted Israel’s war crimes in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Shawn Thew Pool via CNPThe Biden administration is not showing serious resolve to stand up to violent settler activity in the West Bank.
A State Department official told The Electronic Intifada on Saturday that questions about Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir reportedly giving instructions that Israeli police are not to enforce the law on settlers in the West Bank would have to be addressed to “Minister Ben-Gvir and Israeli police.”
No words of criticism of the minister, a supporter of the racist Meir Kahane, were offered.
The State Department official said, “We have been consistent and vocal – publicly and directly with the government of Israel – in our condemnation of extremist settler violence against Palestinian civilians.”
Yet these remain empty words without implementing meaningful actions. Biden’s op-ed gives the impression of trying to appease Democratic critics of the administration while – once again – substantive action is not taken.
The State Department official added, “And as President Biden has said, there must [be] accountability for settler violence, and we are prepared to take our own measures including visa restrictions.”
There were “no further specific details to preview at this stage.”
The Biden administration is once again back to kicking the can down the road. It’s the same do-nothing policy the administration took for its first two-plus years in office – which ended disastrously for all involved.
Without concrete measures, there’s no reason to believe a word of Biden’s op-ed when it comes to holding Israelis accountable for lawbreaking.
Netanyahu got a green light from Biden for violence against Gaza. And the White House spokesperson John Kirby announced no red lines.
And Israeli settlers are hitting the gas at the moment.
Their actions have led more than 1,000 Palestinians to flee their homes since 7 October.
Biden’s ally in Israel is ethnically cleansing Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza, where desperate people are already getting out if they can and 1.7 million people are internally displaced – and now being fatally shot at or injured if they try to return to their homes in the north of Gaza.
All the while, a message of ethnic cleansing and Israel returning permanently to Gaza is being pushed by Israeli settlers and government officials.
The president is even misrepresenting the humanitarian aid now going into Gaza, which used to be closer to 400 or even 500 trucks a day. The amount entering is still insufficient.
The worst horrors may well still lie ahead if Netanyahu’s determination to wipe out Gaza from north to south isn’t stopped by the US and other countries.