The American-Israeli symbiosis – Part 2/3

In this Part 2, here are more observations about some factors that are probably contributing to the developments within the American-Israeli alliance:

The Christian evangelicals in the US
Because the amount of Jewish people in the US is fairly small, only about 8 million, Israel has traditionally sought support from a much bigger group: Christian evangelicals. According to Professor Mordechai Inbari, there are about 80 million evangelical Christians, or Christian Zionists, in the US and between 50% to 70% of them support Israel (1).

Why do Christian evangelicals or Christian Zionists support Israel? MSNBC columnist Sarah Posner wrote at the end of October, last year (2):

For many “Christians Zionists,” and particularly for popular evangelists with significant clout within the Republican Party, their support for Israel is rooted in its role in the supposed end times: Jesus’ return to Earth, a bloody final battle at Armageddon, and Jesus ruling the world from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. In this scenario, war is not something to be avoided, but something inevitable, desired by God, and celebratory.

Christian Zionists are anticipating, and hoping for a war to end all wars, and a resulting Christian world that they claim will vanquish evil and bring peace. Only those who accept Jesus as their savior will benefit from these events that Christian Zionists claim the Bible predicts will happen. Nonbelievers — including Jews and Muslims — will not survive them.

According to a poll published by Pew Research Center in 2013, 82% of White evangelical Protestants said that Israel was given to the Jewish people by God. However, only 40% of Jewish people said so. (3)

For the Christian Zionists, the successive and increasingly far-right governments of Prime Minister Netanyahu have been just a positive development and the Zionist settlers’ ever-increasing control of the occupied West Bank, which they call by its biblical names Judea and Samaria, is “a fulfillment of God’s plan” that Jewish people return to Israel – that is one sequence of biblical prophecies that culminates in the Second Coming of Christ (2).

Quite soon after the war between Hamas and Israel started, 90 prominent pastors and other predominantly religious leaders issued “An Evangelical Statement in Support for Israel” where they stated that Israel has a “right and duty to defend itself against further attack” (2).

According to a poll published by Pew Research Center at the end of March this year, White evangelicals are the biggest supporters of Israel after Jewish Americans. Most Jewish Americans (62%) and White evangelical Protestants (61%) saw Israel’s response to Hamas’ attack on the 7th of October 2023 as at least somewhat acceptable – roughly four-in-ten in each group said that Israel’s conduct of the war is completely acceptable. Most American Jews (75%) and White evangelical Protestants (65%) said that Israel has valid reasons for fighting but Hamas does not. Large majorities of Jewish Americans (89%) and White evangelical Protestants (84%) said that they have a favorable view of the Israeli people. White evangelical Protestants were most likely to express favorable views of the Israeli government (71%). 54% of Jewish adults said they have a favorable view of the Israeli government, while 44% had an unfavorable view. (4)

During his recent controversial visit to the US, Prime Minister Netanyahu met a large group of Christian evangelical leaders who expressed their strong support for Israel and Netanyahu. Mike Evans, chairman of the Friends of Zion in Jerusalem and long-time friend of Netanyahu, said that Christian evangelicals “are the bedrock foundation of support for the entire State of Israel.” Evans also said that Netanyahu “is the leader of the evangelical movement of the world. He has more support among the evangelicals globally than even Donald Trump. There’s no person on the planet that is more respected by evangelicals than Benjamin Netanyahu, and part of it is because he understands us and he’s been an advocate of close relations with us from the very beginning.” (5)

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins explained why large part of pro-Israel Christians vote Republicans and support former president Donald Trump in the presidential election, this year. He said, “As evangelicals, we vote for candidates who are most closely aligned with biblical principles and the truths that we live by. And obviously we’ve seen a clear division in the two parties in this country. And the last administration, President Trump, was the one who was most clearly aligned.” (5)

In spite of his criminal convictions, former president Trump has still strong support among White evangelicals. According to various estimates, roughly 80% of White evangelicals voted for Trump in the presidential elections in 2016 and 2020. According to survey published by Pew Research Center at the end of April this year, 81% of White evangelical Protestant voters, 61% of White Catholics and 57% of White Protestants who are not evangelical supported Trump. (6, 7, 8)

Religious rhetoric and operations
Prime Minister Netanyahu has used religious references in various situations. For example, on the 28th of October 2023, after Israel started full-scale invasion of Gaza, Netanyahu referred to Deuteronomy in his statement to Israelis when he said, “‘Remember what Amalek did to you’ (Deuteronomy 25:17). We remember and we fight.” (9) On the 3rd of November 2023, Netanyahu wrote in his letter to Israeli soldiers, “The current fight against the murderers of Hamas is another chapter in the generations-long story of our national resilience. ’Remember what Amalek did to you.’ We will always remember the horrific scenes of the massacre on Shabbat Simchat Torah, Oct. 7, 2023.” (10)

The South African legal team used Netanyahu’s comments as examples of Israeli incitement to genocide against Palestinians during the first hearing session before the International Court of Justice in South Africa’s lawsuit against Israel (11). According to website The Bible Says, the reference to Amalek in Deuteronomy 25:17-19 means that “Moses urged the Israelites to remember to wipe out the Amalekites when they are settled in the Promised Land.” Rabbi Jill Jacobs, the head of T’ruah, a rabbinical human rights organization, said that rabbis generally agree that Amalek no longer exists. However, it is still common for Israeli extremists to view Palestinians as modern-day Amalekites. (12, 13)

Also Republicans have used religion and religious references in their rhetoric and political operations. When Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson spoke at an emergency meeting of Christians United For Israel after Iran’s missile attack on Israel in April, he said, “We have to make certain that the entire world understands that Israel is not alone and God is going to bless the nation that blesses Israel. We understand that that’s our role. It’s also our biblical admonition. This is something that’s an article of faith for us. It also happens to be great foreign policy.” (14)

Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace wrote on X in May that the war between Hamas and Israel is “Biblical warfare.” She stated, “Israel doesn’t occupy the land, they own it. The promised land is theirs.” (15)

During Trump’s presidency in 2019, the then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that it was possible that Trump is new “Queen Esther” who has been sent to protect the Jewish people from the threat of Iran (16).

Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon and his associate Benjamin Harnwell, former British Conservative European Parliament staffer, have wanted to establish an “Academy for the Judeo-Christian West”, a “gladiator school” for right-wing wannabe politicians, to an old monastery near Rome in Italy. Harnwell was initially sued by Italy’s state prosecutor, which alleged that he had obtained the lease for the monastery fraudulently and also failed to pay 200,000 Euros in rent. After five-year legal battle, Harnwell was acquitted of charges in March. (17, 18) It remains to be seen whether Bannon and Harnwell will start their “gladiator school” in Italy.

This spring, there have been a lot of news about five pure red heifers which were brought a couple of years ago – with the help of Christian organization Boneh Israel – from Texas to Israel for a possible use in sacrificial purification rituals. Messianic and ultranationalist Jews as well as Christian evangelicals want to build a new, third temple to Temple Mount – known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary). It is the third holiest site in Islam and the very important Al-Aqsa Mosque is there. Messianic Jews believe that the building of the third temple would fulfil biblical prophecy to bring an era of peace with the temple as “a house of prayer for all nations.” Christian evangelicals believe that the temple would be an important step towards the Second Coming of Jesus and an apocalyptic last battle with the Antichrist. (19, 20, 21)

The war between Hamas and Israel has added a new aspect to the idea of the third temple. Some Jewish Israelis believe that the Israeli soldiers are fighting for the Temple Mount and for the building of the third temple. (21) During the spring, there were some suggestions that a red heifer would be sacrified during Passover at the end of April, which alarmed Christian leaders. Ashes of the sacrified heifer would be needed in a ritual to purify priests, before the new, third temple could be built there. On the 8th of April, 38 religious figures from Jerusalem and around the world signed a declaration where they condemned the plans to sacrify the heifer. They denounced it as an “invitation to regional, or even global war,” which “will transform the Israeli-Palestinian situation from a political conflict into a religious conflict without a terrestrial solution.” (22)

Middle East Eye reported on Wednesday that some religious Jewish Israelis have already been practicing the ritual of the red heifer in Jerusalem (23).

References:

(1) “During Gaza war, evangelicals have become Israel’s best friend” Religion News Service RNS 28.2.2024

https://religionnews.com/2024/02/28/during-gaza-war-evangelicals-have-become-israels-best-friend/

(2) “The dispiriting truth about why many evangelical Christians support Israel” MSNBC 22.10.2023

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/truth-many-evangelical-christians-support-israel-rcna121481

(3) “More white evangelicals than American Jews say God gave Israel to the Jewish people” Pew Research Center 3.10.2013

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/10/03/more-white-evangelicals-than-american-jews-say-god-gave-israel-to-the-jewish-people/

(4) “Majority in U.S. Say Israel Has Valid Reasons for Fighting; Fewer Say the Same About Hamas” Pew Research Center 21.3.2024

https://www.pewresearch.org/2024/03/21/majority-in-u-s-say-israel-has-valid-reasons-for-fighting-fewer-say-the-same-about-hamas/

(5) “Netanyahu meets evangelical leaders ahead of Congress address” Jewish News Syndicate 24.7.2024

https://www.jns.org/netanyahu-meets-evangelical-leaders-ahead-of-congress-address/

(6) “Jesus is their savior, Trump is their candidate. Ex-president’s backers say he shares faith, values” AP News 18.5.2024

https://apnews.com/article/trump-christian-evangelicals-conservatives-2024-election-43f25118c133170c77786daf316821c3

(7) “Why evangelicals won’t abandon Trump after his conviction” The Hill 12.6.2024

https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4717933-why-evangelicals-wont-abandon-trump-after-his-conviction/

(8) “Voters’ views of Trump and Biden differ sharply by religion” Pew Research Center 30.4.2024

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/04/30/voters-views-of-trump-and-biden-differ-sharply-by-religion/

(9) “Statement by PM Netanyahu” Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Israel 28.10.2023

https://www.gov.il/en/pages/statement-by-pm-netanyahu-28-oct-2023

(10) “Netanyahu writes to IDF soldiers ahead of Shabbat” Jewish News Syndicate 3.11.2023

https://www.jns.org/letter-from-netanyahu-to-idf-soldiers-fighting-hamas/

(11) “South Africa reminds ICJ of Netanyahu’s Amalek rhetoric to invoke genocide against Palestinians” Anadolu Agency 11.1.2024

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/south-africa-reminds-icj-of-netanyahus-amalek-rhetoric-to-invoke-genocide-against-palestinians/3106313#

(12) “Deuteronomy 25:17-19 meaning” The Bible Says

https://thebiblesays.com/en/commentary/deu+25:17

(13) “The Dangerous History Behind Netanyahu’s Amalek Rhetoric” Mother Jones 3.11.2023

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/11/benjamin-netanyahu-amalek-israel-palestine-gaza-saul-samuel-old-testament/

(14) “Speaker Johnson says it’s U.S.’s ‘biblical admonition’ to help Israel” Fox News 15.4.2024

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/speaker-johnson-says-us-biblical-admonition-help-israel

(15) “Mace on Gaza war: ‘The promised land’ is Israel’s; ‘Biblical warfare, plain and simple’” The Hill 11.5.2024

https://thehill.com/policy/international/4658384-mace-on-gaza-biblical-warfare/

(16) “Pompeo says ‘it’s possible’ Trump was sent to save the Jewish people” Politico 22.3.2019

https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-queen-esther-mike-pompeo-says-its-possible-sent-to-save-the-jewish-people/

(17) “Steve Bannon’s man in Italy wins fight over right-wing ‘gladiator school’” Politico 7.3.2024

https://www.politico.eu/article/steve-bannon-rome-right-wing-gladiator-school-populist-nationalists/

(18) “Steve Bannon’s Right-Wing ‘Gladiator’ School Could Go Ahead Following Legal Win in Italy” Artnet 5.4.2024

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/steve-bannon-right-wing-school-italy-2463523

(19) “What does the Bible say about the importance of the red heifer, the Third Temple and the coming of the Messiah?” All Israel News 20.9.2022

https://allisrael.com/what-does-the-bible-say-about-the-importance-of-the-red-heifer-the-third-temple-and-the-coming-of-the-messiah

(20) “What do Texan red heifers have to do with Al-Aqsa and a Jewish temple?” Al Jazeera 9.4.2024

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/9/what-do-texan-red-heifers-have-to-do-with-al-aqsa-and-a-jewish-temple

(21) “Holy War: Red Cows, Gaza and the End of the World” Newsweek 5.4.2024

https://www.newsweek.com/israel-gaza-hamas-temple-mount-islam-jews-jerusalem-red-heifers-jerusalem-religion-1886787

(22) “In Jerusalem, the ‘red heifer’ worries religious and political leaders” La Croix International 25.4.2024

https://international.la-croix.com/world/in-jerusalem-the-red-heifer-worries-religious-and-political-leaders

(23) “Israelis practise red heifer ritual in front of Al-Aqsa Mosque” Middle East Eye 7.8.2024

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-practise-red-heifer-ritual-al-aqsa

The American-Israeli symbiosis – Part 1/3

While the horrible war between Hamas and Israel has continued, the US has protected Israel politically and militarily. Over the months, President Biden and his administration have claimed several times – at the United Nations and elsewhere – that a new ceasefire deal is imminent and that any resolutions or other decisions that are critical of Israel’s actions against Palestinians are putting the peace negotiations in danger. However, the only imminent thing now seems to be the annihilation of Palestinian society in Gaza. Palestinians are also targeted in other parts of the Palestinian Territories.

Israel has been able to continue its genocidal onslaught in Gaza unabated. According to Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, Israel dropped approximately 70,000 tons of bombs on Gaza during the first six months of the war between Hamas and Israel – that amount of bombs is more than what was dropped on Dresden, Hamburg and London combined during the World War II (1). Nearly 2/3 of buildings in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed (2). The United Nations estimated last month that it will take 15 years to clear Gaza of almost 40 million tonnes of rubble caused by the war (3). Over 39,000 Palestinians have died and 10,000 Palestinians are missing under the rubble, presumed dead (4). The UN said last week that 86% of the Gaza Strip is now under Israeli evacuation orders or designated as “no-go-zones” (5). The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated last month that about 90% of the population in Gaza have been displaced at least once since the war began (6).

Some political journalists have pointed out that decades ago Israel’s closest allies were much more ready to condemn Israel’s wrongful actions or to withhold their support, if it was necessary. Even though former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was “fiercely pro-Jewish and a powerful enemy of antisemitism”, she wasn’t afraid to condemn Israel’s actions or war crimes. When Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982, Thatcher wrote to then US President Reagan that there was “an urgent need for a balanced policy” and that “unlimited support for Israel can only lead to growing polarisation and despair in the Arab world”. (7, 8)

In 1982, the Reagan administration warned the US Congress that Israel might have violated its arms agreement with the US when it was using American-made weapons during its invasion of Lebanon. In 1983, Reagan announced that he would not send F-16 jets to Israel until Israel withdrew its forces from Lebanon. He stated, “While these forces (i.e. Israel) are in the position of occupying another country that now has asked them to leave, we are forbidden by law to release those planes.” In 1992, the George H.W. Bush administration threatened to withhold delivery of 10 billion dollars in loan guarantees to Israel if it continued building settlements in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. (9)

The situation is very different, these days. Even though Israel has crossed all “red lines” during its genocidal war against the Palestinians in Gaza, the Biden administration has only stopped sending destructive 2,000-pound bombs to Israel because of concerns that Israel might use them in densely populated areas in Gaza (10). After Israel assasinated Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh in less than 24 hours last week, the Biden administration decided to send 12 warships and one aircraft carrier to the Middle East to protect its own forces and Israel (11, 12, 13). Director and professor Mohamad Bazzi wrote in The Guardian on Friday (13):

Since October, Biden and his top aides have insisted that their highest priority is to prevent Israel’s invasion of Gaza from spreading into… regional conflagration. But Biden has avoided the most straightforward path to de-escalation on all fronts: for the US administration to withhold some of the $6.5bn in weapons and other security assistance it has promised to Netanyahu’s government since October, and pressure Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire.

When it comes to increasingly far-right Republicans, most of them support Prime Minister Netanyahu and his far-right Zionist government unreservedly, if not fanatically. When the Biden administration halted (temporarily) shipment of some weapons to Israel in May, Republicans tried to introduce Israel Security Assistance Support Act, which would have prevented “federal funds from being used to withhold defense services or weapons to Israel” (14). When former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley visited Israel in May, she scrawled a message “Finish them! America ♡ Israel, Always” on an Israeli artillery like a teenage fangirl (15). In June, Haley also opposed a ceasefire with Hamas by saying that it would be “same as defeat” (16).

Also former Republican governor Mike Huckabee opposed a ceasefire and said that the only solution is that Hamas has to surrender. He compared Hamas to Nazis by saying, “This is like trying to negotiate with the Nazis in World War II. You just don’t. You beat them. You defeat them. You eradicate them.” (17) During this presidential election year, the 2024 Republican Party platform has pledged “to fight antisemitism and to keep Israel safe”. It also wows – in reference to student protests against the war in Gaza – to “DEPORT PRO-HAMAS RADICALS AND MAKE OUR COLLEGE CAMPUSES SAFE AND PATRIOTIC AGAIN”. (18)

Here are observations about some factors that are probably contributing to the developments within the American-Israeli alliance:

The ever-growing influence of the Zionist lobby in the US
In March, Democratic senator and Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer criticized Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu harshly and called for new elections in Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu responded, “I think Schumer’s statements are wholly inappropriate. I think we’re not a banana republic. The people of Israel will choose when they’ll have elections, who they will elect and it’s not something that will be forced upon us.” (19)

When asked about Netanyahu’s response and whether the US administration needs to do more in order to speak to the Israeli people directly, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan gave an unusually frank comment, “First of all, inherent in the question is a kind of interesting irony, which is you have the (Israeli) prime minister speaking on American television about his concerns about Americans interfering in Israeli politics. And then your question is should Americans be speaking into Israeli politics, which in fact, we don’t do nearly as much as they speak into ours.” (20)

When you look at the politics and media in the US, it is quite surprising to learn that in a nation of over 330 million citizens, there are only about 8 million Jewish citizens. Large amount of Jewish people tend to be liberal and vote for the Democratic party. According to Jewish Virtual Library statistics, on the average 71% of Jewish voters have voted for Democratic candidates and 26% have chosen Republican candidate in the presidential elections since 1968. During the presidential election in 2020, 68% of Jewish voters voted for Biden and 30% voted for Trump. (21, 22, 23)

Several American pro-Israel organizations and wealthy Jewish pro-Israel individuals have a lot of influence in the American politics. The biggest and probably the most powerful bipartisan pro-Israel organization in the US is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee AIPAC. The largest pro-Israel political action committee is AIPAC PAC. When you look at the website of the AIPAC PAC and the factsheet of the organization, you can see just how influential this organization is.

During year 2022, 98% of AIPAC-backed candidates won in the general elections. 342 members and candidates AIPAC supported were elected to the 118th Congress – so, 342 (out of 535, if I got this total amount right) members of Congress have been supported by AIPAC. According to the factsheet, “100% of Republican and Democratic leadership” was supported by AIPAC. AIPAC helped to defeat 13 candidates “who would have undermined the US-Israel relationship”. In the AIPAC Political Achievement Factsheet 2022 there is a telling declaration: “This political battle has just begun. We know that detractors of the US-Israel alliance will work to rally their supporters to back more anti-Israel candidates in the face of our recent victories — and so we too must redouble our efforts to keep Congress pro-Israel.” (24, 25)

During a recent interview, Jewish investigative journalist Max Blumenthal talked about “pro-war billionaires” who control both major parties in the US (26). In another interview, Blumenthal mentioned two Jewish pro-Israel billionaires who have had a lot of influence in the two parties: Democratic megadonor Haim Saban and Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson (27).

When President Biden decided to pause (temporarily) shipment of some bombs to Israel in May, Saban sent an angry email to the White House. Saban wrote, “Dear President Biden. WE, the US, as you stated numerous times, believe that Hamas should be defeated. We, the US, in this case YOU Mr President, have decided to stop sending munitions to Israel to achieve the goal that WE/YOU have set up for Israel and ouselves. Even beyond Israel, this sends a terrible message to our allies in the region, and beyond, that we can flip from doing the right thing to bending to political pressure. Let’s not forget that there are more Jewish voters, who care about Israel, than Muslim voters that care about Hamas. Bad, Bad, Bad decision, on all levels. Pls reconsider.” (28)

Miriam Adelson, widow of late Sheldon Adelson, has reportedly pledged to spend millions of dollars to support Trump this year. It has also been reported that Mrs. Adelson has been pursuing US recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, “where there would be no Palestinian Authority or peace accords”. According to Mrs. Adelson, the West Bank belongs to the state of Israel, and she is a regular donor to Israeli settlement campaigns. (29)

Many progressive and liberal Americans have been highly critical of Zionism and the Zionist lobby. Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote in June that the US Congress votes in support of Israel “from fear” of AIPAC rather than from “conscience” (30). World-famous Canadian writer and intellectual Naomi Klein said during her speech in April that Zionism is “a false idol” (31):

“It is a false idol that has taken the transcendent idea of the promised land – a metaphor for human liberation that has traveled across multiple faiths to every corner of this globe – and dared to turn it into a deed of sale for a militaristic ethnostate.

Political Zionism’s version of liberation is itself profane. From the start, it required the mass expulsion of Palestinians from their homes and ancestral lands in the Nakba.”

“Our Judaism cannot be contained by an ethnostate, for our Judaism is internationalist by nature.

Our Judaism cannot be protected by the rampaging military of that state, for all that military does is sow sorrow and reap hatred – including against us as Jews.”

“We seek to liberate Judaism from an ethnostate that wants Jews to be perennially afraid, that wants our children to be afraid, that wants us to believe the world is against us so that we go running to its fortress and beneath its iron dome, or at least keep the weapons and donations flowing.”

References:

(1) “Amount of Israeli bombs dropped on Gaza surpasses that of World War II” Anadolu Agency 4.6.2024

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/amount-of-israeli-bombs-dropped-on-gaza-surpasses-that-of-world-war-ii/3239665#

(2) “Nearly two-thirds of Gaza buildings damaged in war: UN” Arab News 2.8.2024

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2561511/middle-east

(3) “Clearing Gaza of almost 40m tonnes of war rubble will take years, says UN” The Guardian 15.7.2024

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/15/clearing-gaza-of-almost-40m-tonnes-of-war-rubble-will-take-years-says-un

(4) “Explainer: Gaza death toll: how many Palestinians has Israel’s campaign killed?” Reuters 27.7.2024

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gaza-death-toll-how-many-palestinians-has-israels-campaign-killed-2024-07-25/

(5) “UN says 86 percent of Gaza now under Israeli evacuation orders” Al Jazeera 29.7.2024

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/29/un-says-86-percent-of-gaza-now-under-israeli-evacuation-orders

(6) “About 90% of people in Gaza displaced since war began, says UN agency” The Guardian 3.7.2024

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/03/about-90-of-people-in-gaza-displaced-since-war-began-says-un-agency

(7) “Sunak’s message to Israel: Carry on with the slaughter” Middle East Eye 19.10.2023

https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-palestine-war-uk-sunak-message-slaughter-carry-on

(8) “Sunak takes British support for Israel to new extreme” Declassified UK 16.10.2023

https://www.declassifieduk.org/sunak-takes-british-support-for-israel-to-new-extreme/

(9) “A history of U.S. presidents drawing red lines with Israel” Axios 13.5.2024

https://www.axios.com/2024/05/13/us-presidents-red-lines-israel

(10) “US to resume sending 500lb bombs to Israel while withholding 2,000lb bombs, official says” The Guardian 10.7.2024

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/10/biden-resumes-sending-israel-bombs

(11 ) “US Navy assembles 12 warships in Middle East” Middle East Monitor 2.8.2024

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240802-us-navy-assembles-12-warships-in-middle-east/

(12) “US to deploy additional military resources to the Middle East” Al Jazeera 2.8.2024

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/2/us-to-deploy-additional-military-resources-to-the-middle-east

(13) “The war in the Middle East is escalating fast – and Biden has squandered too many chances to stop it” The Guardian 2.8.2024

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/02/gaza-israel-iran-joe-biden-middle-east

(14) “House passes Republican-backed bill designed to pressure Biden on delivering weapons to Israel” NBC News 17.5.2024

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-passes-bill-rebuking-biden-pausing-weapons-israel-rcna152681

(15) “Nikki Haley writes ‘Finish Them’ on Israeli artillery shell, drawing criticism” Reuters 29.5.2024

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/nikki-haley-writes-finish-them-israeli-artillery-shell-drawing-criticism-2024-05-29/

(16) “Haley argues against Israel-Hamas cease-fire: ‘The same as defeat’” The Hill 8.6.2024

https://thehill.com/policy/international/4711534-haley-argues-against-cease-fire/

(17) “Huckabee insists US has ‘no valid reason’ to support Israel-Hamas cease-fire” The Hill 8.6.2024

https://thehill.com/policy/international/4711777-mike-huckabee-joe-biden-benjamin-netanyahu-cease-fire-deal-israel-hamas-gaz/

(18) “GOP platform pledges to stand with Israel, deport ‘pro-Hamas radicals’ from US” The Times of Israel 9.7.2024

https://www.timesofisrael.com/gop-platform-pledges-to-stand-with-israel-deport-pro-hamas-radicals-from-us/

(19) “Netanyahu To Schumer: “We’re Not A Banana Republic” RealClear Politics 17.3.2024

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2024/03/17/netanyahu_to_schumer_were_not_a_banana_republic.html

(20) “White House: We Don’t Interfere In Israeli Politics ‘Nearly As Much As They Speak Into Ours'” RealClear Politics 18.3.2024

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2024/03/18/sullivan_we_dont_interfere_in_israeli_politics_nearly_as_much_as_they_speak_into_ours.html

(21) “Population estimate 1.7.2023” United States Census Bureau

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045223

(22) “During Gaza war, evangelicals have become Israel’s best friend” Religion News 28.2.2024

https://religionnews.com/2024/02/28/during-gaza-war-evangelicals-have-become-israels-best-friend

(23) “U.S. Presidential Elections: Jewish Voting Record (1916 – Present)” Jewish Virtual Library

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jewish-voting-record-in-u-s-presidential-elections

(24) “AIPAC Political Action Committee” AIPAC PAC

https://www.aipacpac.org

(25) “AIPAC Political Achievements Factsheet 2022” AIPAC

https://aipacorg.app.box.com/s/3bnlheso6zkiicp3znpbrqqdqhku698j

(26) “Interview of Max Blumenthal TRT World 25.7.2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G9MKvtMkBo

(27) “Palestine Talks – In conversation with Max Blumenthal (Part 1) TRT World June 2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g53T-x1o4OU

(28) “Biden’s big donors fume over Israel criticism” Axios 10.5.2024

https://www.axios.com/2024/05/10/israel-gaza-biden-rafah-donors

(29) “Pro-Israel billionaire Miriam Adelson backs Trump’s campaign, pushes for West Bank annexation” The New Arab 4.6.2024

https://www.newarab.com/news/pro-israel-mogul-wants-west-bank-annexed-after-trump-donation

(30) “AOC: Congress supports Israel out of fear of AIPAC, not ‘conscience'” The Jerusalem Post 20.6.2024

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-806997

(31) “We need an exodus from Zionism” The Guardian 24.4.2024

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/24/zionism-seder-protest-new-york-gaza-israel

American-Israeli “day after” plan for Gaza

While the Biden administration has continued negotiations for a new ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, the US has also been developing plans how Gaza and the Palestinian Territories in general should be governed, in the future.

After the US, Israel and the United Arab Emirates had a secret meeting in order to discuss their post-war plans for Gaza, last week, the UAE suggested that a temporary international mission should be sent to Gaza. The mission would be “responsible for efficiently responding to the humanitarian crisis the citizens in Gaza are facing, establishing law and order, laying the groundwork for governance, and paving the way to reunite Gaza and the West Bank under a single, legitimate Palestinian Authority.” The Emirati government had stated already before the meeting that “the Israeli government would need to allow the Palestinian Authority to have a role in governing Gaza and agree to a political process based on the two-state solution while the US would have a leadership role in any day-after initiative.” (1)

Middle East Eye reported on Sunday that the US, Israel and the UAE “are working towards the creation of a national committee of Palestinian leaders and business figures that will administer Gaza once the war ends.” That national committee “would function as the main representative of all Palestinian factions, but in reality, all of its members would be loyal to exiled former Fatah leader and Palestinian strongman Mohammed Dahlan, who could eventually be installed as successor to Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas.” (2)

Mohammed Dahlan is a particularly interesting person. He was born in Khan Yunis, Gaza, in 1961. He rose in the ranks of the Palestinian organization Fatah and was leader of the Palestinian Preventive Security apparatus in Gaza from 1995 to 2000 after the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994. He has cooperated during several decades with CIA and Israeli intelligence agencies Shin Bet and Mossad in various operations in Palestine and elsewhere. In 2007, President of the US George W. Bush described Dahlan as “our boy”. In 2019, Türkiye added Dahlan to its list of most wanted terrorists because of his involvement in the failed coup attempt in Türkiye in 2016. Türkiye has also offered 700,000 US Dollars for information leading to the arrest of Dahlan. (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)

In 2011, Dahlan was expelled from Fatah after falling out with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas. The PA accused Dahlan of corrution and conspiring against President Abbas. Fatah has also claimed that Dahlan poisoned Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in 2004. Since 2011, Dahlan has lived in exile in the UAE where he has become top adviser to President Mohamed Bin Zayed. (4, 9, 10)

Several major Western media outlets, such as The Economist, France24.com, TIME, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, have published articles about Dahlan or have interviewed him since the war between Hamas and Israel started. Dahlan has denied that he would be interested in becoming the new leader of the Palestinians. However, he reportedly said during the interview with The New York Times in February that Arab states would support a new “independent Palestinian leader” who would “push PA President Mahmoud Abbas aside to a ceremonial role”. (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)

** The post was updated again 30.7.2024. References 7, 8 and 11 were added.

References:

(1) “UAE proposes temporary international mission to restore order in Gaza” Middle East Monitor 26.7.2024

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240726-uae-proposes-temporary-international-mission-to-restore-order-in-gaza/

(2) “US, Israel and UAE working to create new body to govern post-war Gaza” Middle East Eye 28.7.2024

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-israel-uae-create-new-body-govern-post-war-gaza

(3) Information about Mohammed Dahlan in Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Dahlan

(4) “Dahlan: UAE agent, plotter against peoples’ will” Anadolu Agency 15.12.2019

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/dahlan-uae-agent-plotter-against-peoples-will/1673526#

(5) “Palestine papers: Mohammed Dahlan” The Guardian 25.1.2011

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jan/25/palestine-papers-muhammad-dahlan

(6) “Turkey offers $700,000 bounty for Mohammed Dahlan” Al Jazeera 23.11.2019

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/11/23/turkey-offers-700000-bounty-for-mohammed-dahlan

(7) “How did Turkey catch Mohammed Dahlan’s spy ring?” Daily Sabah 22.4.2019

https://www.dailysabah.com/columns/yahya_bostan/2019/04/22/how-did-turkey-catch-mohammed-dahlans-spy-ring

(8) “Mohammad Dahlan’s shady regional agenda” The New Arab 2.12.2019

https://www.newarab.com/opinion/mohammad-dahlans-shady-regional-agenda

(9) “Fatah Report Claims Dahlan Poisoned Arafat and Stole Millions” IMEMC News 10.8.2011

https://imemc.org/article/61822/

(10) “Exiled Palestinian official: Arab states will support an independent leader in Gaza” The Times of Israel 14.2.2024

https://www.timesofisrael.com/exiled-palestinian-official-arab-states-will-support-an-independent-leader-in-gaza/

(11) “A vision for the Palestinians after the war” The Economist 30.10.2023

https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2023/10/30/a-vision-for-the-palestinians-after-the-war

(12) “Could exiled former Palestinian leader Mohammed Dahlan lead Gaza after the Israel-Hamas war?” France24.com 12.11.2023

https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20231112-could-exiled-former-palestinian-leader-mohammed-dahlan-lead-gaza-after-the-israel-hamas-war

(13) “Exclusive: Palestinian Leader Mohammed Dahlan on Israel, Hamas, and the Prospect of Peace” TIME 21.11.2023

https://time.com/6337833/mohammed-dahlan-exclusive-palestine-israel/

(14) “A Palestinian Exile Champions an Arab Vision for Gaza” The New York Times 14.2.2024

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/14/world/middleeast/mohammed-dahlan-interview-gaza-uae.html

(15) “Once Hamas’s Sworn Enemy, a Palestinian Exile Rises as a Potential Postwar Strongman” The Wall Street Journal 25.7.2024

https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/once-hamass-sworn-enemy-mohammed-dahlan-rises-as-a-postwar-strongman-f64676b1?mod=hp_lead_pos10

Palestinian groups sign “national unity” agreement in China

The horrible and devastating war between Hamas and Israel has continued now nearly 10 months. Over 39,000 Palestinians have died and over 89,000 Palestinians have been injured (1). British medical journal Lancet estimated a while ago that the accumulative effects of the war in Gaza may mean that the real death toll could be more than 186,000 people. That amount of fatalities would represent almost 8 percent of Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.3 million. (2)

While the ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel have not been succesful, for various reasons, there have been some positive and significant developments elsewhere. Hamas, Fatah and other Palestinian groups signed a “national unity” agreement on Tuesday in Beijing, China. The purpose of the agreement is to end long-running divisions between the Palestinian groups and to create a platform so that they can rule post-war Gaza together. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, “The most prominent highlight is the agreement to form an interim national reconciliation government around the governance of post-war Gaza. Reconciliation is an internal matter for the Palestinian factions, but at the same time, it cannot be achieved without the support of the international community.” (3)

References:

(1) “Gaza death toll tops 39,000 as Israel kills dozens of Palestinians” Anadolu Agency 22.7.2024

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/gaza-death-toll-tops-39-000-as-israel-kills-dozens-of-palestinians/3282266#

(2) “Gaza toll could exceed 186,000, Lancet study says” Al Jazeera 8.7.2024

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/8/gaza-toll-could-exceed-186000-lancet-study-says

(3) “Hamas, Fatah and other Palestinian groups sign ‘national unity’ deal in China” Middle East Eye 23.7.2024

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/hamas-fatah-and-other-palestinian-groups-sign-national-unity-deal-china

New study concludes that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza

A new study conducted by the University Network for Human Rights, the International Human Rights Clinic at Boston University School of Law, the International Human Rights Clinic at Cornell Law School, the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria and the Lowenstein Human Rights Project at Yale Law School concludes that Israel has committed genocidal acts in Gaza since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war on the 7th of October, last year (1). The summary and press release of the study report stated on Wednesday (2):

“After reviewing the facts established by independent human rights monitors, journalists, and United Nations agencies, we conclude that Israel’s actions in and regarding Gaza since October 7, 2023, violate the Genocide Convention. Specifically, Israel has committed genocidal acts of killing, causing serious harm to, and inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza, a protected group that forms a substantial part of the Palestinian people.”

“Israel’s genocidal acts in Gaza have been motivated by the requisite genocidal intent, as evidenced in this report by the statements of Israeli leaders, the character of the State and its military forces’ conduct against and relating to Palestinians in Gaza, and the direct nexus between them. As this report details, officials at all levels of Israeli government, up to and including the Prime Minister, have made remarks that not only express blatant and unequivocal dehumanization and cruelty against Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere, but also explicitly reflect intentions to destroy and exterminate Palestinians as such. The patterns of conduct of Israeli military forces in Gaza further reinforce the finding of Israel’s genocidal intent.”

“Israel’s violations of the international legal prohibition of genocide amount to grave breaches of peremptory norms of international law that must cease immediately. These violations also give rise to obligations by all other States: to refrain from recognizing Israel’s breaches as legal or taking any actions that may constitute complicity in these breaches; and to take positive steps to suppress, prevent, and punish the commission by Israel of further genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

The facts in this report are current as of May 1, 2023*. Between its finalization and publication, reports emerged of additional, egregious abuses by Israel against Palestinians in the southern city of Rafah and elsewhere, where more than a million Palestinians are seeking refuge. These developments, though not reflected in the report, further demonstrate Israel’s ongoing genocidal conduct and intent, and underscore the urgency with which the international community must act.”

*Please note that the date was “May 1, 2024” elsewhere in the summary, so this is probably a typo.

References:

(1) “Israel committing genocide in Gaza, new study concludes” Middle East Monitor 16.5.2024

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240516-israel-committing-genocide-in-gaza-new-study-concludes/

(2) “Genocide in Gaza: Analysis of International Law and its Application to Israel’s Military Actions since October 7, 2023” Human Rights Network 15.5.2024

https://www.humanrightsnetwork.org/genocide-in-gaza

Freedom Flotilla to Gaza

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), a grassroots solidarity movement consisting of human rights organizations from around the world, will launch its Freedom Flotilla to Gaza tomorrow, on Friday the 26th of April, in Istanbul. The flotilla of three or four ships will carry over 5000 tons of aid to Gaza. Approximately thousand people will participate in the voyage, including Nelson Mandela’s grandson Mandla Mandela who said, “I am a living example of what international solidarity can achieve, we defeated the apartheid government.” Hundreds of human rights observers will make sure that the aid gets to Palestinians in Gaza. Around hundred journalists will be reporting on the journey. (1, 2)

References:

(1) “Freedom Flotilla activists determined to set sail to Gaza despite Israeli threats” Middle East Eye 19.4.2024

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-freedom-flotilla-determined-sail-istanbul-gaza-break-israel-siege

(2) “South African solidarity: Mandela’s grandson joins Gaza aid flotilla” Middle East Monitor 24.4.2024

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240424-south-african-solidarity-mandelas-grandson-joins-gaza-aid-flotilla

You can follow and support Freedom Flotilla to Gaza here:

https://freedomflotilla.org

Israel’s allies and complicity in genocide

Isabelle Defourny, president of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders) France, said a few weeks ago that the US, Britain, France and other nations are “morally and politically complicit with what to our eyes amounts to genocide” by providing military support to Israel. Defourny also said that “for the last six months we have witnessed the choices which Israel makes in waging war on an entire population, a population that is trapped, deprived of food and massively bombed.” She added that “Gaza is progressively being made unfit for human life” and that it “has passed the threshold of absolute horror.” (1)

The United Nations and other international organizations have said that Israel may be committing a war crime by deliberately causing a famine in Gaza. Israel has been obstructing the entry of aid into Gaza. (2) After Israel killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers at the beginning of this month, US President Biden reportedly demanded during a phone call to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu that Israel has to implement “specific, concrete and measurable” steps in order to protect civilians and aid workers in Gaza. Biden also stressed that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation in Gaza are “unacceptable”. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby suggested that there may be consequences for Israel if it does not increase the flow of aid into Gaza and try to safeguard civilians and humanitarian workers, but Kirby declined to provide details. However, Kirby also reiterated that the US still has “an ironclad commitment to help Israel with its self-defense.” (3, 4) Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office said that Israel will allow “temporary” delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. The statement of the office added, “This increased aid will prevent a humanitarian crisis and is necessary to ensure the continuation of the fighting and to achieve the goals of the war.” (5)

However, Andrea De Domenico, head of UNOCHA, the United Nation’s humanitarian aid agency for Palestinians, said last week that Israel still seems to “systematically” impede the delivery of food and other vital goods by imposing delays at checkpoints (6). It is also notable that the US has suspended funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) until March 2025, even though its own intelligence services expressed “low confidence” in the Israeli allegations against UNRWA in February. Also new independent review for the UN, headed by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, made clear that Israel has failed to provide any evidence to support its claims that some UNRWA workers belong to either Hamas’s military wing or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and helped those groups during the attack against Israel on the 7th of October, last year. The US has been the principal donor to UNRWA. (7)

The US has continued to show its “ironclad commitment” to support Israel. Last week, the US vetoed the United Nations Security Council resolution which would have made it possible for the State of Palestine to gain full membership at the UN (8). A couple of weeks ago, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that the US hasn’t got “any evidence of genocide being created” in Gaza (9). On Saturday, the US House of Representatives passed a 95 billion-dollar legislative package. A total of 26 billion dollars was given to Israel – 17 billion dollars in defense aid to Israel and approximately 9 billion dollars for humanitarian aid in Gaza and other war-torn regions. According to media reports, roughly 2 billion dollars is expected go to Gaza. The bill for Israel aid was passed with votes of 366-58. It was notable that 37 Democrats and 21 Republicans opposed the bill. The Democrats who voted against the bill on Israel were reportedly very critical of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. (10, 11)

In Britain, Prime Minister Sunak and Foreign Secretary Cameron have refused to publish the legal advice the British government has received regarding the war in Gaza, but there have been claims that the government lawyers have already warned that Israel has breached humanitarian law. According to Cameron, the Israel-Hamas conflict is a “different situation” compared to other situations when Britain published a summary of legal advice before taking military action, for example in Libya and more recently in the Red Sea (12, 13). At the beginning of this month, over 600 lawyers, academics and retired senior judges warned in a letter to Prime Minister Sunak that the British government is breaching international law by continuing to arm Israel. The signatories wrote in their 17-page letter (14, 15):

“While we welcome the increasingly robust calls by your government for a cessation of fighting and the unobstructed entry to Gaza of humanitarian assistance, simultaneously to continue (to take two striking examples) the sale of weapons and weapons systems to Israel and to maintain threats of suspending UK aid to Unwra falls significantly short of your government’s obligations under international law.”

“The ICJ’s (i.e. the International Court of Justice’s) conclusion that there exists a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza has placed your government on notice that weapons might be used in its commission and that the suspension of their provision is thus a ‘means likely to deter’ and/or ‘a measure to prevent’ genocide.

The provision of military assistance and material to Israel may render the UK complicit in genocide as well as serious breaches of IHL (i.e. international humanitarian law). Customary international law recognises the concept of ‘aiding and assisting’ an international wrongful act.”

Also in Britain, civil servants who are members of Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) have requested a possibility to “cease work immediately” on tasks related to arms export licences to Israel, because they fear that they may be liable if Israel is deemed to have broken international law (16). Prime Minister Sunak and Foreign Secretary Cameron have said that Britain will continue to allow arms exports to Israel just like other “like-minded countries” and “closest allies”. (13, 17)

Germany has faced charges at the International Court of Justice for allegedly “facilitating the commission of genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza in coordination with its military and political ally, Israel. When Nicaragua presented its case against Germany before the ICJ, Nicaragua demanded the judges to impose emergency measures to stop Germany from providing Israel with weapons and other assistance. (18) German Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Sebastian Fischer said, “Let me announce here and now that we reject Nicaragua’s accusations. Germany has neither violated the Genocide Convention nor international humanitarian law, and we will explain this in detail at the International Court of Justice.” (19) Around 600 German civil servants have urged the German government to “cease arm deliveries to the Israeli government with immediate effect”. The civil servants said in their statement, “Israel is committing crimes in Gaza that are in clear contradiction to international law and thus to the Constitution, which we are bound to as federal civil servants and public employees.” According to some estimates, 99 percent of Israel’s arms come from the United States and Germany – Germany is the second-biggest supplier of arms. (20)

In France, President Emmanuel Macron was criticized for being ambiguous or biased in his approach during the first months of the Israel-Hamas war – for example, he suggested that “the anti-ISIS coalition” should be used to fight Hamas. However, he has been slightly more critical about Israel’s actions, as well. (21) In January, before the ICJ gave its interim ruling on genocide case against Israel, France’s new foreign minister Stéphane Séjourné suggested that Israel is immune from genocide charges by saying that “to accuse the Jewish state of genocide is to cross a moral threshold.” (22) Left-wing opposition party France Unbowed (La France Insoumise, LFI) as well as Amnesty International France and many other organizations have demanded suspension of sale of weapons and military equipment to Israel (23, 24). At the end of March, French Foreign Ministry announced that French-Israeli soldiers implicated in war crimes in Gaza will face legal action. The announcement came after release of a video where French-speaking Israeli soldiers engaged in violations against Palestinian captives. According to French media, over 4,000 Israeli soldiers hold French nationality. (25)

A few days ago, Israeli media reported that the Israeli far-right government is increasingly worried that the International Criminal Court ICC may issue soon arrest warrants against Prime Minister Netanyahu and other Israeli political and military leaders for alleged breaches of international law in Gaza. The far-right government reportedly had an “emergency discussion” last Tuesday about the ways they could avoid the arrest warrants. Prime Minister Netanyahu asked help from British Foreign Secretary Cameron and German Foreign Minister Baerbock when they visited Israel, last week. (26)

It has been interesting to see that several Israel’s allies seem to knowingly ignore international law in order to support Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinians. It has also been interesting to notice that so far Germany has been the only Israel’s ally which has been formally accused of facilitating the commission of genocide in Gaza. Veteran British journalist Peter Oborne wrote that Britain has been involved, way or the other, in many other genocides – for example, in Indonesia 1965-1966, in Rwanda 1994, in Bosnia 1995 and in the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar that started in 2016 – but Britain has felt able to act with impunity, “to act regardless of consequences when it comes to breaches of international law”. (27)

When French President Macron marked the 30th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide, at the beginning of this month, he said in his video message that France could have stopped the Rwanda genocide with its Western and African allies but they “lacked the will to do so” (28). Unfortunately the same could be said about some Western powers and the genocide in Gaza.

References:

(1) “US, UK, others ‘complicit’ in what amounts to ‘genocide’ in Gaza — MSF” TRT World 5.4.2024

https://www.trtworld.com/middle-east/us-uk-others-complicit-in-what-amounts-to-genocide-in-gaza-msf-17650456

(2) “‘Man-made famine’ charge against Israel is backed by mounting body of evidence” The Guardian 20.3.2024

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/20/man-made-famine-charge-israel-mounting-evidence-un-gaza

(3) “Who were the World Central Kitchen workers killed in Israel’s strike in Gaza?” CNN 4.4.2024

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/03/middleeast/world-central-kitchen-workers-gaza-israel-strike-intl/index.html

(4) “Biden presses Netanyahu for steps to protect civilians in Gaza: White House” Al Jazeera 4.4.2024

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/4/biden-presses-netanyahu-for-steps-to-protect-civilians-in-gaza-white-house

(5) “Israel to ‘temporarily’ reopen north Gaza crossing for aid after Biden call” Al Jazeera 5.4.2024

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/5/israel-to-temporarily-reopen-north-gaza-crossing-for-aid-after-biden-call

(6) “U.N. official says Israel systematically impeding Gaza aid distribution” CBS News 18.4.2024

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-hamas-war-un-gaza-aid-distribution/

(7) “Israel gave no evidence UNRWA staff linked to ‘terrorism’: Colonna report” Al Jazeera 22.4.2024

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/22/no-evidence-of-unrwa-staff-links-terrorist-groups-independent-review

(8) “US vetoes UN resolution for Palestinian statehood in favour of never-ending negotiations” Middle East Monitor 19.4.2024

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240419-us-vetoes-un-resolution-for-palestinian-statehood-in-favour-of-never-ending-negotiations

(9) “US does not believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza: Defence chief” Middle East Monitor 9.4.2024

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240409-us-does-not-believe-israel-is-committing-genocide-in-gaza-defence-chief

(10) “House okays $17 billion in military aid for Israel under major spending package” The Times of Israel 20.4.2024

https://www.timesofisrael.com/house-approves-26-billion-in-aid-for-israel-and-gaza-under-major-spending-package/

(11) “US House approves aid package worth billions for Ukraine, Israel” Al Jazeera 20.4.2024

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/20/us-house-approves-aid-package-worth-billions-for-ukraine-israel

(12) “Sunak urged to publish legal advice over claims government lawyers think Israel is breaking international law” The Independent 31.3.2024

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/sunak-legal-advice-israel-gaza-law-b2521282.html

(13) “UK will not suspend arms exports to Israel, David Cameron says” The Guardian 9.4.2024

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/apr/09/uk-will-not-suspend-arms-exports-to-israel-david-cameron-says

(14) “Former supreme court judges say UK arming Israel breaches international law” The Guardian 3.4.2024

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/03/former-supreme-court-judges-say-uk-arming-israel-breaches-international-law

(15) “UK Judges’ and Lawyers’ Open Letter Concerning Gaza” 3.4.2024

https://lawyersletter.uk

(16) “UK civil servants overseeing arms sales to Israel demand to ‘cease work immediately'” Middle East Eye 5.4.2024

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-civil-servants-overseeing-arms-sales-israel-demand-cease-work-immediately

(17) “‘None of our closest allies have stopped’: Rishi Sunak defends decision not to suspend arms sales to Israel” LBC 10.4.2024

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/rishi-sunak-suspend-arms-israel/

(18) “Nicaragua to ICJ: End Germany’s support of Israeli ‘genocide’ in Gaza” Al Jazeera 8.4.2024

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/8/icj-to-hear-nicaragua-case-against-germany-for-facilitating-gaza-genocide

(19) “Germany responds to Nicaragua’s accusation that it encouraged Israel to commit Gaza genocide” Middle East Monitor 6.4.2024

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240406-germany-responds-to-nicaraguas-accusation-that-it-encouraged-israel-to-commit-gaza-genocide

(20) “German civil servants demand ‘immediate’ end to Israeli arms supplies” Al Jazeera 7.4.2024

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/7/german-civil-servants-demand-immediate-end-to-israeli-arms-supplies

(21) “Macron’s rift with diplomats deepens after missteps on Israel-Hamas war” Politico 22.11.2023

https://www.politico.eu/article/in-wake-of-setbacks-on-israel-hamas-war-macron-seeks-second-wind/

(22) “French Foreign Minister Rebuked for Suggesting Israel Is Immune From Genocide Charges” Common Dreams 18.1.2024

https://www.commondreams.org/news/france-israel-genocide

(23) “France under pressure to suspend military sales to Israel as war in Gaza grinds on” France 24 22.2.2024

https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20240222-france-under-pressure-to-suspend-military-sales-to-israel-as-war-in-gaza-grinds-on

(24) “French, German arms sales to Israel hit by legal action” Politico 12.4.2024

https://www.politico.eu/article/11-ngos-take-france-to-court-over-arms-sales-to-israel/

(25) “France to prosecute French-Israeli soldiers committing war crimes in Gaza” The New Arab 30.3.2024

https://www.newarab.com/news/france-charge-french-israelis-committing-crimes-gaza

(26) “Netanyahu’s office hosts emergency talks on feared ICC warrants for PM, ministers” The Times of Israel 19.4.2024

https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahus-office-hosts-emergency-talks-on-feared-icc-warrants-for-pm-ministers/

(27) “War on Gaza: History tells Sunak and Cameron they can safely ignore the ICJ” Middle East Eye 10.4.2024

https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/war-gaza-history-sunak-cameron-ignore-icj

(28) “President Macron says France and its allies ‘could have stopped’ the 1994 Rwanda genocide” AP News 4.4.2024

https://apnews.com/article/france-macron-rwanda-genocide-responsibility-anniversary-17d4414fa511b563b6c87045803c2eb9

Six months of disastrous war in Gaza

The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has continued six months now. The statistics are horrible. About 33,000 Palestinians have been killed, and thousands more are missing under the rubble of collapsed buildings – they are presumed dead. Nearly 76,000 have been injured. Almost all 2.3 million people in Gaza face starvation. According to the United Nations, there will be famine in various parts of Gaza by May. In North Gaza, people have to survive on 245 calories a day, which is only 12% of their caloric needs. Over 80% of Gaza’s population have been internally displaced. The war has damaged or destroyed roughly 62% of all homes in Gaza. Only 10 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza are functioning partially. The war has damaged or destroyed 84% of health facilities. (1)

During his speech to the media on Friday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said (2):

“Over the last six months, the Israeli military campaign has brought relentless death and destruction to Palestinians in Gaza – with more than 32,000 people reportedly killed and more than 75,000 injured – the vast majority women and children. Lives are shattered. Respect for international humanitarian law is in tatters.”

“More than half the population – over a million people – are facing catastrophic hunger. Children in Gaza today are dying for lack of food and water. This is incomprehensible, and entirely avoidable. Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”

“I repeat my urgent appeals for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, the protection of civilians, and the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid.”

“Six months on, we are at the brink: of mass starvation; of regional conflagration; of a total loss of faith in global standards and norms. It’s time to step back from that brink – to silence the guns – to ease the horrible suffering — and to stop a potential famine before it is too late.”

References:

(1) “Israel’s war on Gaza – six relentless months of death and destruction” Al Jazeera 7.4.2024

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/7/israels-war-on-gaza-six-relentless-months-of-death-and-destruction

(2) “Secretary-General’s Press Encounter on Gaza” United Nations 5.4.2024

https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/press-encounter/2024-04-05/secretary-generals-press-encounter-gaza-scroll-down-for-arabic

SOS alert for imminent genocide of Palestinians in Rafah

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention has issued an urgent SOS warning for the imminent genocide of Palestinians in Rafah, South Gaza. Here are some important things the Lemkin Institute pointed out:

“On Wednesday, 27 March, Israel launched several bombing strikes on the city where nearly 1.4 million people are sheltering. These attacks could be the opening salvo to Israel’s promised ground invasion of the town, which is home to the critical crossing to Egypt. This bombing is a genocidal act conducted by Israel against a trapped civilian population.

We welcome the current plan to reschedule a meeting between the US and Israel to discuss Israel’s plan for a ground invasion of Rafah, a plan that US President Biden opposes. Everything must be done to secure the safety of Palestinians in Rafah, the last sanctuary for a population facing genocide in the form of attrition and forced displacement.

We at the Lemkin Institute emphatically condemn Israel for its denial of the transport of aid to the north of Gaza, deepening the risk of widespread famine. We call on Israel to immediately halt all offensive measures taken on Rafah, and throughout Gaza, and act in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2728, which called for an immediate ceasefire.”

“Regarding the recent passage of UNSC 2728, the Lemkin Institute strenuously disagrees with the stance of the United States, which claims that the resolution is ‘non-binding.’ The US abstained from voting to allow the resolution’s passage. The US position is founded neither in international law nor in the United Nations Charter. Claiming UNSC resolutions are non-binding presents an unprecedented threat to the ‘rules-based international order’ of which the United States is a primary architect. The international community must immediately take action in line with Resolution 2728 and coerce Israel into ceasing its genocidal campaign. Israel must further allow the unfettered flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, Hamas must release Israeli captives being held in Gaza and Israel must release the thousands of arbitrarily detained Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank.”

“We would also remind President Biden of his stance that a ground invasion of Rafah would violate a ‘red line’ for his administration. In his State of the Union speech, the President acknowledged that ‘Israel also has a fundamental responsibility, though, to protect innocent civilians in Gaza.’ There is no way to ensure that protection in urban combat with an army that has proved to be motivated by genocidal zeal. If the US President fails to act on his own words to prevent the further genocide of the people of Gaza and to behave in accordance with the rules-based international order he purports to prize, his betrayal of humanity will be remembered by the world forever.”

You can read the full SOS alert here:

https://www.lemkininstitute.com/sos-alerts-1/sos-alert—gaza—6-

The arrogance of some Americans vs. some differing thoughts

On Monday, the United Nations Security Council was finally able to pass a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza after the US abstained from the vote. It is notable that several US officials said that the resolution is “non-binding” even though the resolution is considered to be legally binding in international law. White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby also said, “Our vote does not – and I repeat that, does not – represent a shift in our policy.” In spite of that, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu accused the US for “abandoning its policy in the UN” and cancelled Israeli delegation’s visit to the US – the delegation was supposed to talk about the planned Israeli ground offensive in Rafah, Southern Gaza. (1)

While the bellicose and arrogant behavior of Prime Minister Netanyahu and other Israeli far-right Zionists has become familiar during the war between Israel and Hamas, it has been quite surprising to see how biased, arrogant and shameless some American public figures can be. Here are just some examples. At the end of January, Democratic congresswoman and former House speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested that some pro-Palestinian protesters, who supported a ceasefire in Gaza, might be connected to Russia and President Putin. Pelosi said, “For them (i.e. the protesters) to call for a ceasefire is Mr. Putin’s message. Make no mistake, this is directly connected to what he would like to see. Same thing with Ukraine. It’s about Putin’s message. I think some of these protesters are spontaneous and organic and sincere. Some, I think, are connected to Russia.” When asked whether she believed that the protesters were “Russian plants”, Pelosi replied, “Seeds or plants. I think some financing should be investigated. And I want to ask the FBI to investigate that.” (2)

At the end of February, President Biden caused an outrage when he talked about his hopes for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza while eating casually ice cream. Gregg Carlstrom, The Economist’s Middle East correspondent, said on X, “Nothing says ‘we’re taking this seriously’ like talking about a war that has killed ~30,000 people with an ice-cream cone halfway to your mouth.” Many commentators also pointed out that the timing of President Biden’s comment was particularly interesting. Biden talked about the possibility of an immediate ceasefire just before the crucial Democratic primary election in Michigan, where Biden was in big trouble with Muslim voters who have been very critical of his unconditional support of Israel during the Israel-Hamas war. Israel and Hamas didn’t believe that there was a chance for an immediate ceasefire, then. (3)

Also in February, Thomas Friedman, veteran journalist of The New York Times who has reported decades about the American-Israeli alliance, reached a new low with his dehumanising article “Understanding the Middle East Through the Animal Kingdom” where he reduced Middle East nations to insects. He wrote that Iran is like a “parasitoid wasp” which “injects its eggs into live caterpillars” – according to Friedman those “caterpillars” are Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq and the “eggs” are Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas and Kataib Hezbollah. In other part of his article, Friedman also wrote that Hamas is like a “trap-door spider” that “leaps out at great speed, seizes its prey and hauls it back into the burrow to be devoured, all in a fraction of a second.” While describing the Middle East as a “jungle”, Friedman wrote, “We have no counterstrategy that safely and efficiently kills the wasp without setting fire to the whole jungle.” Journalist Belén Fernández pointed out that burning down that particular “jungle” has been modus operandi of the American-Israeli alliance for decades and Friedman seemed to endorse that strategy. (4)

Far-right Zionists have been highly critical of President Biden’s talks about two-state solution and humanitarian assistance to Palestinians, so the far-right Zionists have put their faith on former president Trump and other Republicans. Israeli far-right minister Itamar Ben Gvir accused Biden for giving Palestinians humanitarian aid and fuel, which according to Ben Gvir went to Hamas. Ben Gvir continued, “If Trump was in power, the U.S. conduct would be completely different.” (5) David Friedman, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel under President Donald Trump, said during an interview that he would like to present to Trump his idea of a one-state solution where there is only one state, the State of Israel where Palestinians would have “a permanent residency” and that status would give them “self-governance on civil matters, but not voting rights in national elections, only local ones”. When asked if he would want to serve another term under a potential future Trump administration, Friedman replied, “Of course. I mean, you know, he’s a dear friend. He’s been a leader like Israel has never had in the Oval Office.” (6) Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and former senior adviser, said during an interview that Gaza could be a valuable “waterfront property” and that Israel should move Palestinians from Gaza to Negev desert and after that to Egypt before “cleaning up” Gaza (7). Trump himself said during an interview that was published on Monday that Israel made “a very big mistake” by bombing Gaza so massively because that has ruined Israel’s public image. He urged Israel to “finish up” the war and to be very careful because Israel is “losing a lot of support” internationally. (8)

Speaking of bombing Gaza, at the beginning of this month it was reported that, by using a legal loophole, the Biden administration has made more than 100 weapons sales to Israel, including thousands of bombs, since the start of the war in Gaza, but the deliveries “have escaped congressional oversight because each transaction was under the dollar amount requiring approval” (9). This week it was reported that the Biden administration has not determined that Israel has violated international humanitarian law and therefore there are no grounds to halt arms exports to Israel. On Monday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said to reporters, “We have not found them (i.e. Israel) to be in violation of international humanitarian law, either when it comes to the conduct of the war or when it comes to the provision of humanitarian assistance.” (10) In January, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Arab countries don’t want to rebuild Gaza if the Palestinian question is not resolved and if Gaza is “leveled again” in the future (11). A couple of weeks ago it was reported that according to the UN already 35% of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged (12).

According to latest Gallup poll, 55% of Americans now disapprove Israel’s war against Hamas. However, it is notable that there is a great divide between the two major parties: 64% of Republicans support the Israeli military action in Gaza but only 18% of Democrats support it. (13)

Some Democrats and progressive public figures have become increasingly critical about Israel’s actions during the Israel-Hamas war. A couple a weeks ago, Democratic senator and Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer caused a big surprise when he criticized Prime Minister Netanyahu harshly, gave a stark warning that Israel is in danger of becoming a “pariah” and called for new elections in Israel (14). In February, Jon Stewart, talk-show host of The Daily Show, said something quite essential when he commented Israel’s relentless bombing campaign in Gaza. Stewart said to Israel, “Palestinian liberation is an idea. Unless you have a bomb that kills ideas. Do you have a bomb that kills ideas? I mean, how long would it even take to bomb this shit out of an idea?” (15, 16) As long as the occupying power, i.e. Israel, continues its oppression against the Palestinians, there will quite certainly be some sort of resistance movement against Israel.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the leading progressive Democratic politicians, said on Saturday that the Israeli military campaign in Gaza is an “unfolding genocide” and demanded that the Biden administration should suspend aid to Israel’s armed forces (17). Renowned American professor Jeffrey Sachs said couple of weeks ago, “Of course, what the government of Israel doing, is unconscionable. World opinion is united against Israel. The problem is the United States remains complicit in these war crimes because it’s traditional in U.S. politics that politicians show no space between the United States and Israel. It is, I think quite likely, that the International Court of Justice is going to find that Israel is in violation of the genocide convention. And does the United States want to be complicit in genocide? This is a pretty straightforward question.” (18)

References:

(1) “Will the UN ceasefire resolution stop Israel’s war on Gaza?” Al Jazeera 26.3.2024

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/26/will-the-un-ceasefire-resolution-stop-israels-war-on-gaza

(2) “Pelosi condemned for suggesting pro-Palestinian activists have ties to Russia” The Guardian 30.1.2024

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/29/pelosi-condemned-pro-palestinian-russia-ties

(3) “Biden Expresses ‘Hope’ for Gaza Ceasefire While Eating Ice Cream With Seth Meyers” TIME 27.2.2024

https://time.com/6835515/biden-gaza-ceasefire-ice-cream/

(4) “Thomas Friedman: Dehumanisation par excellence amid a genocide” Al Jazeera 17.2.2024

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/2/17/thomas-friedman-dehumanisation-par-excellence-amid-a-genocide

(5) “Attacking Biden, Ben Gvir says Trump would have been more supportive of Israel” The Times of Israel 4.2.2024

https://www.timesofisrael.com/attacking-biden-ben-gvir-says-trump-would-have-been-more-supportive-of-israel/

(6) “Top Trump advisor Amb. David Friedman suggests a ‘one-state solution’ to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” All Israel News 1.3.2024

https://allisrael.com/top-trump-advisor-amb-david-friedman-suggests-a-one-state-solution-to-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict

(7) “Jared Kushner: Gaza could be a valuable ‘waterfront property'” Middle East Eye 19.3.2024

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/jared-kushner-gaza-could-be-valuable-waterfront-property

(8) “Trump warns Israel that it’s ‘losing a lot of support’” Politico 25.3.2024

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/25/trump-says-israel-should-finish-up-gaza-war-00148910

(9) “US uses loophole to keep 100 arms sales to Israel under the radar amid Gaza war – report” The Guardian 7.3.2024

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/06/israel-weapons-sales-loophole

(10) “US overlooks Israeli abuses in Gaza to justify arms transfers: Advocates” Al Jazeera 27.3.2024

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/27/us-overlooks-israeli-abuses-in-gaza-to-justify-arms-transfers-advocates

(11) “Arab countries do not want to rebuild Gaza if it is ‘leveled again’: Blinken” Anadolu Agency 17.1.2024

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/arab-countries-do-not-want-to-rebuild-gaza-if-it-is-leveled-again-blinken/3110944#

(12) “Satellite images show 35% of Gaza’s buildings destroyed, UN says” Middle East Monitor 13.3.2024

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240313-ramadan-arrives-as-families-face-famine-in-gaza

(13) “Majority of Americans disapprove of Israel’s war against Hamas: Poll” The Hill 27.3.2024

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4559102-majority-americans-israel-hamas-gaza

(14) “A speech that sent shockwaves from Washington to Jerusalem” CNN 15.3.2024

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/15/politics/schumer-israel-speech-analysis/index.html

(15) “Jon Stewart On Israel – Palestine” The Daily Show 27.2.2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2zbN3AuHG8

(16) “Jon Stewart On Israel – Palestine on The Daily Show” – Happy Scribe 27.2.2024

https://www.happyscribe.com/public/the-daily-show-ears-edition/jon-stewart-on-israel-palestine-murtaza-hussain-yair-rosenberg

(17) “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls Israeli Gaza campaign an ‘unfolding genocide’” The Guardian 23.3.2024

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/23/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-israel-gaza-campaign-unfolding-genocide

(18) “Columbia University Professor Jeffrey Sachs: U.S. Is ‘Complicit’ in Israeli ‘Genocide’ in Gaza” National Review 17.3.2024

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/columbia-university-professor-jeffrey-sachs-u-s-is-complicit-in-israeli-genocide-in-gaza