There have been all kinds of US presidents: liars (Bill Clinton comes to mind), corrupt (The Teapot Dome Scandal 1921-1923), girlfriend problems (Grover Cleveland 1885-89), and some with other frailties. But no one, easy to recall, who has been as feckless as the current occupant of the White House; none that is as subservient to Israel and the demands of its minority-vote prime minister... in power because of the support of very small religious parties with whom he seems to have made a Faustian bargain.
So
it is that Palestinian civilians continue to be slaughtered in Gaza,
at the approximate rate of 7,000 per month since October 7th when this
lopsided conflict began.
Now
who is likely to have the most influence with Israel? Why, the
supplier of the vast arsenal of bombs, artillery shells and the like that
penetrate, dismember, kill and embed in the soft flesh of the old men,
women and children left in Gaza... while the young men are dispersed in
the 300-mile network of tunnels dug over the years by Hamas for
protection against Israeli onslaughts.
Supplying such weapons to a callous user without accountability renders the supplier also culpable. Article 2(c) of the 1948 Geneva Genocide Convention states expressly in its definition of genocide: deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction as a whole or in part.
It
fits what is happening in Gaza like the proverbial glove. And
unconditional support for Israel makes the US culpable. No wonder Biden
has been labeled "Genocide Joe" in the world press. The hapless and
feckless Joe has been blinded and mesmerized by the power of the Jewish
lobby as he breaks his own word to the people to run for a second term
in November 2024. This, despite the fact that many Jewish groups
oppose the war and have held rallies against it. The most powerful
AIPAC, however, has supported Israel throughout and opposed a ceasefire.
For prompt action, the UN security council would have been a better bet.
But the surety of a US vote against a ceasefire, in compliance with its ally's position, led the matter
to the General Assembly. The overwhelming support for a ceasefire
(150 voted 'yes') represented the general feeling in the world about the war. Even India,
which has become close to Israel under the Modi government, voted for it.
Only
10 countries including the US and Israel voted against. Excluding the
US, their total population amounted to 50 million in a world populated
by about 8 billion people or a little over a half percent. It is a
startling indicator of how the world feels about the issue and how US
prestige, influence and support have declined.
Bernie
Sanders who is the US senator from Vermont and is himself Jewish is
asking Congress to block additional funding to Israel while the Gaza war
continues. He did not mince words calling the Israeli response,
"grossly disproportionate, immoral and in violation of humanitarian law... Enough is enough, congress must reject that funding. The taxpayers
of the United States must no longer be complicit in destroying the lives
of innocent men, women and children in Gaza." Is Joe Biden
listening?
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