US Embassy Baptized With Blood

From Sputnik

On the very hour of the US opening its embassy in Jerusalem, hundreds of unarmed Palestinian civilians, including children, were being slaughtered by Israeli snipers.

Nearly 60 people, including eight children, were brutally murdered in cold blood by Israeli sharpshooters. At least a thousand others were injured from bullet wounds, many of whom will be maimed for life. More bloodshed is expected in coming days.

What kind of criminal world are we living in? When news channels can report this carnage as if it's somehow normal. Where is the outrage of Western pundits who foam at the mouth over alleged atrocities elsewhere?

While American and Israeli dignitaries were regaling themselves with hosannas about their "shared values" of "democracy" and "peace," only a few miles away thousands of Palestinians in Gaza were being shot at for daring to demand respect for their human rights.

President Donald Trump's decision to relocate the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has been widely rebuked by the rest of the world. The move is killing whatever little peace process there was between Palestinians and Israelis, with the latter emboldened by Trump to ruthlessly annex all territory.

Trump was not present at the embassy ceremony, sending his congratulations by video link instead. His daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner headed the American delegation. Kushner in an address praised Israel for its "democratic values" and how the US and Israel were eternal allies. With a solemn face, Kushner said: "those who incite violence cannot be part of any peace process."

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gloated over America's backing for his dream to make Jerusalem the "undivided capital of the Jewish state." Without a hint of shame, Netanyahu crowed that "you can't build peace on a foundation of lies." He called it a "great day."

What Trump has done is give official US endorsement to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, which Palestinians and international law designate as the future capital of a Palestinian state supposedly arrived at through negotiations with the Israelis.

Thus, under Trump, Washington is now blatantly complicit in the illegal annexation of Palestinian territory by Israel. The role of the US in sponsoring Israeli violations was always present, albeit deceptively disguised with claims of being a mediator and "honest broker" between Palestinians and Israelis.

Nearly 25 years after signing the Oslo Peace Accords, under President Bill Clinton, the Israelis, with Washington's acquiescence, have expanded their illegal settlements and carried out countless massacres against the Palestinian population, who are confined to open-air concentration camps like the Gaza Strip.

And yet, given this audacious unmasking by Trump of America's role as a brazen accomplice to Israeli crimes, the American president has the brass neck to say this week that Washington is still committed to "full and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians."

The opening of the US embassy on Monday was timed to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the founding of Israel as a state in 1948. That foundation was built on pogroms and massacres carried out by Jewish settlers who had migrated to historic Palestine from around the world with their Zionist dream and blessings from the United Nations and Western powers to usurp Palestinian rights.

Netanyahu's speech about peace not being possible on "a foundation of lies" applies, ironically, to the creation of the state of Israel. Appropriately, though despicably, the 70th anniversary and the opening of the US embassy was accompanied with the massacre of unarmed Palestinians.

Next Page  1  |  2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).