US complicity with Israelis over violence in Palestine
NAZARI ISMAIL09 Apr 2023 04:23pm
Israeli police stormed the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem during Ramadan prayers early 05 April arresting hundreds of Palestinians. EPA/ERDEM SAHIN
He was very popular among grassroots party members, especially young voters and Latinos. Joe Biden was trailing far behind.
But there was a severe problem with Bernie Sanders as far as supporters of Israel were concerned.
He was critical of Israel and the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the most prominent and influential lobbying group in U.S. politics.
Sanders even refused to attend AIPAC events, saying the organisation gives a platform to "express bigotry and opposition to basic Palestinian rights."
On the other hand, Joe Biden is not shy to admit that when it comes to Israel, he is a blind supporter.
Joe Biden once said, "If there were not an Israel, we'd have to invent one."
He also said the U.S. and Israel shared the same values. AIPAC began to increase financial support to Joe Biden's campaign, making him appear the more likely candidate to defeat Trump.
In addition, campaigns were launched to make Bernie Sanders seem radical and unacceptable to American voters. Soon he was trailing behind Joe Biden. On April 8, 2020, Bernie Sanders dropped out of the presidential candidacy race and Joe Biden clinched the party's nomination.
Biden went on to defeat Donald Trump and became the 46th U.S. president.
For their support of him, recent events have showed that Biden is now paying back the Zionist lobby.
Beginning on the evening of April 5, in the holy month of Ramadan, Israeli occupation forces have been attacking peaceful worshippers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem.
They were there to pray and later to perform `i'tikaf', which meant to continue staying in the mosque to meditate, read the Quran or perform other prayers.
Unfortunately, those actions were unacceptable to the Israeli occupation forces which beat hundreds of them with batons and the butt of their guns and tied them up.
Hundreds were injured, and some needed hospital treatment. The attacks by the Israeli forces were unprovoked.
It is impossible not to be horrified by the images of the beatings of peaceful worshippers in the mosque, especially since the presence of Israeli forces around the mosque is illegal under international law.
The U.N. passed resolution 242 on November 22, 1967 calling on Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories. But decades have passed and Israel is still occupying the West Bank and East Jerusalem where the mosque is located.
Many governments worldwide understandably issued statements condemning the actions of the Israeli occupation forces -- except for the U.S. government.
The Biden administration refuses to condemn the brutal beating of worshippers by the Israeli occupation forces but instead chose to condemn rocket attacks coming from Gaza and Lebanon, which were in response to the storming of the mosque.
Moreover, the Biden administration also stepped in to block a U.N. Security Council statement to the press criticizing Israel for the raids.
According to a report by Mondoweiss, the UNSC held an emergency session on April 6 to discuss the brutal attack on Muslim worshippers at Al Aqsa.
Still, the U.S. worked with Israeli diplomats to stop the UNSC from issuing any statement.
The future situation in the occupied territories is looking more violent, with death and destruction primarily suffered by the Palestinians.
One crucial factor is that the Israeli government is more determined to displace more Palestinians from the territories, grab more Palestinian lands and build more illegal settlements.
The present Israeli government have ministers who have made public declarations that dismiss resolution 242. Ben Gvir, the minister of internal security, is from the Jewish Power party, which has called for the expulsion of "disloyal" Palestinians, the annexation of the West Bank and "revenge" against anyone who stands in its way.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich recently delivered a speech in Paris saying, "There is no such thing as a Palestinian nation. There is no Palestinian history. There is no Palestinian language,".
The event was a memorial for a French-Israeli right-wing activist who denied the existence of a Palestinian nation and advocated the annexation of the West Bank. Media reports stated that the pulpit used by him was adorned with a map of Israel that included the occupied West Bank, Gaza and Jordan.
American leaders claim their country is the beacon of democracy and human rights, as demonstrated by their vehement and relentless condemnations of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and China's treatment of the Uighurs in the Xinjiang region.
Unfortunately, when it comes to Palestinians, fundamental human rights do not apply to them. Israeli apartheid crimes towards Palestinians are ignored, as proven by the U.S. government's rejection of reports of Israeli abuses of Palestinian human rights by authoritative organizations such as the UN-ESCWA, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.
The hypocrisy of the US government and its vassal states in western Europe when it comes to Palestine is a revolting sight to behold and stinks to high heavens.
In reality, many Palestinians have long realised that if Americans continue to allow the powerful Israeli lobby to ensure people like Joe Biden are elected, their hopes for an honest mediator in the US government are futile.
Many Palestinians have also long realised that as long as their inner spirit and desire for justice and freedom remain strong, their resistance against any attempt to eliminate them from their lands will also remain strong and will never be defeated.
Professor Dr Nazari Ismail is the chairman of BDS (Boycott Divestment & Sanction) Malaysia and Director of the Hashim Sani Centre for Palestine Studies, Faculty of Business and Economics, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of Sinar Daily.
