Biden’s errand
Not a word of remorse from Joe Biden on Israeli excesses over Gaza was an utter disappointment. The US President’s air-dash to Tel Aviv obviously was to showcase commonality of views with the Jewish state, notwithstanding the plight of millions of Palestinians since Hamas’ surprise blitz on October 7. The deaths of more than 3,500 Palestinians in Israeli air-sorties and a criminal act of targeting a hospital in Gaza on Tuesday night, which annihilated more than 500 civilians, was merely a passing reference for Biden, as he held Benjamin Netanyahu close in his arms. This partisanship act led Biden to bite the dust as a proposed summit meeting with Arab leaders in Jordan was called off, and the diplomatic treatise that was intended to win the beleaguered president a new lease of political life ended up in thin air.
The sojourn to Israel proved beyond any doubt that there is no roadmap at hand with Washington to further a so-called peace process. With Hamas and Hezbollah weighing their wings for fresh onslaughts, it is widely feared that the conflict will escalate beyond the Palestinian-Israeli domains. Militia waiting to pour in with their contributions from Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Beirut hints at a catastrophe in the making, and it is unfortunate that the US is looking the other way. If Biden had held back his jaundiced sentiments, he could have successfully reached out to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egypt’s Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Amman. But as bias for the Zionist state would have it for political exigency, it was a tale of missed opportunity.
The conflict has a deep humanitarian side, and all parties concerned must focus on it. Millions in Gaza are running out of water and food, and international assistance is perishing on the borders owing to Israeli intransigence. As Amnesty International has pointed out, it’s time for President Biden to “cease unreserved support for Israel’s actions in Gaza” and look at the broader picture of leadership. There is little to believe that good-sense will prevail, as Israel remains indoctrinated with American support.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 19th, 2023.
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