The Washington Post‘s Jacqueline Alemany reports that over 500 Biden and Democratic staffers have signed a letter calling on the President to promote Palestinian human rights and hold Israel accountable for its human rights violations.
“The very same values that motivated us to work countless hours to elect you demand that we speak out in the aftermath of the recent explosive violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, which is inextricable from the ongoing history of occupation, blockade, and settlement expansion,” reads the letter. “We remain horrified by the images of Palestinian civilians in Gaza killed or made homeless by Israeli airstrikes. We are outraged by Israel’s efforts to forcibly and illegally expel Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah. We are shocked by Israel’s destruction of a building housing international news organizations. We remain horrified by reports of Hamas rockets killing Israeli civilians.”
The letter contains a list of demands that Biden should bring to the the Israeli government. These include an end to the occupation, the Gaza blockade, and settlement expansion. It also calls on the United States government to stop funding the detention of Palestinian children and the demolition of homes, while asking for an investigation of how U.S. aid was used in the expulsion of Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah.
“We joined your campaign to pursue a vision of a nation that believes that every person’s life and fundamental rights are valued,” it declares. “We remain committed to that vision and implore you to take action to ensure that Palestinians and Israelis are able to live in peace and security. Returning to the status quo is untenable, as it deprives Palestinians of peace, security, and self-determination.”
Like almost every recent U.S. president, Biden has publicly opposed settlement expansion and asserted that the West Bank is occupied while doing absolutely nothing to rectify either situation.
The letter comes amid a growing rift within the party over U.S. policy in the region. Progressive lawmakers have condemned Israel’s recent actions on the House floor, introduced resolutions aimed at blocking Biden’s recent weapons sale to the country, and more of them are now referring to it as an apartheid state.
Last week Biden assured reporters that there was no such conflict. “My party still supports Israel,” he said. “Let’s get something straight here. Until the region says unequivocally they acknowledge the right of Israel to exist as an independent Jewish state, there will be no peace.”
“Let’s get something straight here. Until the region says unequivocally they acknowledge the right of Israel to exist as an independent Jewish state, there will be no peace.” I know it won’t do any good, but I’ll explain once more why this “right to exist” stuff is nonsense invented at Hasbara U to prevent any possibility of a Palestinian state:
The U.S. does not recognize Mexico’s “right to exist”, because that language, while carrying a feel-good vibe, is actually meaningless in terms of modern diplomacy. Rather than recognizing Mexico’s “right to exist”, we simply have treaties with Mexico in which we mutually agree on borders, trade, water use, etcetc. No one knows what the “right to exist” entails, because it doesn’t entail anything.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/fr/node/39588
“So, does Israel have a “right to exist”? The answer, or at least an important part of the answer, is that no states have a “right to exist”, without exceptions….”
Also see: https://uscpr.org/israel-right-exist-trick-question/
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One consequence of “Israel’s” blitz krieg premeditated bombing of Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip:
‘The Beautiful Face of Gaza’; Why Israel Bombed Samir Mansour’s Library (PHOTOS) – Palestine Chronicle
The Palestine Chronicle, May 24/21, by Mahmoud Ajjour
“‘The Beautiful Face of Gaza’; Why Israel Bombed Samir Mansour’s Library (PHOTOS)'”
By Mahmoud Ajjour – Gaza
“Last Tuesday, an Israeli air raid turned Samir Mansour’s library into a heap of rubble after serving for many years as a primary intellectual source for Palestinian authors, researchers, and students.
“Prior to the destruction of the library, a reader could find an endless list of books, whether scholarly books, religious volumes, or a large number of translated international works – Russian literature, English novels, or South American authors.
“But it all ended at about 5 AM on Tuesday, May 18. Samir Mansour, the owner of the library, was sitting watching television when he learned that the Israeli military had made a telephone call to warn Palestinians that the entire building was about to be bombed.
“Mansour, in his 50s, rushed towards the library as if he was ready to stop the bombs with his bare hands. Nearly 200 meters away, he realized the futility of his quest. He stopped, retreated, and watched the whole thing happen.
“In the early 1980s, Mansour was only 15 years old when he assumed his first job, helping his father with the library. In 2000, he developed his father’s project further by establishing a publishing house, which later became an essential outlet for Palestinian authors and educators, especially after the hermetic blockade on the Gaza Strip in 2006.
But now, nothing is left but smashed chairs and mutilated books.
“’40 years of my life were destroyed in a second,’ Mansour said while clinching tightly on his cigarette.
“’There are 100,000 books buried under this mountain of concrete,’ he added. ‘And for what? Not only my library had nothing to do with any political party or group, I myself do not have any personal affiliation with any party or group.’
“Dr. Mahmoud Assaf is one of the publishing company’s most popular and read authors. ‘The first book I have ever bought was in this library, and the first book I have ever authored was published by this library. This library was not only an expression of Gaza’s intellectual community but the intellectual identity of all Palestinians everywhere. It is the beautiful face of Gaza,’ he said.”
“Until the region says unequivocally they acknowledge the right of Israel to exist as an independent Jewish state, there will be no peace.”Joe Biden
In my opinion it would be antisemitic to single out Israel for special treatment which is not rendered to any other state on the planet.
“Let’s get something straight here. Until the region says unequivocally they acknowledge the right of Israel to exist as an independent Jewish state, there will be no peace.”
Demanding Palestinians publicly state that Israel has the “right to exist” Is absurd, criminal in many ways. Like asking Native Americans to say that invaders, then the U.S. government had a right to massacre Native people. That the U.S. had a “right” to steal land, massacre people living on that land. Insane.
Asking people to acknowledge that the UN (under pressure) created Israel while stealing land from the Palestinian’s and created internationally recognized borders would be another issue. That “Israel exist” based on those internationally recognized borders is a more likely possibility.
At the same time demanding that Israel recognize Palestine exist on those same internationally recognized borders. That Israel has to pull out all illegal settlements and settlers or come to terms with the only solution is ONE STATE, ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE.
Here’s what the Mondoweiss klaxon, trumpet, and loudspeaker should continue to blare out: AMERICANS, THE GOVERNMENT IS ROBBING YOU! A bulk of your hard-earned taxes to not to improve US health and education, not to help struggling cities like St Louis, Baltimore, Detroit, but to ISRAEL, which just bombed Gaza refugee camps (yet again), killing over 240 people, many of them childen and their mothers.
Americans, your tax money paid for that. Biden was VP in Obama’s White House, which gave $380 billion of YOUR tax money to Israel, a WHITE EAST EUROPEAN invading/occupying apartheid country, to buy bombs, battleships, F-16’s, and drones with which to kill the dark-skinned Palestinians, who for centuries lived peacefully in that land with dark-skinned Sephardic Jews.. Israel calls the bombing of Gaza, killing whole families, “mowing the lawn”.
Americans, do you want to go on paying for this inhumanity (while the White House and Congress ignore you, the voters, taxpayers? If not, it’s time to demand CHANGE – no more money to Israel (it’s already wealthier than Italy.) No more support at the UN for Israel’s bombing of Gaza and shooting, imprisoning children (and other Palestinians) in the West Bank. No more illegal Jewish “settlements” on Palestinian land. No more saying “Israel” has a right to defend itself and Palestinians don’t.
Americans, you’re being hurt financially and being hurt in the way America’s perceived in the world – as an inhumane White Racist bully.
Only you, American people, can make the government change. If you can, it will be good for you, good for the people of Palestine – and good for the world.