Published in AstroAwani, image by AstroAwani.
It is now clear that Israel is the implacable foe of the United States (US). And, vice versa. Barring this scenario both have divvied up their roles as a “Good Cop” and “Bad” one to keep the genocidal rampage on going. Let’s go through the logic of each entity’s policy, no matter how morbid it can be.
All proposals that suggest the need for a six week ceasefire, leading to the release of all hostages —- of which there are 8 Thais and 1 Filipino in captivity —- of which Malaysia is trying to exert the full influence to get them out, has been lingering on the diplomatic scene since February 2024.
On average, the population in Gaza needs 500 trucks of humanitarian aid each day, which is merely a minimal threshold according to the report of the UN Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez.
Given the extent to which Gazans have been bombed to pulp, nearly 1.7 million of them confined to Rafah, famine and malnourishment have long crept in; with potential deadly and generational implications. Why ?
Half of the 2.7 million population in Gaza are mostly women and children under the age of 16. They are the ones most in need of the most basic sustenance. Either to prevent hunger from ravishing their bodies or expose them to more damaging effects of prolonged deprivation of the most rudimentary nutrition —- without which all of them, elderly men and women included, will face physical and psychological retardation if not mortal threats to their lives too.
Time and again, the likes of extremely brave physicians and medics, including 14,000 workers in the United Nations Relief Work Agency (UNRWA) have sent out urgent feelers that Gaza is indeed on the verge of a man made humanitarian catastrophe since January 2024 if not earlier.
Their calls for global, even regional support from the leaders of the Arab world, have not been heeded. To the degree the US has criticized Israel for more foreboding circumstances to come —- where Israel is already the pariah of the world and has dragged the name of the US through the mud —- the War Cabinet of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has proceeded to ignore all these warnings.
What is a Prime Minister, essentially enabled by the US to be the Crime Minister too. Since as recent as last week, when the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague once again told Israel to cease and desist from any military activities on the ground and in the air, the US has affirmed that the White House has provided “no red lines” to stop Israel from its egregious genocidal acts.
Thus, as and when the US has asked Hamas to accept the 6 week ceasefire, the likes of President Joe Biden —- who claims to be a proud Zionist as early as 1973—has made all the sound bites that have fallen on fallow ground.
As things stand, the Biden Administration has become totally complicit in the war crimes of Israel. This is not a small matter given the tendency of the US to preach to the world that it is the fount of human rights, if not the key architect of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. All of that rings hollow and has severely ripped off the mast of American triple standards of diplomacy.
One, while it continues to defend Israel, it has also cut Israel a lot of unnecessary slack. 67 percent of Israel’s ammunition stockpile is from the US. While claiming to be a standards bearer of free press, more than 150 journalists from all over the world have been killed in Gaza. More than any conflicts since 1945.
Two, while the US may think it is its responsibility to protect Israel, the fact of the matter is the US and Israel’s relationship are not formed nor built on any treaty. It is a relationship that blossomed from the myth of the 6 Day War, starting on June 5th 1967, where Israel expanded its territory by more than 300 percent, that gave credence to the belief of some Evangelical Christian groups in the US, some 4000 of which have congealed into the Christians United for Israel (CUFI), that Israel is the biblical concept of the “Chosen People.”
Three, but this over indulgent interpretation of Israel is false. Many theologians and rabbis in the world know it too. The notion of a “chosen people” attests to the need to excel in moral excellence. Genocide is definitely not one of them.
Thus, while the likes of President elect Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia welcomes the steps taken by the US to nudge Israel in the right direction to “end this war, “the fact is the US and Israel appeared joined at the hips.
The American Israel Public Affairs Commission (AIPAC) and CUFI have not denied their alliance. In fact, the latter believes in the end of the day belief —- spurillous at best and sacrilegious at worst —-that the Messiah shall return to create world peace beginning with his descent to Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, the Biden Administration is bleeding tremendous support. In 2020, President Biden won the first term of his office by claiming 30 percent of the youth votes. As of the middle of May, the Biden Administration has 17 percent left from the youth votes. The numbers will continue to decline.
Come what may, all talks about asking Hamas to accept the cease fire has had everything completely backward. The ones that are intransigent are the people leading the War Cabinet and the Israeli Cabinet. More outrageously, Crime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has affirmed on May 31 2024 that he needs another 7 months to completely rout Hamas out. How ?
More than 90 percent of the people in Gaza, feeling hapless, including those in West Bank, are screaming “We Are Hamas, We Are Hamas,” according to the likes of Khalid Shikaki one of the most trusted pollsters in Palestine.
The very cruelties of Israel and the US, even if the latter is donning the role of a seeming albeit hypocritical good cop, has turned all the Palestinians, indeed, most of the world who hates this genocide, all in their vivid colors, have learned to reject the US.
Dr Rais Hussin is the Founder of EMIR Research, a think tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based on rigorous research
