President Joe Biden’s much-heralded visit to Jerusalem has confirmed that the United States remains Israel’s enabler-in-chief. To maintain Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory, President Biden pledged to continue providing $3.8 billion in military aid annually to Israel (more than any other country).
Pledging to “stand with the Jewish and democratic State of Israel,” Biden ignored the exclusion of the Palestinian people from Israel’s “democracy,” which extends only to Jewish people. Palestinians do not have the same democratic rights and freedoms as Jews. As Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem recently affirmed, Israel is an apartheid state.
After President Biden arrived in Ben Gurion Airport on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid was also there called him “a great Zionist and one of the best friends Israel has ever known.” Biden said, “You do not need to be a Jew to be a Zionist.” Israel is a Jewish theocracy whose Zionist government was created on Palestinian land.
The newly released Jerusalem U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership Joint Declaration, Biden and Lapin “affirm that they will continue to work together to combat all efforts to boycott or de-legitimize Israel, to deny its right to self-defense, or to unfairly single it out in any forum including at the United Nations or the International Criminal Court.”
That means the Biden administration commits to: opposing the constitutionally protected boycott, divestment and sanctions movement; affirming Israel’s illegal claim of self-defense against Palestinians under its occupation; stymying the International Criminal Court’s investigation of Israeli war crimes; and voting against any criticism of Israel in the UN General Assembly.
Biden promises allegiance to Israel while thousands of Palestinians living in Masafer Yatta in the occupied West Bank are facing imminent forced expulsionsThey can’t leave their homes. Despite protests from U.S. Jewish organizations, 100 U.S. Congressmen and U.S. Jewish organizations, Biden has not condemned this violation of the Geneva Conventions. Biden will not meet Masafer Yatta and any other Palestinian community whose homes may be demolished by U.S. tax money.
Biden’s visit comes on the heels of the U.S. government’s whitewashing of Israel’s assassination of beloved Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who reported for Al JazeeraFor 25 years. Although the U.S. concluded she was “likely” killed by the Israeli military, the U.S. said it had “no reason to believe” the killing was “intentional but rather the result of tragic circumstances.”
Abu Akleh, who was wearing a helmet and vest labeled “PRESS,” was shot below her earThe only part of her face that was not protected was the chin. Al JazeeraShatha Hanaysha was a journalist who wore a helmet marked as press and a vest marked as press. said the soldiers “did not stop firing even after [Abu Akleh] collapsed.… The army was adamant on shooting to kill.”
A CNNIn forensic investigations, explosive weapons expert Chris Cobb Smith was cited. concluded that “the number of strike marks on the tree where [Abu Akleh] was standing proves this wasn’t a random shot, she was targeted.” In a letter sent to President Biden in advance of his visit, Abu Akleh’s family charged that “the United States has been skulking toward the erasure of any wrongdoing by Israeli forces.”
Three prominent Palestinian journalist organizations filed a grievance two weeks before Israeli forces assassinated Abu Akleh. complaintInternational Criminal Court, which accused Israel of systematically attacking Palestinian journalists.
But Biden refused to meet with Abu Akleh’s familyWhile he was in the area.
Biden and Israelis had Iran at the top their agendas. Iran is a serious threat to Israel’s existence. Although the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was succeeding in preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, former President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the agreement in 2018, to Israel’s delight.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of ActionIran agreed to reduce its nuclear program and the U.S. would lift sanctions that cost billions of dollars.
Biden made a commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in his presidential campaign. However, he failed in his pledge to rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action after one year and a quarter. He also imposed additional sanctionsIran: Shamefully yielding to Israeli pressure
Biden has refused any other Trump actions that were favourable to Israel. He has not withdrawn Trump’s illegal recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Nor has he rescinded Trump’s declaration of legitimacy of illegal Israeli settlementsin the occupied West Bank, reopened the Palestinian Mission in Washington.
Biden’s visit to Israel demonstrates scant difference between his administration and Trump’s in their uncritical, unwavering support for Israel. Using our tax dollars, the U.S. government continues to enable Israel’s illegal and brutal occupation of Palestinian lands.
