Politics Opinion

The view from Washington: Let the killing in Gaza continue

By | | comments |
President Joe Biden approved weapons sales to intensify the Israeli war machine (Screenshot via YouTube)

In aiding the Israeli campaign against Gaza, the United States is perpetuating crimes against humanity, writes Dr Binoy Kampmark.

BLOODLETTING as form; murder as fashion. The ongoing campaign in Gaza by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) continues without stalling and restriction. But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets: How to justify it?

Fortunately for Israel, the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover for murder covered in the sheath of self-defence.   

Such cover also takes the form of false fairness and forced balance.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote inanely in the Washington Post on 31 October:

‘We don’t have to choose between defending Israel and aiding Palestinian civilians. We can and must do both. That is the only way to stand firmly by one of our closest allies, protecting innocent lives, uphold the international rules of the road that ultimately benefit the American people, and preserve the sole viable path to lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians: two states for two peoples.‘

Given that innocent lives are being taken with mechanistic ruthlessness, international laws broken with impunity and any remnant of a Palestinian state being liquidated, Blinken seemingly inhabits a parallel universe of mind-bending cynicism.

The latest attempt to halt hostilities came in the form of an intervention by UN Secretary-General António Guterres under the auspices of Article 99 of the UN Charter. The article grants the Secretary-General the liberty to ‘bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion, may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security’.

In his 6 December letter to the members of the Security Council, Guterres gives a brief account of the conflict, commencing on 7 October. After noting the death of 1,200 Israelis and 250 abductions (130 are still being held in captivity in Gaza), the focus shifts to the death of over 15,000 individuals in the strip itself, ‘more than 40 per cent of whom were children’.

Somewhere in the order of 80 per cent of the population of 2.2 million residents in Gaza had been displaced, with 1.1 million seeking refuge in UNRWA facilities across the strip ‘creating overcrowded, undignified and unhygienic conditions’. The provision of viable health care had all but ceased, with 14 hospitals of 36 facilities ‘partially functional’. Overall, Gaza was facing ‘a severe risk of collapse of the humanitarian system’.

The Secretary-General concludes his note by urging the Security Council members ‘to press to avert a humanitarian catastrophe’ and seek a ‘humanitarian ceasefire’. But on 8 December, Washington predictably sabotaged the passage of the follow-up resolution, which had been proposed by the United Arab Emirates. (Thirteen countries voted for the measure with the United Kingdom abstaining.) The resolution demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and ensuring humanitarian access.

The U.S. deputy ambassador to the UN, Robert A Wood, claimed that he and the delegation had ‘engaged in good faith on the text’. But ‘nearly all’ of Washington’s recommendations had been ignored, resulting in ‘an unbalanced resolution divorced from reality on the ground’. Again, a sticking point was the omission in the draft of any reference to Hamas’s attack on 7 October, Israel’s right to self-defence and reference to any permission for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to access and provide medical treatment to the hostages still being held by Hamas.

With the gloves off, Wood made it clear that, in solidarity with Israel, the U.S. will not countenance the continued existence of Hamas:

‘The resolution retains a call for an unconditional ceasefire — this is not only unrealistic but dangerous; it will simply leave Hamas in place, able to regroup and repeat what it did on 7 October.’

While Israel’s UN ambassador, Gilad Erdan, was not present to address the Security Council, he subsequently affirmed the blood-curdling, unending mission his country has embarked upon:

“A ceasefire will be possible only with the return of all the hostages and the destruction of Hamas.”

As this farcical theatre of constipated morality unfolded, the Biden Administration was happy to beef up the Israeli war machine by asking Congress to urgently approve the sale of 45,000 shells for the IDF’s Merkava tanks to aid its offensive in Gaza. The sale, worth around US$500 million (AUD $759.6 million), does not form part of Biden’s US$110.5 billion (AUD $167.7 billion) supplemental request that covers funding for both Ukraine and Israel.

In pursuing such a course of action, be it defending Israel’s policies in the Security Council, or via armaments, the U.S. is effectively colluding in the perpetration of crimes against humanity. This was certainly the view of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who said in a statement released by his office that ‘the American position is aggressive and immoral, a flagrant violation of all humanitarian principles and values, and holds the United States responsible for the bloodshed of Palestinian children, women and elderly people in the Gaza Strip’.

Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, also expressed the view that the U.S., in vetoing the resolution, had:

“...displayed a callous disregard for civilian suffering in the face of a staggering death toll, extensive destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe happening in the occupied Gaza Strip. [Washington had] brazenly wielded and weaponised its veto to strongarm the UN Security Council, further undermining its credibility and ability to live up to its mandate to maintain international peace and security.” 

Not that it had much credibility to begin with.

Dr Binoy Kampmark is a Cambridge Scholar and lecturer at RMIT University. You can follow Dr Kampmark on Twitter @BKampmark.

Related Articles

Support independent journalism Subscribe to IA.

 
Recent articles by Binoy Kampmark
Draconian social media ban doomed to fail

The proposed legislation to restrict the age limit for social media use is destined ...  
Hypocrisy rife at COP29 as fossil fuel groups gather

Continuing last year's tradition, the COP29 summit was less about saving the planet ...  
BHP pays hefty price for deadly Brazilian dam disaster

Mining giant BHP has been forced to pay $47 billion after a settlement was reached ...  
Join the conversation
comments powered by Disqus

Support Fearless Journalism

If you got something from this article, please consider making a one-off donation to support fearless journalism.

Single Donation

$

Support IAIndependent Australia

Subscribe to IA and investigate Australia today.

Close Subscribe Donate