As Israel Plans Gaza Ethnic Cleansing, US Says No Palestinian-American self-immolates in anti-war protest

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In an escalation of the stakes against US policy on Gaza, an anti-war protestor draped in a Palestinian flag, poured gasoline on himself and lit a match. He self-immolated outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta.  News reports offer little more that that. Except for the astonishing statement by the Israeli consul general:

“We are saddened to learn of the self-immolation at the entrance to the office building,” the consul general of Israel to the southeastern U.S., Anat Sultan-Dadon, told ABC News. “It is tragic to see the hate and incitement toward Israel expressed in such a horrific way. The sanctity of life is our highest value.”

That last sentence has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?  The “sanctity of life.” She means all lives except Palestinians. There’s no sanctity as far as they are concerned.  There’s only hate and genocide.

This is a perfect reflection of the toxicity of Israel’s permanent war mentality.  The whole world is against us. Hates us. All of us. All Jews. But especially us. Given that we face nothing but enemies, we are justified in doing whatever it takes, whatever we want, whatever we deem necessary to defend ourselves (ie. advance our national interests). Israel never takes any consideration of what the rest of the world might think of what it does, or why it might think that.

A man is willing to sacrifice his life on behalf of his murdered brethren & sisters in Gaza. And all this cruel, heartless so-called diplomat can say is he was driven by hate.  Suicide is not an act of hate. It is an act of desperation. It is a demand for change. A demand for relief.  The victim takes on suffering in order to stop greater suffering.

Upping the ante in the anti-war campaign

Rather than offering a statement of regret, Sultan-Dadon has further enraged the American public.  Even more importantly, faced with this attempted suicide (the victim is in critical condition with third degree burns), members of Congress must face the cold, hard truth that the situation in Gaza is never going to change or end without more decisive action, more decisive opposition–to Israeli genocide.

If Democrats in Congress don’t up the pressure on the White House for an about-face on policy, there will be more self-immolations. If we doubt for a second that there are hundreds, perhaps thousands more Palestinian-Americans willing to die for their country, and do so publicly and dramatically-we are delusional.  How many more Atlantas will it take?

Change is coming incrementally: a majority of Americans now oppose Israel’s war in Gaza; 40 House members now call for a ceasefire; Democratic senators are calling, for the first time, for placing conditions on US military aid to Israel–even as as we’re supplying Israel with some of our most lethal weapons:

The U.S. has provided Israel with large bunker buster bombs, among tens of thousands of other weapons and artillery shells…U.S. officials said.

The surge of arms, including roughly 15,000 bombs and 57,000 artillery shells, began shortly after the Oct. 7 attack and has continued in recent days, the officials said. The U.S. hasn’t previously disclosed the total number of weapons it sent to Israel, nor the transfer of 100 BLU-109, 2,000-pound bunker buster bombs.

The airlift of hundreds of millions of dollars in munitions, primarily on C-17 military cargo planes flying from the U.S. to Tel Aviv, shows the diplomatic challenge facing the Biden administration. The U.S. is urging its top ally in the region to consider preventing large-scale civilian casualties while supplying many of the munitions deployed.

…Among the [other] munitions the U.S. has transferred to Israel are more than 5,000 Mk82 unguided or “dumb” bombs, more than 5,400 Mk84 2,000 pound warhead bombs, around 1,000 GBU-39 small diameter bombs, and approximately 3,000 JDAMs, which turn unguided bombs into guided “smart” bombs

…Some security analysts say the weapons transfers could undercut the administration’s pressure on Israel to protect civilians.

Gee, d’ya think?  How’s that for hypocrisy? As we call on Israel to stop killing so many Gazans, we provide it with the capacity to kill tens of thousands more.

The movement in US policy has happened at a glacial pace.  At first, Biden was all-in for Israel.  $16-billion in military aid including bunker busters, missiles, etc.  Then, 13 members of Congress called for a ceasefire.  So Biden was forced to go to Israel and lecture the security cabinet about US failures in Vietnam and Iraq. That had no effect.  So US officials started calling for humanitarian aid and observance of international law.  They did all of this half-heartedly of course, and it had absolutely no impact on Israel’s generals or political leaders.

But after the ceasefire ended and Israel resumed the slaughter in Gaza, a light bulb went off in Biden’s head: hey, Israel isn’t going to do the right thing. It isn’t going to listen to me.  All my ballyhoo about the positive results we’re getting from private diplomacy–none of it worked. So what’s Plan B?

There’s another reason why US policy has now turned on a dime: finally Biden realizes his poll numbers are in the toilet. He’s losing to Trump in every major opinion survey.  His support dipped 11% in a single month.  He faces losing the election because he stood by while Israel slaughtered Palestinians.  He finally understands he better do something, and do it quick.

Go to Plan B

Plan B is Vice President Harris speaking out far more forcefully today about Gaza (Reuters also carries this story):

“Under no circumstances will the United States permit the forced relocation of Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank, the besiegement of Gaza, or the redrawing of the borders of Gaza,” Harris said in a meeting on Saturday with President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi of Egypt, according to a readout of the remarks.

“The United States is unequivocal: International humanitarian law must be respected. Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed,” the vice president said in a press conference, adding that “the scale of civilian suffering and the images and videos coming from Gaza are devastating.”

“The international community must dedicate significant resources to support short- and long-term recovery in Gaza, for example, rebuilding hospitals and housing, restoring electricity and clean water and ensuring that bakeries can reopen and be restocked,” she said.

“There must be security arrangements that are acceptable to Israel, the people of Gaza, the Palestinian Authority, and the international partners.”

“We want to see a unified Gaza and West Bank under the Palestinian Authority (PA), and Palestinian voices and aspirations must be at the center of this work,” she said.

The White House read-out of the Al-Sisi meeting said:

The Vice President reiterated that under no circumstances will the United States permit the forced relocation of Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank, the besiegement of Gaza, or the redrawing of the borders of Gaza.

The Vice President discussed U.S. ideas for post-conflict planning in Gaza including efforts on reconstruction, security, and governance. She emphasized that these efforts can only succeed if they are pursued in the context of a clear political horizon for the Palestinian people towards a state of their own led by a revitalized Palestinian Authority and have significant support from the international community and the countries of the region.

The Vice President made clear that Hamas cannot control Gaza, which is untenable for Israel’s security, the well-being of the Palestinian people, and regional security.

Despite this far clearer and more emphatic statement opposing ethnic cleansing, Israeli siege, and Israeli land-grab in northern Gaza, US policy remains in a delusional state. First, the US can say all it wants.  What really matters is what Israel does.  Words don’t matter, Action does.  Israel acts, Harris talks.  Are we prepared to face-down Bibi?  Are we prepared to stand by our words and invoke consequences if Israel defies them?  If the answer is No (as I suspect), then we’re just pissing in the wind.

Harris can talk all she wants about an “international campaign of humanitarian relief and reconstruction.”  But it’s just words.  Israel controls what happens in Gaza.  It will not permit rebuilding Gaza. It will close its crossings and will likely coordinate with Egypt to do the same.  The Israeli siege will continue as before–with the added burden of a Gaza in ruins with no way to rebuild itself.

What will we do here to oppose Israel?  We are here. They are there. They control the show.  To change conditions on the ground, we will have to have skin in the game. We will have to declare our interests and stand by them–impose them on Israel if necessary. Again, will we do that?  I doubt it. But time will tell. Maybe a miracle will happen.

The same holds true with Harris’ declaration that we demand a “clear political horizon towards a Palestinian state.”  What does a “clear political horizon” even mean?  It’s just mumbo-jumbo.  There is either a Palestinian state, or there isn’t. Wishing for a horizon without any clear plan to make it visible is useless.  Everyone except for Harris and the other two members of the three-blind-mice–Biden, Blinken–know there’s no horizon for such a state.  It simply won’t happen.  Israel has too much at stake to permit it.  And again, unless we’re prepared to force the issue, you can kiss the idea goodbye: no Palestinian state.

As for her fantasy of “revitalizing the Palestinian Authority–how?  It consists of corrupt aging men eager to do one thing: divide the spoils among them and their families.  The PA does not exist.  It consists of a small group of cronies who are living off the handouts of international donors.  They don’t govern for the people. They provide the people with nothing. No security. No rule of law. No services. As a result, the West Bank has become a no-man’s land.  PA security is nowhere to be seen.  PA-appointed governors do not govern. Militant groups run refugee camps, towns and villages, in defiance of any PA authority (such as it is).

What will we “revitalize?”  And even we lay Abbas in his coffin and bury him, who will take his place?  Yet another crony with his hand in the till.  And you want to give Gaza to them to run?  As policy, this is laughable. What’s not laughable is the mayhem resulting from our unwillingness to make these words real.

The vice-president’s call for “security arrangements that are acceptable to Israel, the people of Gaza, the Palestinian Authority…” is another bit of magical thinking.  What security arrangements that are acceptable to Israel would be acceptable to the people of Gaza?  It’s like dumping a scorpion and a rattlesnake in a box and telling them to come up with a plan for co-existence.

What will the US do if there is no such agreement?  Do we have a plan?  Even if we do (unlikely), how will we implement it?  Will we force it on Israel against its will (of course not).  If we’re not prepared to impose our own plan in the event the parties can’t come up with an agreement, then we’re left with Israel holding all the cards.  Security arrangements will be as it dictates.

What if Israel decides it will reoccupy Gaza in order to “finish the job” of “rooting out the terrorists?”  What are we willing to do to prevent that?  Are we willing to impose penalties for defying us?

If we let Israel go its own way in Gaza, we may nibble at the edges. We may get some concessions once in a while from Israel just to keep us satisfied; and to permit Biden to crow to the American people that he brought a single truck into Gaza with humanitarian aid.  Or that he got a single house or school rebuilt.  All this is meaningless.  Putting a bandaid on a tumor.

Gaza needs and deserves more. Much more.  And it deserves it not only because is it humane and just, but because a decimated Gaza will fuel bloodshed throughout the region for decades, even generations to come.