The highly lopsided and dangerously tilted policy of the United States towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had badly damaged its credentials as honest broker and that is why its leadership gets cold shouldered response from the Arab world in this regard. There is overwhelming perception and realization that visits of President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel and other Middle-East countries were not aimed at restoring peace but window-dressing to hoodwink domestic public opinion that favours neutrality on the issue and wants the leadership to play a positive role in stopping the ongoing carnage of Palestinians. The visits were not a sincere attempt aimed at mediation but to serve the need of the domestic political parties and elections in the United States.
As the war unfolded following a stunning attack of Hamas against Israeli targets on October 07 and subsequent massive bombing of Gaza by Israeli forces, the world looked towards the UN and great powers, especially the United States to take urgent initiatives for stoppage of hostilities and restoration of peace in the region but Washington did not move beyond expressing solidarity with the Jewish state, providing military and economic assistance to sharpen teeth of Tel Aviv and condemning ‘terrorist’ attack by Hamas. Keeping the US stance in view, the world did not expect dramatic outcome of President Biden’s visit to Israel on October 18 but still there were expectations that he would press for a halt to the daily carnage in Gaza or at least unimpeded humanitarian aid into the besieged territory but instead he gave Israel the green light to act as it sees fit. He likened the Hamas attack to 9/11 attacks in the United States, thereby giving Israel free hand to retaliate as the US did after the 9/11 to legitimize state-sponsored terrorism. In fact, the pattern and outcome of the scheduled talks with Israeli leadership became clear to the world when Biden, shamelessly, hugged war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog on the tarmac of Bin Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. In fact, Biden’s mission was to display resolve for Israel and to diminish the likelihood of a wider war and in pursuance of the discussions held with Israeli leadership the administration dispatched warships and marines to the region to convey a message to other potential parties to the conflict to stay away.
A planned meeting between Biden and regional leaders fell apart after a catastrophic bombing at a hospital in Gaza killed hundreds of Palestinians just hours before the president landed in Israel. Biden had planned to stop in Amman, Jordan, where he was scheduled for discussions with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Egypt’s El-Sissi and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The Arab leaders called off the meeting following the hospital attack. However, strangely enough, instead of condemning this inhuman act and war crime of Israel, President Biden, at a news conference at the conclusion of his visit to Tel Aviv, remarked as if the attack on hospital was carried out by Hamas itself.
Critics of the United States accuse it of not pushing hard enough to end the decades-old Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, while at the same time mobilizing significant efforts to counter Russia’s occupation of parts of Ukraine. It was in this backdrop that the visits of President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Blinken were seen not as serious or concrete moves for conflict resolution but advancing security interests of Israel.
The US Secretary of State, Mr. Blinken also visited the Jewish state thrice since the start of the conflict in Gaza and every time he expressed solidarity with Tel Aviv and defended ‘Israel’s right to defend itself’. Interestingly, he also repeatedly called for avoiding loss of civilian lives but hollowness of the statement was corroborated by the ground situation as every time, after the visit, Israel stepped up its bombardment of the area, killing mostly women and children. How can the Secretary of State be considered as sincere broker of peace when he brazenly declared before journalists that he came to Tel Aviv “not just as secretary of state, but also a Jew”, adding “I understand on a personal level, the harrowing echoes that Hamas’ massacres carry for Israeli Jews, as well as Jews everywhere.”
The US Secretary of State also visited other regional countries but the apparent agenda and objective was not cessation of hostilities and prevention of loss of precious lives but to pressure Hamas and discuss ways and means how to prevent the war from spreading. It was because of this that the Arab leadership did not take him seriously and according to reports he was even snubbed by some leaders. During their meeting, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) unequivocally told Blinken that the Kingdom seeks to calm tensions, stop the current escalation, respect international humanitarian law, lift the siege on Gaza, and work to create conditions for the return of stability. It may also be mentioned that the ongoing conflict forced the Kingdom to announce suspension of the process of normalization with Israel. The crown prince said that Saudi Arabia is calling for a peaceful resolution to ensure that the Palestinian people obtain their legitimate rights and achieve a just and lasting peace.
As against the US policy of protecting and promoting interests of the Jewish state at the cost of struggling Palestinians, Russian President Vladimir Putin won applause during his recent visit to the Middle East where he discussed ways and means for a just and durable settlement of the conflict. He aligned himself with an Arab push for an immediate ceasefire and the eventual establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
Numerous surveys and studies carried out by different think tanks reveal that apart from the international public opinion, domestic public opinion in the United States is also weary of the lopsided approach of the Biden administration on the Israeli-Palestinians conflict with 41% disapproving its handling of the situation and 35% approving it. American people also believe that Israel is going too far in its operation against Hamas and about half of them say a two-state solution is still possible in the future. A study by Brookings concluded that the initial focus was almost entirely on the toll inflicted by Hamas on Israeli civilians, which generated sympathy across the United States, the Israeli bombings of Gaza and the civilian toll among Palestinians have begun to shift attitudes among key constituencies. There was measurable change across the partisan divide, except among young Democrats. As presidential election season intensifies, the division in attitudes on this issue will likely remain or even intensify.
It is height of duplicity that the United States claims to be champion of democracy and human rights but its successive administrations remained active partners in depriving Palestinians their birth right. In fact, the way minorities, especially Muslims, are treated in the United States makes it a sham democracy.
