By Zhong Cheng
The current confrontation between Israel and Palestine erupted on May 10 and has been deemed the most serious of its kind since 2014. With no hope for peace, the continued tensions have not only impacted security in the Middle East, but also renewed the debate surrounding the Palestinian cause.
Though a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, came into effect on May 21, there is no way to end the decades-old cycle of conflict and violence, other than by creating a Palestinian state on the basis of the “two-state solution” under international law and UN resolutions.
The UN Security Council (UNSC) failed on three successive occasions to issue a statement or adopt a resolution on this military confrontation due to U.S. opposition. The first two were closed sessions, in which the U.S. rebuffed calls for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza conflict. The U.S. delegation also pushed to postpone an open UNSC meeting held to discuss the conflict, also with the aim of avoiding a collective call for an immediate ceasefire.
When the open session finally took place on May 16, the overwhelming majority of UNSC members called for an immediate ceasefire, the protection of civilians, and the avoidance of additional casualties. These countries also urged a political settlement and called on Palestine and Israel to resume peace talks on the basis of the “two-state solution.” They stressed that the UNSC should speak with a unanimous voice, advance the peace talks process in a just manner and work for the peaceful coexistence of Palestine and Israel.
Nevertheless, the meeting was unable to agree on a joint statement as the U.S. delegation refused to adopt language that condemned Israel or call for a halt to attacks against Hamas targets in Gaza.
A White House statement, issued after U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reflected reticence by the U.S. leader to criticize Israel. Biden’s language notably avoided a demand that the ceasefire be “immediate.”
While advocating respect for human rights as an inclusive humanitarian principle that has no relation to religion, sect, color or origin of individuals, the U.S. turns a blind eye to flagrant violations of human rights in Gaza. Apparently, human rights, in the eyes of the U.S. Government, is a convenient diplomatic tool used to target its adversaries through the practice of double standard.
After Biden said on May 12 that Israel has a right to defend itself without mentioning anything about the Palestinians, progressive Democrats responded by highlighting the leader’s double standard. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter: “Blanket statements like these with little context or acknowledgement of what precipitated this cycle of violence, namely, the expulsions of Palestinians and attacks on Al-Aqsa, de-humanize the Palestinians and imply the U.S. will look the other way at human rights violations.”
Protests in London, Paris, Madrid and Berlin, among other European cities, continue to gather momentum even after the ceasefire. There are people of all ages and ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds at the demonstrations, including young people, regulars in the Black Lives Matter Movement, with many placards saying, “Palestinian Can’t Breath,” and “Palestinian Lives Matter.” They are seeing parallels between the Black Lives Matter and the Palestinian Lives Matter movements, as both revolve around questions of racial justice, discrimination and human rights. America’s largest Muslim civil rights group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, joined a boycott of a virtual White House Eid celebration.
–The Daily Mail-Beijing Review News Exchange Item
