Biden punts on settler abuses

Michael F. Brown Rights and Accountability 28 November 2023

Joe Biden and Antony Blinken seated with an American flag between them

President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have abetted Israel’s war crimes in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Shawn Thew Pool via CNP

The Biden administration is not showing serious resolve to stand up to violent settler activity in the West Bank.

A State Department official told The Electronic Intifada on Saturday that questions about Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir reportedly giving instructions that Israeli police are not to enforce the law on settlers in the West Bank would have to be addressed to “Minister Ben-Gvir and Israeli police.”

No words of criticism of the minister, a supporter of the racist Meir Kahane, were offered.

The same response – ask Ben-Gvir and Israeli police – was given to a question about Israeli police reportedly having closed out an investigation into a settler rampage against Palestinians in the town of Huwwara.
The State Department official offered nothing new when asked about President Joe Biden’s recent Washington Post op-ed in which he wrote, “I have been emphatic with Israel’s leaders that extremist violence against Palestinians in the West Bank must stop and that those committing the violence must be held accountable. The United States is prepared to take our own steps, including issuing visa bans against extremists attacking civilians in the West Bank.”

The State Department official said, “We have been consistent and vocal – publicly and directly with the government of Israel – in our condemnation of extremist settler violence against Palestinian civilians.”

Yet these remain empty words without implementing meaningful actions. Biden’s op-ed gives the impression of trying to appease Democratic critics of the administration while – once again – substantive action is not taken.

The State Department official added, “And as President Biden has said, there must [be] accountability for settler violence, and we are prepared to take our own measures including visa restrictions.”

There were “no further specific details to preview at this stage.”

Don’t believe a word

The Biden administration is once again back to kicking the can down the road. It’s the same do-nothing policy the administration took for its first two-plus years in office – which ended disastrously for all involved.

Without concrete measures, there’s no reason to believe a word of Biden’s op-ed when it comes to holding Israelis accountable for lawbreaking.

Netanyahu got a green light from Biden for violence against Gaza. And the White House spokesperson John Kirby announced no red lines.

Now, at worst, Netanyahu’s got a yellow light for the West Bank. As many drivers know, a yellow light isn’t cautionary but a signal to hit the gas.

And Israeli settlers are hitting the gas at the moment.

Their actions have led more than 1,000 Palestinians to flee their homes since 7 October.

Biden’s ally in Israel is ethnically cleansing Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza, where desperate people are already getting out if they can and 1.7 million people are internally displaced – and now being fatally shot at or injured if they try to return to their homes in the north of Gaza.

All the while, a message of ethnic cleansing and Israel returning permanently to Gaza is being pushed by Israeli settlers and government officials.

The president is even misrepresenting the humanitarian aid now going into Gaza, which used to be closer to 400 or even 500 trucks a day. The amount entering is still insufficient.

Only a grassroots movement might move Biden away from support for further war crimes inflicted by Israel’s apartheid army and settlers accountable to no one.

The worst horrors may well still lie ahead if Netanyahu’s determination to wipe out Gaza from north to south isn’t stopped by the US and other countries.

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Jack T replied on

It is beyond any shadow of doubt that western leaders, including Biden, Sunak and Starmer are complicit in Netanyahu's war crimes. Hopefully an international team of lawyers is assembling a case against them to be presented at the Hague.

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tom hall replied on

Visa restrictions?! If those thugs wanted anything to do with the United States, they'd still be roaming the streets and parks of Brooklyn and Philadelphia. Telling them they're no longer welcome in America is not going to break their hearts- they're right where they want to be- in someone else's home, given to them four thousand years ago by G_d.

It's pointless demanding that Biden be held accountable for the crimes committed under his authority. His debilitated condition will absolve him of legal accountability. This isn't the case with the circle around him making the key decisions in this genocide. Biden, Sullivan, and the Pentagon chiefs must be arrested and tried. A good place to start is in federal court with the Center for Constitutional Rights' suit to block the administration's active support for genocide. Here's a recent press release-
https://ccrjustice.org/home/pr...

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Jack T replied on

Quite rightly, age or infirmity did not stop the Simon Weisenthal Centre from hunting down and procecuting Nazi war criminals. War criminals should not be able to rest, thinking that they can escape justice.

Michael F. Brown

Michael F. Brown is an independent journalist. His work and views have appeared in The International Herald Tribune, TheNation.com, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The News & Observer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Washington Post and elsewhere.