Though the United States remains a strong supporter of Israel, there are some indications that the supposed ‘unbreakable bond’ with Tel Aviv is faltering, though more in language than in deeds.
Following the provocative ‘Flagg mars’ on May 18, which is carried out annually by Israeli Jewish extremists in the Occupied Palestinian city of East Jerusalem, the US joined other countries around the world in condemning the racism displayed at the event.
The language used by the US State Department was firm, but also guarded. Spokesman Matthew Miller did not condemn the racist, provocative march – which involved leading Israeli officials – but the language used by the large crowds, most of whom are strong supporters of the far-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"USA motsetter seg utvetydig rasistisk språk av enhver form," Miller twitret. "Vi fordømmer de hatefulle ropene som "Død til arabere" under dagens marsjer i Jerusalem."
Carefully articulated not to appear as a condemnation of Israel itself, the US position is still more ‘balanced’ than previous positions, where Palestinians were often the ones associated with the US use of words such as “condemnation”, “incitement”, and the like.
På den annen side, under den israelske blodige fem-dagers krig on Gaza, starting on May 9, Washington had resorted to the same old script, that of Israel having the ‘right to defend itself’, thus entirely misrepresenting the events which led to the war in the first place.
This US position on Israel’s war on Gaza suggests that Netanyahu is the ‘defender’ of Israel against supposed Palestinian violence and ‘terrorism’. But this purported champion of Israeli rights is yet to be invitert to the White House five months after he returned to power at the helm of Israel’s most rightwing government in history.
Some want to believe that the decision by the Joe Biden administration to distance itself from Netanyahu was entirely altruistic. But that cannot be the case, as the US continues to back Israel militarily, financially, politically and in every other way.
Svaret ligger i Netanyahus store feilberegninger fra fortiden, da han krysset en farlig grense ved å vende seg mot Det demokratiske partiet og alliere hans land helt med republikanere. Taktikken hans ga utbytte under den republikanske president Donald Trumps periode, men slo tilbake da Trump forlot Det hvite hus.
Biden er utvilsomt pro-Israel. Ifølge hans egne gjentatte bemerkninger er hans støtte til Israel ikke bare politisk, men også ideologisk. «Jeg er en sionist. Du trenger ikke være jøde for å være sionist,” har han gjentatt, og stolt det, ved flere anledninger.
But the US President is also anti-Netanyahu, en motvilje som til og med gikk forut for kjærlighetsforholdet mellom Trump og Netanyahu. Det meste datoer back to Barack Obama’s two terms in office, when Biden was the vice president.
Netanyahu’s political shenanigans and relentless attacks on the Obama Administration at the time taught Biden that Netanyahu simply cannot be trusted.
Likevel kan Biden, med historisk lave rangeringer blant vanlige amerikanere, umulig på egen hånd utfordre Netanyahu og Israels høyborg på Washington gjennom sin innflytelsesrike lobby.
Noe annet er på jobb, nemlig det faktum at det demokratiske partiet som helhet hadde skiftet troskap, fra Israel til Palestina.
Denne påstanden ville vært utenkelig tidligere, men endringen er reell, bekreftet gang på gang av troverdige meningsmålingsselskaper. De siste var i mars.
“After a decade in which Democrats have shown increasing affinity toward the Palestinians, their sympathies … now lie more with the Palestinians than the Israelis, 49% versus 38%,” the Gallup poll konkluderte.
The fact that such growing ‘affinity’ with Palestine has been taking place for at least a decade suggests that the position of the Democrats was a generational one, not an outcome of a single event.
Indeed, numerous organizations and countless individuals are working on a daily basis to create a link between ‘affinity’ and policy.
Buoyed by the growing sympathies for Palestine, long-time advocate of Palestinians’ rights in the US Congress, Rep. Betty McCollum gjeninnføres, on May 5, the ‘Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act’.
Co-sponsored by 16 other members of Congress, the legislation demands that Israel must be prohibited from using “US taxpayer dollars in the Occupied West Bank for the military detention, abuse or ill-treatment of Palestinian children.”
Two years earlier, the Intercept had rapportert that McCollum and her supporters were pushing towards barring US aid to Israel from “subsidizing a wider array of Israeli occupation tactics.”
Alex Kane skrev, this is “an indication of just how far the debate over the US aid to Israel has come in the past six years”, a reference to 2015, when McCollum introduced the first legislation on the matter.
Siden den gang har ting gått fremover i enda mer akselerert hastighet. Arbeidet med å holde Israel ansvarlig har nå nådd delstatsforsamlingen i New York.
On May 16, The New York Post rapportert that legislation was introduced by several Democratic lawmakers aimed at blocking registered US charities from funneling money to fund illegal Israeli Jewish settlements.
De lovgivning, “Not on Our Dime!: Ending New York Funding of Israeli Settler Violence Act” dares to challenge Israel on multiple fronts: the traditional power of the pro-Israel lobby, questioning US funding of Israel and confronting the channeling of funds to illegal settlements in the name of charity work.
Several reasons compel us to believe that the shift in US policy on Palestine and Israel, though slow, nuanced and, at times, symbolic, will likely continue.
One is the fact that Israel is turning towards far-right nationalism, which is increasingly difficult to defend by US liberal government and media.
For det andre, palestinernes standhaftighet og deres evne til å overvinne mainstream mediebegrensninger og sensur som hadde forhindret dem fra å ha noen rettferdig representasjon.
And, finally, the dedication of numerous civil society organizations and the widening network of support for Palestinians throughout the US, which allowed courageous lawmakers to push for substantive change in policy.
Tiden vil vise hvilken retning Washington vil ta i fremtiden. Men, tatt i betraktning de nåværende bevisene, synker støtten til Israel med hastigheter som er uten sidestykke.
For de som tar til orde for en rettferdig fred i Palestina, er dette en god ting.
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