Escalation in the Middle East and the fourth US veto in the UN

The United States’ new veto in the UN Security Council once again shows that the Biden administration’s words go one way, and its actions go the other.

Washington claims to support a ‘two-state solution’ – Israel and Palestine – but on Friday morning it blocked recognition of Palestinian statehood within the UN. This was the only vote in opposition. Of the fifteen members of the Security Council, twelve voted in favor and two (Switzerland and the United Kingdom) abstained. Without the US veto, the resolution would have passed the UN General Assembly, where a majority of nations would have supported the resolution.

With its veto, the Joe Biden administration once again contributes to strengthening Israel’s impunity, blocks another diplomatic roadblock and gives Tel Aviv time to implement a policy that fulfills its destiny. .

Recognition of the Palestinian state in the Security Council was proposed by Algeria and supported by the Arab group in the United Nations. In the hours and days before, the United States tried to avoid voting so as not to have to show its inconsistencies. He put pressure on some Security Council members, notably Ecuador, South Korea and Japan, but unlike previous occasions, this time he was unable to stop it.

Recognition of Palestinian statehood in the United Nations would not mean its implementation. Israeli occupation – with walls, military posts, settlements, more than 700,000 inhabitants, special-use roads, tax administration – makes it unviable today. But its refusal to recognize it in the United Nations shows what America’s stake is in its efforts to preserve it. remain so And clear the way for Israel.

Biden is using the regional enlargement story to defend sending more to Israel

Big contradiction between words and actions

Washington claims to defend peace in Palestine, but for years it has allowed the expansion of the illegal Israeli occupation and the strengthening of apartheid; It recognizes that Israel carries out indiscriminate bombing against the Palestinian population, but sends large packages of weapons to Tel Aviv and provides it with political and diplomatic cover. It expresses regret over the deaths of Palestinian children, but stops short of efforts to pressure the Israeli government to stop the genocide, which the planet has witnessed for the first time in real time.

This week, the United States asked the United Nations to condemn the Iranian attack against Israel, which caused no deaths – launched in response to the Israeli bombing against the Iranian embassy in Damascus, where several people were killed. and announced new sanctions against the Tehran regime. However, it neither condemns Israel in the UN, nor imposes sanctions on it: it protects it from the massive destruction of the Strip, 34,000 dead Palestinians, 74,000 injured, despite violations of international law. Is.

In the past few days – while all the headlines were on Iran – new massacres were recorded in Gaza, in which a large number of Palestinian children were killed. Photographs of their inert bodies are on the websites of major international news agencies, but they have generated neither scandal, nor condemnation, nor sanctions in Washington.

UN veto and defense of arms shipments represent new signals of US support for Israeli impunity

Regional growth and the story of Rafa

Israel’s attack on Iran on Friday morning was a limited aggression, both due to its nature and the reaction of the Tehran regime, which has responded by reducing the launch of missiles against its facilities in Isfahan.

Yet the story of regional tension persists. With its attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus on April 1, the Netanyahu government secured an Iranian military response – without any deaths – that has guaranteed it the support of its allies, led by the United States. The escalation story is already being used as an excuse from Washington to defend sending new weapons packages to Israel, and Biden himself has expressed the same point.

Not in vain, after months of delays and obstructions, Congress this week set a date to vote on a massive military aid package through an unusual coalition between a portion of Republicans and a majority of Democrats. This project, for which the US President has asked for support in an article published this week, was voted on this Saturday night and on sending 26,000 million dollars in military financing to Israel, in addition to 60,000 million for Israel and about 8,000 for Ukraine. Considered. Taiwan and Asian allies.

Regardless of the outcome of that vote, Washington is evaluating the possibility of giving Tel Aviv more than $1 billion in new arms deals, including ammunition for military vehicles or tanks. These movements by the White House do not actually contribute to reducing tensions, they remove the Palestinian population from the equation and represent new signals of support for Israeli impunity, at a time when the Netanyahu government is fighting against Rafah. Committed to launching this major attack. ,

attempt in remain so

The Trump administration promoted the Abraham Accords to normalize relations between several Arab states and Israel and managed to get the Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain to sign the agreement with Tel Aviv. When Biden arrived at the White House, he decided to continue down a path that ignored the rights of the Palestinian people and legalized the Israeli occupation. In fact, it promoted negotiations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Various analysts pointed out that the Hamas attacks of 7 October could be understood as a response to efforts between Riyadh and Tel Aviv to close the Abraham Accords:

Trita Parsi, a US professor and analyst at the Quincy Institute, said, “Trump and Biden’s push for the Abraham Accords, in which Israel normalizes relations with Arab states, while strengthening the Israeli occupation of Palestine and betraying the Palestinians , making Hamas attacks more likely.” , wrote this Friday, linking those dynamics with the US veto at the UN last Thursday. The cycle of violence could have been avoided long ago. Forget learning anything, the mobility remains the same.

Instead of incorporating reality into the equation – that is, the existence of the Palestinian population and an illegal apartheid occupation – Israel has continued its forward flight with the support of the US and other Western allies. It does so with the aim of continuing its process of appropriation and dispossession, with a determination to deny rights and equality to the Palestinians, with a desire not to give up even a millimeter of occupied territory, even if it means continuing The scenario requires war.