[🇧🇩] Israel and Hamas war in Gaza-----Can Bangladesh be a peace broker?

[Saif]

From victimhood to apartheid statehood

THE tapestry of Jewish myths and history spans over two millennia. The Jewish saga of ‘diaspora’ to ‘aliyah’, of migrations and...

www.newagebd.net

From victimhood to apartheid statehood
Aminul Sarwar | Published: 00:00, Apr 08,2024

— Euronews

THE tapestry of Jewish myths and history spans over two millennia. The Jewish saga of 'diaspora' to 'aliyah', of migrations and pogroms, of persecution and the Holocaust is woven with elements of both myths and history. The tale is intertwined with the humanitarian cries of millions of Jews in the past, but the present is rather marred by an ironic role reversal of the same people through their own doings against the Arabs of Palestine. The story always begins with the myths of the 'chosen ones' — an utterly regressive and supremacist conjecture in the purview of the modern value system — finding the promised land, an enduring diaspora, and sufferings that embody a textbook case of resilience. Yet, the end to date horrifically looks to have gone wrong as we contemplate the modern history of Israel and Palestine. From the Babylonian exile to the destruction of the Second Temple, the Jewish people endured displacement and persecution and forged a collective identity rooted in survival. On one hand, we have the biblical accounts, from Abraham's journey to Moses leading the Israelites, setting a spiritual backdrop to a historical drama of triumphs and tribulations; on the other hand, we see a repressive statehood with brutal military power, persecution, and a genocidal regime hell-bent on uprooting and annihilating the legitimate resistance of the people whose homes were taken away.

Centuries of diaspora tested Jewish adaptability, leading to intellectual and cultural contributions during the Islamic Golden Age and challenges in mediaeval Europe's ghettos. The 19th-century rise of Zionism, seeking a Jewish homeland, embodied the longing for a promised land rooted in religious conviction and historical yearning. Facing perpetual prejudice due to socio-cultural and economic practices like usury or the flawed onus of blood libel, along with cultural mistrust in the general population because of their closely bonded, introverted community lifestyle, Jewish people sought political agency. This culminated in the vision of a Jewish state during the nationalistic waves of late 19th-century Europe.

The Dreyfus Affair in late 19th-century France marked the immediate nucleus of Zionism, as Theodor Herzl's vision for a national homeland emerged in response to anti-Semitism. The establishment of Israel in 1948 was a transformative moment, shifting from victimhood to statehood. However, this journey unveiled a paradox: the persecuted becoming powerful. Herzl's vision responded to centuries of anti-Semitism, but the implementation of Zionism faced challenges reconciling diverse cultural backgrounds. The historical rise of Zionism underpinned a supremacist ideology, resonating in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Holocaust cast a dark shadow, leading to global acknowledgment of the need for a Jewish homeland. The State of Israel's establishment in 1948 reflected the transition from victims of genocide to architects of statehood. As the Jewish people shifted from victims to state builders, the complexity of historical circumstances shaped the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Post-World War II dynamics witnessed Western support for Zionism, contributing to the displacement of Palestinian communities. The power dynamics tilted towards Israel, challenging a just and lasting resolution.

The historical narrative unravels a crisis where the persecuted became state architects, facing the dilemma between managing power and security. The call for coexistence becomes intricate as power dynamics shift. While the well-equipped Jewish population with Western education and knowledge enjoyed Western sympathy due to their racial and cultural affinity with Western people, contemporary Arabs in Palestine lacked political agency within the existing state system, facing a shortage of knowledge and representation during the interbellum years. As a result, a Western-dominated world order, burdened by the collective guilt of the Holocaust, made decisions that shamefully disregarded the political, social rights, and dignity of Palestinian Arabs. Since the inception of the conflict during the mass immigration of Jewish people to Palestine, communal riots, tensions, the Naqba, and subsequent Arab-Israel wars, it has consistently manifested as a one-sided struggle between Palestinian Arabs and the Jewish State of Israel.

Jewish people formulated the basis of Zionism on the premise that they are a community that has been persecuted throughout history because of their identity and minority status. There is no denying the fact that Jewish people had been living in ghettos across many European kingdoms and were often subjected to harassment, antipathy, and social and economic boycotts by the mainstream population due to anti-Semitic outlooks. But, as we have seen, if not premeditated, Zionism's legacy has ultimately bred a supremacist ideology, transforming statehood pursuit into an apartheid regime. It needs no elaboration, as a look into the history of modern Israel makes it pretty evident. The once-persecuted Jewish community held political power, resulting in unforeseen role reversals with far-reaching consequences. The paradox of Jewish statehood calls for reckoning with the unintended consequences of Zionism. It urges us to navigate the complexities of identity, power, and historical burdens with nuance and understanding. The pursuit of justice and humanism must prevail over entrenched prejudices, fostering a world where the rights of all are recognized and respected.

In tracing the Jewish Israeli journey from victimhood to apartheid statehood, a fabric woven with historical resilience, political aspirations, and obvious consequences unfolds. The Jewish people's narrative, etched with tales of survival, diaspora, and the establishment of the State of Israel, reflects a transformative evolution. From the challenges of historical persecution to the complexities of managing power and security, the journey has been paradoxical.

Zionism, born out of the need for a Jewish homeland in response to anti-Semitism, apparently inadvertently sowed the seeds of ethno-religious supremacy, leading to the unintended legacy of an apartheid regime. The role reversals, where the once-persecuted gained political power, have profound consequences, shaping the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

History calls for a reckoning with the unintended consequences of Zionism, urging bold reflections on identity, power, and historical burdens. The pursuit of justice and humanism must prevail over entrenched prejudices, fostering a world where the rights of all are recognised.

Moving forward, the world must ensure the engagement of the belligerent parties in open dialogue, acknowledging the multifaceted layers and dimensions of the conflict. A commitment to understanding historical transitions and fostering empathy is crucial. Collective efforts to bridge divides and dispel prejudices can pave the way for a just and lasting resolution. The only solution on the horizon is the 'two-state solution,' recognising the existence, security, and respect for the lives and dignity of the Palestinian Arabs and the Israeli Jews.

Aminul Sarwar, a retired army official, is a banker.​

 

[Saif]

West’s hypocrisy in international politics, laws

IN NOVEMBER 2023, a month into the Gaza genocide, columnist Nesrin Malik remarked in her article in the Guardian, ‘The war in Gaza has been...

www.newagebd.net

West's hypocrisy in international politics, laws
by Humayun Kabir | Published: 00:00, Apr 07,2024

— Web

IN NOVEMBER 2023, a month into the Gaza genocide, columnist Nesrin Malik remarked in her article in the Guardian, 'The war in Gaza has been an intense lesson in western hypocrisy. It won't be forgotten.' She thought, people have seen too much that will stay with them too long. Trust in the international community will never be the same. Well, she made the point all right, but history tells us differently. The hypocrisy she has alluded to has been there all these decades of conflicts, enabling the crisis to prolong until the occupiers' intent on annihilating the Arab population from Palestine has been achieved. Gaza is a burning proof that human rights are not universal and international law is arbitrarily applied.

In the past six months of massacre (we refrain from calling it a war as it never was one) of the Palestinian population meted out by the killing machines of Israel's extreme right government, personally led by Netanyahu, one thing that has become exposed is the hypocrisy being displayed by the western powers, led by the USA, as well as that by the Arab Muslim countries in the region. To be clear, for many years, Arab governments have been accustomed to the western model of rhetoric on human rights while looking to the other way for economic gain while the regional crisis intensifies. These Arab authoritarian rulers have a single mission: to remain in power endlessly. And for western politicians, maintaining certain domestic economic outcomes has proven to be more important than making sound foreign policy decisions based on values and the common human good across boundaries. What the world conscience fails to understand is the fact that the western power, mainly led by the US, continuously adopts a policy of 'strategic ambiguity.' For example, this policy is best exemplified by its China-Taiwan policy, which offers two equally opposite messages. This approach means that the US could either stand with Taiwan if it engaged in a war with mainland China or apply realpolitik and let Taiwan confront China on its own. Such ambiguity and double standards have resulted in growing distrust in the rest of the world towards the United States.

Today, the most striking misperception about western political imperatives is believing that Arab rulers, such as General Sissi of Egypt and King Abdullah of Jordan, are aligned with their policies. With such duplicity and ambiguity of policies, the US and western nations have been heavily engaged in virtually every single political dialogue in the region, beginning with the long-standing Arab-Israeli conflict and ending with all the military engagements in Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Libya, Syria, and Yemen. To be on record, they have no significant achievements to show except for the Egypt-Israel Camp David Accord, which is now half a century old. In the current Biden administration, the twice-held international dialogue on democracy is an example of US duplicity and hypocrisy in international politics. They cannot explain their policy for the transition to democracy when it comes to sanctions against Iran. Sanctioning Iran will never transform it into a democracy; on the contrary, it will expand support for extremism and increase the economic burden on its citizens, who are likely to naturally escalate their dislike for western hypocrisy.

Accusations of western hypocrisy in its foreign policy have sounded more convincing in recent years. The same leaders who bang on about Russin's war crimes in Ukraine have been more circumspect about Israel's massacre and destruction of Gaza. So, the question today is: how concerned should policymakers in Washington, London, Brussels, Tokyo, and elsewhere be about the geo-political hedging of the global south?

As for the hypocrisy charge, let us be honest, it sticks for a reason. One can rationally excuse the Global South for being cynical when statesmen who reportedly cite the 'rules-based order' suddenly go quiet if Israeli actions become a topic of debate and concern. In the six-month-long massacre and genocide being carried out by Israel in Gaza and now extended to the West Bank, supported with ammunition generously supplied by the USA, UK, Canada, France, and Italy in Gaza, any conscientious person cannot help but be curious about trying to dissect the hypocritical role being played by the Western nations and the Arab neighbours of Palestine, notably Egypt and Jordan. Saudi Arabia, Syria, and other Muslim nations around.

Let us examine the use of the word 'international law', the supposed foundation of the current global order. Well, it is finally off, as can be seen in the Gaza Strip. A recent observation by Wesam Ahmad, a human rights advocate in Ramallah, says: 'As Palestinian cries for help from Gaza remain unanswered, the sinister truth is now undeniably out in the open; international justice, more often than not, is used as a tool to advance imperial interests and not justice.' This was well known a long time ago with the history of imperialism, from the European scramble for Africa to more recent US interventions in Latin America, and traced how that dark past has helped shape the way the world functions in this century. In our straightforward thinking, international law is the desirable mechanism that only reflects a noble concept, as it promotes peace and applies universal human rights, cooperation, and justice among nations. But when one 'scratches beneath the surface, a different narrative emerges, shaped by the ghosts of imperialism in the past.'

Last year, at the United Nations, world leaders took to the platform to highlight several issues and prompt collective action to address them. The key issue, once again, was the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Not only were the Western states, especially NATO members, giving humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine, but they have also been taking the opportunity to build a stronger narrative against Russia. Now, may we ask, what are these same NATO groups doing when it comes to protecting Palestine from the Israeli killings of civilians, women, and children? Any better example to cite of western hypocrisy? There are many such examples of communities that stand testimony to this hypocrisy. Take Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, or Kashmir, for example, whose citizens never know if they will live another day.

The reality is that the promoters of 'peace' are, all too often, the protectors of the warmongers, or are the warmongers themselves. Talking about hypocrisy, we have been witnessing that while Palestinians are being killed in thousands every day, including children, by the Israeli forces and illegal settlers, the US and Europe have no time to apply concepts of human rights and international law to Israeli authority and are allowed to act with impunity.

Even in the Arab media, western hypocrisy is well exposed. In an opinion piece in the Jordan Times, one columnist wrote that the Ukrainian crisis conveniently captures contemporary attention, creating a narrative of valiant struggle against external aggression. And the Palestinian narrative languishes in historical complexities, seemingly overlooked by a world that selectively chooses which historical injustices to champion. The global response to Ukrainian and Palestinian movements reveals a disturbing hypocrisy woven into the fabric of international relations. 'Historical dynamics, geopolitical alignments, and media narratives collectively expose a double standard that challenges the very essence of justice and self-determination' wrote columnist Al Shriedeh of The Jordan Times.

Let us examine the role of the Arab neighbours of Israel in addressing the crisis in Gaza. All 57 Arab and Muslim countries in the world, representing nearly 3 billion people of the faith, met in Riyadh in November 2023 under the umbrella of a joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit. While they warned the Israeli government and its backers, namely the US, 'of the real danger of the expansion of the war as a result of Israel's refusal to stop its aggression and of the inability of the Security Council to enforce international law to end this aggression', they avoided any decision on any concrete action against Israel as a collective force, despite Iran's pleading. Their only intent was to put pressure on the Biden administration to exert sufficient pressure on Israel to stop the war. The Saudis, together with their conservative allies like Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, and Bahrain, see an action-oriented position as a dangerous destabilisers for their own power base. As a result, the Islamic summit ended up being a talk show instead of a meaningful plan of action.

The United States has been engaging in this war by grossly violating its own laws that govern and regulate its policy to provide aid, including military aid, to foreign countries under certain well-defined conditions. I will now cite five major US laws that it violates in letter and spirit and, as transparently as can be conceived, as it applies to the current situation in Israeli aggression and violence, thus revealing the highest form of hypocrisy ever displayed in modern history of the century:

I. The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961: The Act provides that no assistance is to be provided to a government that 'engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognised human rights, including torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, prolonged detention without charges…or other flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, and the security of the person…' Each word of this act has a direct bearing on the current massacre in Gaza and the West Bank.

II. Arms Export Control Act of 1976: The Act requires international governments receiving weapons from the US to use the armaments only for 'legitimate self-defence.' This act considers prohibiting the development of weapons of mass destruction or increasing the possibility of an outbreak or escalation of conflict. This is precisely what has resulted from the US's complicity in the war imposed by Israel, in the form of an escalation of conflict in Palestine.

III. The War Crimes Act of 1996. This act defines a war crime to include a 'grave breach of the Geneva Conventions, to which the US is a party. The law specifically refers to the text that highlights principles of the Convention as…' committed against persons or property protected by the Convention, such as willful killing, torture, or inhuman treatment, thus causing 'great suffering or serious injury to body or health.' As a complicit in Israel's mass killings, this Act has been grossly violated by the US government itself.

IV. The Leahy Law: This law prohibits most types of US foreign aid and Defence Department training programmes from going to foreign security, military, and police units credibly alleged to have committed human rights violations. As revealed in the case before the International Court of Justice, Israel is accused of the highest form of human rights violation. The UN Special Rapporteur has recently reported human rights violations by Israeli forces in no uncertain terms. US duplicity is beyond question.

V. Genocide Convention Implementation Act: This Act, passed in 1987, amends the US Federal Criminal Code to establish the criminal offence of genocide, namely, specified acts committed with specific intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. Here, again, the US administration has shown a total disregard for its own policy involving measures against genocide.

I should bring to light the strong statements made at several media events in Germany by Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim over the current Gaza tragedy. He boldly asked that the world wake up and see the stark hypocrisy the western governments and the press have been practicing incessantly over the Palestinian crisis. He asked that this contradiction and hypocrisy in international politics be stopped.

Israel has deliberately chosen to weaponise the Holocaust issue in perpetuating its ethnic cleansing genocide in Gaza. And while the entire West slams Russia for killing civilians in Ukraine, it 'gives green light to Israel to do the same in Gaza.' As for the Arab neighbours, suffice it to say that in the past six months of the incessant killings by Israel, none of the neighbours — Egypt, Jordan, and even Bahrain or UAE — have suspended the trade and commerce relationship, and the direct transmission of power and gas by Egypt, which has enabled Israeli armament factories to remain alive, has not been suspended. This is the utmost form of hypocrisy by the so-called Muslim Ummah.

The mask is off. The Gaza crisis has exposed the hypocrisy of international law and politics to the world at large.

Humayun Kabir was a senior official of the United Nations.​

 

[Bilal9]

I don't believe driving away Jews entirely from the Middle East is a sane idea - nor is it achievable. There are liberal educated Jews too - the extremists are a loud minority. Will comment more after Iftar.

 

[Saif]

No barbarism without poetry

If our world is becoming full of poets and executioners, we need more judges and thinkers to counter the new tendency.

www.thedailystar.net

No barbarism without poetry

In an October 13, 2023 announcement soliciting submissions, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) invited potential contributors 'to embark on a poetic journey and reignite the great Israeli spirit' in response to the Hamas attack a week before, leading to a sadistic campaign of death and destruction in the occupied Palestinian territorries. FILE PHOTO: REUTERS

When the basic pact that holds society together is crumbling—which appears to be happening worldwide—wild rumours and conspiracy theories proliferate. Even, or especially, when the message is obviously nonsensical, it can evoke deep-seated fears and prejudices.

A perfect example of this, which I have noted previously, occurred in late August 2023, when a priest known as "Father Anthony" ceremoniously doused holy water on a 26-foot-tall statue of Stalin in Russia's Pskov region. Though the church had suffered during the Stalin era, he explained, "Thanks to this we have lots of new Russian martyrs and confessors to whom we now pray and are helping us in our motherland's resurgence." This logic is just a step away from claiming that Jews should thank Hitler for creating the conditions that allowed for the state of Israel. If that sounds hyperbolic, or like a bad joke, consider that some Zionist extremists close to the Israeli government openly advocate exactly this position.

To understand the success of such perverted argumentation, we should first note that, in developed countries, unrest and revolts tend to explode when poverty has ebbed. The protests of the 1960s—from the soixante-huitards in France to the hippies and Yippies in the United States—unfolded during the golden age of the welfare state. When people are living well, they come to desire even more.

One must also account for the surplus enjoyment that social and moral perversion can bring. Consider the Islamic State's recent attack on Crocus City Hall in Moscow, in which 144 people were killed. What some call a terrorist attack, others call an act of armed resistance in response to the massive destruction wrought by the Russian military in Syria. But whatever the case, something notable happened after the attack: Russian security forces not only admitted to torturing the suspects whom they had arrested; they publicly displayed it.

"In a graphic video posted on Telegram," writes Julia Davis of the Center for European Policy Analysis, "one of the detained had his ear cut off and was then forced to eat it by one of his interrogators." No wonder some Israeli hardliners look to Russia as a model for dealing with arrested Hamas members.

Russian officials did it not just to deter potential future attackers, but also to give pleasure to fellow members of the tribe. "I never expected this from myself," writes Margarita Simonyan, a Russian propagandist who heads the state-owned media outlet RT, "but when I see how they are brought into the court crooked, and even this ear, I feel extremely satisfied." Nor is this phenomenon confined to Russia. In Tennessee, some lawmakers want to restore public hangings (from trees, no less) for those who receive the death penalty.

Where do such acts end? Why not just bring back the premodern practice of publicly torturing alleged criminals to death? More to the point, how can "normal" people be brought to the point where they would enjoy such sadistic spectacles?

The short answer is that it requires the unique power of some kind of mythic discourse, religion, or poetry. As the reluctant Nazi fellow-traveller Ernst Jünger explained, "Any power struggle is preceded by a verification of images and iconoclasm. This is why we need poets—they initiate the overthrow, even that of titans."

One finds poetry playing an important role in Israel. On March 26, Haaretz ran a story explaining "how Israel's army uses revenge poetry to boost morale." An anthology published by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) includes poems that "express a desire for vengeance and paint the combat in Gaza as a religious war." In an October 13 announcement soliciting submissions, the IDF invited potential contributors "to embark on a poetic journey and reignite the great Israeli spirit," so as to "raise the spirit in wartime."

Apparently, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's references to Amalek (the Jews' biblical enemy in the Torah) after October 7 were not enough. They needed to be supplemented by modern verse. Or perhaps Netanyahu's biblical reference conveyed more than he wanted to say. After all, according to the Old Testament, when the wandering Jews reached the hills above the valley in Judea where the Amalekites lived, Jehovah appeared and ordered Joshua to kill them all, including their children and animals. If that is not "ethnic cleansing," the term has no meaning at all.

It is worth remembering that Germany was known as the land of Dichter und Denker (poets and thinkers), before its turn towards Richter und Henker (judges and executioners). But what if the two versions are more similar than they appear? If our world is gradually becoming a world of poets and executioners, we will need more judges and thinkers to counter the new tendency and regain our moral footing.
​

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Slavoj Žižek, professor of philosophy at the European Graduate School, is international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, and the author, most recently, of Christian Atheism: How to Be a Real Materialist.​

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Views expressed in this article are the author's own.​

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Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2024
www.project-syndicate.org​

 

[Saif]

Israel would let 150,000 Gazans return north in potential truce, officials say

Israel has agreed in Gaza war ceasefire talks in Egypt to concessions about the return of Palestinians to the north of the enclave, but believes Islamist group Hamas does not want to strike a deal, Israeli officials said on Wednesday. Two officials with knowledge of the talks said that under a US

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Israel would let 150,000 Gazans return north in potential truce, officials say
Published :
Apr 10, 2024 22:28
Updated :
Apr 10, 2024 22:28

Smoke rises following an Israeli strike as Palestinians fleeing north Gaza due to Israel's military offensive move southward, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, at the central Gaza Strip on March 15, 2024 — Reuters/File

Israel has agreed in Gaza war ceasefire talks in Egypt to concessions about the return of Palestinians to the north of the enclave, but believes Islamist group Hamas does not want to strike a deal, Israeli officials said on Wednesday.

Two officials with knowledge of the talks said that under a US proposal for a truce, Israel would allow the return of 150,000 Palestinians to north Gaza with no security checks.

In return, they said, Hamas would be required to give a list of female, elderly and sick hostages it still holds alive.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office declined to comment. Hamas said on Tuesday that the latest proposal passed on by Eqyptian and Qatari mediators did not meet demands, but that it would study it further before responding.

Israel's assessment is that Hamas does not want to strike a deal yet, the two Israeli officials said.

In the seventh month of the war, Hamas wants an end to the Israeli military offensive, a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and permission for displaced Palestinians to return home.

Israel's immediate aim is to secure the release of hostages seized by Hamas in its Oct. 7 cross-border rampage.

It says it will not end the war until Hamas no longer controls Gaza or threatens Israel militarily.

More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed since the Israeli offensive began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, with most of the 2.3 million population displaced and much of the enclave laid to waste.

Israel pulled back most ground forces from southern Gaza this week after months of fighting, but still says it plans to launch an assault on Rafah, on Gaza's southern border with Egypt, where more than half of Gazans are now sheltering.

Netanyahu has said civilians will be evacuated from Rafah before Israeli forces pursue Hamas' remaining battalions there, but that pledge has done little to calm international alarm.

The war began when Hamas led an attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 253 taken hostage. Around 130 are still being held incommunicado in Gaza, Israel says.​

 

[Saif]

No liberal Jews live in Israel. Jews living in Israel are all extremists. I want Israel to be eradicated from Middle East because if Israel exists then they would gobble up the entire Middle East (including Mecca and Medina) with the help of the West. Israel is expansionist so needs to be eradicated from Middle East.

 

[Saif]

Bangladesh protesters want steps against Israel, justice for Palestine

Leaders of Palestine Solidarity Committee Bangladesh on Thursday urged the world community to be vocal and take steps against Israel to stop aggressions in Palestine and mass killings there....

www.newagebd.net

Bangladesh protesters want steps against Israel, justice for Palestine
Staff Correspondent | Published: 00:24, Apr 12,2024

This photo taken on April 11, 2024 shows that the Palestine Solidarity Committee Bangladesh forms a human chain in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka. The protesters urge the world community to be vocal and take steps against Israel to stop aggressions in Palestine and mass killings there. – Md Saurav.

Leaders of Palestine Solidarity Committee Bangladesh on Thursday urged the world community to be vocal and take steps against Israel to stop aggressions in Palestine and mass killings there.

Addressing a human chain in Dhaka, the Palestine Solidarity Committee Bangladesh, a combine of some left leaning political parties, urged the world community to expel Israel from the United Nations and ensure justice for Palestinians.

The organization formed the human chain in front of the National Press Club, where a member of the committee and central leader of Revolutionary Communist League, Harun Or Rashid, chaired.

Harun Or Rashid called on the world community to be vocal to stop Israeli aggression in Palestine and said that formation of a free state could be solution of the conflict.

Democratic Revolutionary Party general secretary Mushrefa Mishu said that Israeli army had killed several hundred unarmed Palestinians in recent conflict.

Coordinator of Socialist Party of Bangladesh (Marxist), Masud Rana, said that Israel was getting patronization from imperialist American government.

Communist Party of Bangladesh central leader Abdullah Kafee Ratan, SPB central leader Khalequzzaman Lipon spoke at the human chain.​

 

[Saif]

Duplicitous US Policy on the Gaza massacre

THE incessant waves of the brutal and ruthless Israeli war, or rather the Palestinian massacre in the Gaza Strip, now in its sixth month, have finally reached Washington...

www.newagebd.net

Duplicitous US Policy on the Gaza massacre
Published: 00:00, Apr 09,2024

— New Eastern Outlook

Prominent Jewish American senator Chuck Schumer broke with long-standing tradition and delivered sharp criticism from the Senate floor against the Israeli government, taking Israel, as well as the political establishment in the US, by surprise when he called Netanyahu an 'obstacle to peace' in the Middle East, writes Viktor Mikhin

THE incessant waves of the brutal and ruthless Israeli war, or rather the Palestinian massacre in the Gaza Strip, now in its sixth month, have finally reached Washington. It happened in Congress in an event that took many by surprise and deepened the rift between the two major political parties. It is well known that the Congress has been one of Israel's main bulwarks for decades, providing political support for Israeli policy on many fronts. This includes the Arab-Israeli conflict, the creeping annexation of the occupied West Bank, and the illegal siege that successive Israeli governments have imposed on Gaza since 2007.

Chuck Schumer's speech on Netanyahu's policy

HOWEVER, on March 14, prominent Jewish American Senator Chuck Schumer (Democrat, New York), the Senate majority leader, broke with long-standing tradition and delivered a sharp criticism from the Senate floor against the Israeli government led by the country's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He apparently took Israel, as well as the political establishment in Washington and the US media, by surprise when he called Netanyahu an 'obstacle to peace' in the region, commenting on how Israel is conducting military operations in Gaza and blocking humanitarian aid to starving Palestinian civilians.

Schumer said Netanyahu 'has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel,' causing support for Israel around the world to plummet to historic lows. He also criticised Israel's ruling coalition government for the same reasons. 'The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7. The world has changed — radically — since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past,' he said, adding that after five months of war, 'it is clear that Israelis need to take stock of the situation and ask: Must we change course?' According to the US Senator, at this critical juncture, new elections are the only way to ensure a healthy and open decision-making process about Israel's future, while so many Israelis have lost confidence in the vision for the direction of their government.

It is rare that a US Senator, especially a Democrat from New York, has spoken so boldly and sharply about the Israeli government. And of course, the speech provoked a storm of indignation. Senator Mitch McConnell (Republican of Kentucky), the Senate minority leader, went on the offensive, attacking Schumer and expressing extreme prejudice and unfettered support for Israel. In his view, the main obstacles to peace are 'genocidal terrorists such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad,' as well as corrupt PA leaders who have repeatedly rejected the peace agreements of several Israeli governments.

It is interesting that according to the New York Times, Schumer called US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan the day before his speech to ask if achieving a temporary pause in military operations in Gaza, releasing hostages and allowing more humanitarian aid into Gaza would jeopardise ongoing negotiations. J. Sullivan, in his characteristic cowboy manner, replied that 'there would be no problem.' What is really going on in Gaza, the National Security Advisor can best learn from the world's media, which daily print heartbreaking reports of Palestinian old men, women and children dying of starvation.

No fundamental disagreement between Biden and Netanyahu

IN THE context of the palpable differences between US president Joe Biden and Netanyahu that have been building up over the past month, the position taken by the Senator from New York is not much different from that of the White House and Biden on how Israel is handling the war in Gaza and what will happen after the war comes to an end. This reflects some of the frustration the administration has had with Netanyahu's verbal rejection of the two-state solution. In fact, Biden and his administration are committed to preventing the creation of an independent Palestinian state, and therein they stand in solidarity with Israel's leadership.

Another fact confirming this position, i.e. the unconditional US support for Israel, is the statement of White House spokesman John Kirby on March 15. In particular, he indirectly conveyed an encouraging message to Israel, as well as to its supporters in Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, that the Biden administration is 'going to keep supporting Israel.' He said, 'We're going to keep urging them to reduce civilian casualties, and we're going to keep working to get a temporary ceasefire in place.'

However, no one has yet seen an American plan for a ceasefire in Gaza. Moreover, on the same day, news from Israel indicated that Netanyahu had approved plans to attack Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. The US administration said it could not support such an attack in the absence of a 'credible and implementable' plan to save hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians in Rafah from danger. Although the Israelis said they had such a plan, on March 15 the same White House announced that it had not seen it. It is interesting to wonder what the US position will be when the Israeli army launches its offensive in Rafah and thousands of innocent civilians are killed as a result, in addition to the 31,000 Palestinians in Gaza who have already been killed and the more than 71,000 who have been wounded since last October. One should not expect much from the Biden administration. Perhaps there will be minor restrictions on arms exports to Israel, and perhaps the US will, as usual, abstain from voting on the draft resolution to be introduced in the UN Security Council calling for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza.

In his speech, Schumer said, and many Americans fully agree with him, that the world has changed 'radically' since last October. However, unwavering US support for Israel did not affect this change. The relationship between the US and Israel, on the one hand, and Arab countries, on the other, also does not reflect the changing world and the transformed regional scene in light of Israel's barbaric assault on the Palestinian people in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

While hosting Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar at the White House on March 15, Biden agreed with his Irish guest in Washington to celebrate St Patrick's Day on March 17. At the same time, the US president pompously declared that he wanted a quick ceasefire in Gaza to deliver food and medicine to the Strip and to free Israeli hostages. As the saying goes, it is hard to credit now, though fresh is its renown. The facts and life itself will show how sincere the administration and Biden himself are in wanting to achieve such a result in the coming months in a very difficult election cycle in the United States.

New Eastern Outlook, April 8. Viktor Mikhin, corresponding member of RANS and writes for the online magazine 'New Eastern Outlook'​