2023-11-05 09:34:38
This Saturday, Washington witnessed the largest pro-Palestinian demonstration in the history of the United States. Tens of thousands of people arriving from all over the country – 300,000, according to the organizers– have marched through the downtown from the capital for four hours and have stood in front of the White House to send a clear message to Joe Biden: “if there is no ceasefire, you will not have our votes” in the presidential elections, which will be held just a year from now, on November 5, 2024.
The map of destruction: this is what Gaza looks like after a month of Israeli offensive
The crowds blame the president for turning a blind eye to the “war crimes” that have been looming over Gaza for almost a month, with constant and indiscriminate bombings on one of the most densely populated regions on the planet. The Tel Aviv attacks have already left more than 9,400 dead in Gaza, almost half of them children, compared to the 1,400 killed by Hamas in Israel.
“This is not a conflict between two equal parties, this is a great power helping another to massacre civilians,” laments Mohammed, a young Jordanian living in Virginia, who, like so many Arabs, has traveled to the capital in support of his brothers. : “This is not a war, it is a genocide. “We cannot remain silent in the face of evil.”
While Mohammed was protesting in Washington, the head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, was this Saturday calling for a “humanitarian pause” from his country’s capital, in Amman (Jordan). After meeting with his Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi, and the Egyptian, Sameh Shoukri, the secretary of state reiterated the immutable position of the Biden Administration: “Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas terrorist attacks,” although it must try “ reduce the number of civilian casualties to a minimum.”
As Biden did on Wednesday, Blinken yesterday demanded a “humanitarian pause” from the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, who rejected the request, as it conditions the cessation of hostilities on the release of the hostages. In one month, Washington has gone from giving carte blanche to the siege of Gaza to asking Israel for restraint, partly due to fear of a regional escalation of the conflict, but also due to growing social opposition and within the Democratic Party.
Many of those attending the massive demonstration this Saturday voted for Biden in 2020. A dozen people interviewed by ElDiario.es express their doubts about whether they will go to the polls in 2024. What they are clear about is that the “humanitarian pause” that The president’s request is a dead letter, insufficient and even “insulting.”
“There are only two options: ceasefire or genocide. If you have a minimum of humanity, you know which side you should be on,” says Ian, who has traveled to Washington in Mohammed’s car: “What is happening is inhuman, it is crazy. And on top of that, they lie to our faces: they tell us that Israel is the victim, when in reality it has been the aggressor for 75 years.”
“Israel bombs and the United States pays”
This Saturday’s demonstration in Washington is already being compared to the one that took place October 21, 1967 for the end of the Vietnam War or the October 26, 2002 against the imminent invasion of Iraq, attended by more than 100,000 people. Although the US has not fired any bombs or placed troops on Gazan soil, an increasingly vocal sector of Americans holds their country directly responsible for the massacre.
Israel is the largest recipient of American foreign aid since World War II. The amount already amounts to 160,000 million dollars (80% in military assistance) and has been increasing progressively to the 3,800 million per year that are currently being transferred. Congress, in charge of budget allocation, set aid packages to Tel Aviv at 2.1 billion between 1999 and 2008, at 3 billion between 2009 and 2018, and at 3.8 billion between 2019-2028.
But the Biden Administration, as well as a large majority of congressmen and senators, considers that this aid is not enough and has already asked Congress to approve an additional package to safeguard “national security needs.” The president sent an “urgent” request for 106 billion dollars in military assistance to his two great allies in war, Ukraine (61.4 billion) and Israel (14.3 billion), as well as for Taiwan (7.4 billion), to provide humanitarian aid ( 9,000 million) and to reinforce the southern border with Mexico (14,000 million).
For now, the approval of this package will have to wait. The Republicans, who have a majority in the House of Representatives, want to unlink aid to Israel from that to Ukraine, and have already approved an independent spending law for the Jewish country, also worth $14.3 billion. However, this initiative is not even going to be taken into consideration in the Senate, with a Democratic majority, which is focused on the 106 billion package requested by Biden.
“Biden, you can’t hide, you have chosen genocide”, “you have blood on your hands” or “Israel bombs and the United States pays. How many children did they kill today?” are some of the songs that have been repeated most in the March for a Free Palestine, attended by tens of thousands of Arabs, Jews, Christians, agnostics and atheists. More than 300 organizations from all over the country have supported the protest, including the Palestinian Youth Movement, the Alliance of American Muslims or the National Organization of Students for Justice in Palestine.
“It is not a question of religion: we love Jews and we love Christians, because we are all human. But the existence of Israel in Palestine is totally wrong, because it has always been the land of the Palestinians. It doesn’t matter if you are Jewish, Christian or Muslim: this is the land of the Palestinians, regardless of their religion,” Mohammed noted.
Support for Palestine grows and divides the Democratic Party
The demonstration in Washington was the largest, but not the only one that took place this Saturday in the US: New York, Nashville, Cincinnati, Las Vegas and San Francisco were also flooded with Palestinian flags and banners calling for a ceasefire. . The same has happened in cities such as London, Paris, Berlin, Milan, Barcelona and Dhaka. It is a sign of growing international support for the Palestinian cause, in light of the incessant bombings on the civilian population in Gaza.
In the American case, the latest available Quinnipiac poll shows that half of voters continue to support Israel’s response to Hamas massacres, while 35% oppose and the remaining 15% choose not to respond. Said support varies according to affiliation and age groups, with Republicans (75%) and those over 65 years of age (59%) being the segments with the highest percentages. The data are very similar regarding the sending of additional military assistance, which is rejected by 65% of voters between 18 and 34 years old, but approved by the other groups.
Although they are a minority, pro-Palestinians have become more vocal over the last month, in the streets, on the networks, and even with a sit-in organized by Jews inside the Capitol. At the headquarters of the legislative power, those who have raised their voices to demand an end to the bombings in Gaza are also in the minority. So far, 18 congressmen have signed the resolution calling for an “immediate ceasefire” and 14 senators have signed another letter asking for the “cessation of hostilities.” That is, only 32 of the total of 535 legislators who occupy the House of Representatives and the Senate.
This Friday, Democrat Rashida Tlaib, the only congresswoman of Palestinian origin in the United States, published a video on social networks with images of the destruction in Gaza and the protests in the US, which ended with a message to the president and candidate of his party: “Biden supported the genocide of the Palestinian people. We Americans are not going to forget it. Biden, he supports a ceasefire now or don’t count on us in 2024.”
.@POTUSthe majority of the American people are not with you on this one. #CeasefireNow pic.twitter.com/rV97zrMkad
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) November 3, 2023
This week, the hard Republican wing in the Lower House pushed for a vote to oust her, under the accusation of “anti-Semitic.” An attempt that failed, but which joins the wave of criminalization in the US of anyone who defends the ceasefire in Gaza. The persecution also moves to the hundreds arrested in protests during the last month or the three Arab journalists fired from the MSNBC television channel. However, instead of silencing their voices, more and more Americans are questioning their country’s role in the spiral of violence that has engulfed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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