By Professor Hossein
Askari
America must take control of its foreign
policy before July 24
![The American Congress](https://media.tehrantimes.com/d/t/2024/06/17/4/5033118.jpg?ts=1718642962298)
The
United States has long supported Israel: we have sent over $320 billion in
financial aid to a country that has a higher per capita income than France and
Germany; we have given Israel most of our lethal weapons; we have shared
intelligence and supplied Israel with political support at the UN and at
the UN Security Council with dozens of vetoes to shield Israel from its crimes
and to protect it from increasing global recrimination and isolation; we have
issued massive media support including through print, airwaves, internet and
the entertainment industry in order to silence anti-Israeli voices.
The public
justification for this overwhelming support has been that Israel is the Middle
East’s only democracy and is indispensable for our national security. These
justifications are so ridiculous that they deserve only a brief debunking. Many
global observers classify Israel as an apartheid state with different laws
depending on status—Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs and non-Israeli Arabs with the
latter having few rights and being persecuted at will. Inside Israel today,
free speech is limited and those who speak out in defense of Palestinian rights
are openly punished. Israel can hardly be classified as a stalwart ally—it
attacked an American ship (SS Liberty) in 1967 killing 34 U.S. sailors and
wounding another 171, refused to support us at the UN Security Council after
Russia invaded Ukraine and ignores our pleadings during the Gaza War to
change course. Our inseparable bond to Israel, no matter its actions, not only
does not enhance our national security but endangers it. Our support is
condemned by much of the world, especially by the Global South who see Israel
as a rogue colonial settler country. The only credible reason for our
support for Israel is the power of the Israeli lobby in the United States.
While it is true
that many illegitimate Arab rulers see the Palestinian conflict and
Palestinians as irritants and a danger to their rule, Arabs and two billion
Muslims in the world are overwhelming supporters of the Palestinian stipulation
for their own viable country.
Since the
deplorable events of October 7 last year, our support for Israel has been ratcheted
up to a new high and is in danger of causing America great harm. Yes, we have
supplied more and more 2,000 pound bunker buster bombs and every other lethal
weapon that has enabled Israel to butcher over 37.000 Palestinians, largely
women and children and to kill UN and other aid workers. Meanwhile, illegal
Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank have been on a rampage, killing and
incarcerating hundreds of Palestinians with the support of the Israeli Defense
Forces (IDF). Israel has also restricted food supplies to malnourished Gazans,
and the United States cannot persuade its “ally,” Israel, to let in more food
trucks and protect their distribution despite the rampant famine in Gaza.
All this is a
humanitarian disaster with the United States seen as complicit by much of the
world. Yet what has happened in international courts and America’s response
will cause America irreparable harm.
First, on January
26, 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations’ highest
court, stated that it had seen sufficient evidence to take on the case brought
by South Africa joined by a number of other countries to prevent the
slaughter in Gaza. It ordered Israel to take steps to prevent all acts of
genocide. Generally speaking, this ruling requires Israel to improve the
humanitarian situation in Gaza. While it may take several years to
adjudicate this case to a final decision, the United States pressured the court
not to take up the case at all. This was a disgraceful opposition by the United
States to the international rule of law. Yes, the United States says it
believes in the rule of law, but its belief therein is selective in the eyes of
much of the world. This smells of duplicity and only hurts our global standing.
Second, on May 20,
2024, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) sought
arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav
Gallant, as well as for Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh (Hamas political
leader) and Mohammed Deif (head of the Al Qassem Brigades) for war crimes and
crimes against humanity. While the United States is not a signatory to the Rome
statutes creating the court (nor is Israel), the U.S. has supported
and applauded previous arrest warrants for criminals such as Putin, but not
so when it comes to Netanyahu and Israel. The United States blasted this
decision and threatened the chief prosecutor. U.S. lawmakers have even
threatened the ICC with sanctions. Do we support the international rule of law
or not?
Now to top it off,
the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, has invited
Benjamin Netanyahu, seen by many around the world as a war criminal, to address
a Joint Session of the House, something that is reserved for revered global
heroes, on July 24. While some senators and representatives may skip the
session in protest, Netanyahu is likely to receive a thunderous welcome with
many standing ovations. How do you think the world will see this spectacle?
America supporting a war criminal who is butchering thousands of innocent women
and children, applauding him and snubbing its nose at the world? It will be
played over and over around the world by our enemies and to our national
detriment and long-term demise.
Why are we hurting
our global standing so? The only plausible explanation is the power of the
Israeli lobby in the United States.
If Israel continues
its rampage, if we go on supporting the ongoing carnage with arms and political
backing, if we continue our attacks on the ICJ and the ICC and if we go ahead
with our potential love fest on July 24, the U.S. will surely pay a heavy price
for generations to come.
Hossein Askari is
emeritus professor of business and international affairs, George Washington
University
TAGS
Israeli interests USS Liberty 34 U.S. sailors 2,000 pound bunker buster bombs International Criminal Court (ICC) The International Court of Justice (ICJ) war crimes and crimes against humanity Mike Johnson Benjamin Netanyahu Gaza ICC arrest warrants butchers American lawmakers July 24 Putin $320 billion in financial aid
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