Biden’s Gaza Aid Policy Is An Electioneering Spectacle
Most pro-Palestinian Democrats are unlikely to be duped by Biden’s charade, and if they remain more committed to the Palestinian cause than to their party’s and vote for a third party out of protest, then Trump’s return might be a fait accompli.
Biden announced during his State Of The Union address on Thursday that “I’m directing the U.S. military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the Gaza coast that can receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters.” He added that “No U.S. boots will be on the ground. This temporary pier would enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day.”
The European Commission, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, the Republic of Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom subsequently released a joint statement with the US about the complementary maritime corridor that they’re pioneering to assist with these port plans. This comes as some countries have begun airdropping aid over Gaza as global concern grows about the enclave’s humanitarian crisis, which is entirely the result of Israel’s collective punishment of the Palestinians.
These American-led efforts might appear noble in principle, but they’re really cynical in substance since Washington refuses to exert meaningful pressure on Tel Aviv to curtail its military operations and allow the required level of aid to enter Gaza via traditional land routes through Israel. Furthermore, the Associated Press report on Sunday that this latest initiative won’t bear fruit for at least two months, during which time the aforementioned crisis will inevitably worsen.
The only reason why Biden is going through with these air and maritime aid plans while continuing to veto UNSC ceasefire resolutions, which are the only way to alleviate the Gazan Palestinians’ suffering, is because of domestic electoral considerations. Al Jazeera recently drew attention to how 13% of Democrat voters in Michigan’s primary cast “uncommitted” ballots while a whopping 19% did so in Minnesota, which are key battleground states and show that his base is protesting his regional policy.
Each has a significant Muslim minority, but these statistics suggest that more than just those believers are souring on Biden as a result of the blank check that he’s given Israel in this conflict despite rhetoric about its responsibility to prevent civilian casualties. The Palestinian movement is as potent of a force for political mobilization nowadays as the COVID-skeptic one has become, and this newfound political dynamic could sink his re-election bid if he isn’t able to regain control over it.
Since Biden isn’t considering a policy recalibration towards this conflict, and any such one in theory would likely be considered by his base to be too late if it even happened, the only recourse for trying to win back single-issue pro-Palestinian voters is to carry out these air and maritime aid spectacles. The intent is to make it seem like the US is taking the lead to alleviate the Palestinians’ Israeli-inflicted plight, possibly after pressuring it behind the scenes to agree to this, though that’s not at all what’s happening.
Israel is going along with these plans because it expects that they’ll reduce some of the global pressure that it’s coming under, especially among Western civil society, not because the US twisted its arm. Moreover, it continues blocking aid at the border and only letting a trickle through, while its Egyptian ally – despite its representatives’ theatrical rants about supporting Palestine – also keeps the border closed to fleeing refugees in violation of international law and is only letting a trickle of aid through too.
Egypt benefits from Biden’s electioneering spectacle just as much as Israel does since it serves to distract some of the public from its similarly immoral policy towards Palestine even if most activists, including American ones, aren’t fooled by this ruse. Therein lies the problem since Biden desperately needs to win back the pro-Palestinian faction of his base lest they vote for a third party in November as a principled political protest instead of the Democrats and thus hand the presidency back to Trump.
Few are expected to fall for this charade since many Palestinian activists are very informed about this conflict and therefore know fully well that these air and maritime aid plans are just a spectacle. On the one hand, it shows them that Biden’s team is aware of their “uncommitted” protest in the primaries and is reacting to it, but it’s also completely insufficient on the other hand. The only possible way to secure their support is to force Israel to accept an immediate ceasefire that leads to Palestinian independence.
That’s unrealistic to expect since the time for doing that has long passed, and while any new ceasefire would predictably be spun by the US as alleged proof of its commitment to that UNSC-endorsed cause, it never did anything significant in pursuit of it all these decades. Most pro-Palestinian Democrats know this and that’s why they’re unlikely to be duped by Biden’s Gaza aid spectacles, and if they remain more committed to the Palestinian cause than to their party’s, then Trump’s return might be a fait accompli.
Dr Andrew Korybko is a political analyst and a regular contributor to the Sixteenth Council Insights
