It is time for this war to end and end in a way where Israel is secure, all the hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity and self- determination,” she said.
By Amit Sengupta
What can you say about a country’s House of Representatives which willfully chooses to give multiple standing ovations to a war criminal and international pariah, with his hands soaked with the blood of 40,000 innocent civilians, including thousands of women and children?
This man has a possible warrant of arrest for his criminal conduct, issued by the International Criminal Court, and there he was being appreciated with unabashed applause and acceptance by American politicians in their august body of democracy! Indeed, barring the US, Germany and Britain, perhaps, for the entire world, Benjamin Netanyahu is the most hated figure after Adolf Hitler of the Holocaust — isolated, condemned and branded as a man who presided over the Genocide in Gaza. And, after the Tories, even the new Labour government in London might choose to place him, where he truly belongs.
While the thick-skinned American leaders were indulging in standing ovations and applause, Bibi was doing exactly what he knows best. He was ‘indulging’ in the mass-starvation of children in Gaza, marooned in refugee camps, brutalised and battered, gripped by a man-made famine — while the American regime, led by Joe Biden, an accomplice, continued to supply arms worth billions to Israel!
Cheers, they celebrated in the House, and Bibi’s Israel Defense Forces had already compelled more than 150,000 refugees to run in their own land, so as to escape the bombs and the guns. In a ravaged Gaza, surrounded by the ruins of multiple death camps, where will they go in this tiny strip of land?
Amid the applause in the US House of Representatives, socialist Democrat, Rashida Tliab, stood with a placard: ‘War Criminal’ and ‘Guilty of Genocide’. “I will never back down in speaking truth to power. The apartheid government of Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians. Palestinians will not be erased! Solidarity with all those outside of these walls in the streets, protesting, and exercising their right to dissent,” said in a Tweet.
She was accompanied by by Hani Almadhoun, a Palestinian. He has lost 150 members of his family in the carnage unleashed by Netanyahu. Outside, thousands were protesting against the visit by Netanyahu in Washington DC.
Earlier, Senator Bernie Sanders, on the Senate floor, called Netanyahu a “war criminal”. He said, “It will be the first time in American history that a war criminal has been given that honour (of speaking in the House)… His policies in Gaza and the West Bank, and his refusal to support a two-state solution, should be roundly condemned. In my view, his Right-wing, extremist government should not receive another nickel of US taxpayer support to continue the inhumane destruction of Gaza…”
Sanders said that university campuses in Gaza have been destroyed, humanitarian aid has been blocked, and more than 500,000 Palestinians are facing organised starvation.
Thankfully, presidential hopeful Kamala Harris, who is now bound to replace Biden as the new candidate for the top post, said that “she will not be silent” on the collective suffering being inflicted on Gaza by Israel, and categorically told the Israeli prime minister to get the ceasefire “deal done”. She had sent a strong signal to all concerned by not attending the House when Netanyahu was invited to speak. In political circles, this was interpreted as a decisive boycott of a man singularly responsible for the carnage in Gaza.
“There has been hopeful movement in the talks to secure an agreement on this deal. And as I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done. So to everyone who has been calling for a ceasefire and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you and I hear you,” Harris spoke to journalists after her meeting with him, reports CNN.
“It is time for this war to end and end in a way where Israel is secure, all the hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity and self- determination,” she said.
Earlier, amidst applau, in her address commemorating the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, at Selma, Alabama, Harris said: “So, before I begin today, I must address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. What we are seeing every day in Gaza is devastating. We have seen reports of families eating leaves or animal feed, women giving birth to malnourished babies with little or no medical care, and children dying from malnutrition and dehydration.” (The White House, March 23, 2024.)
“…As I have said many times, too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. And just a few days ago, we saw hungry, desperate people approach aid trucks, simply trying to secure food for their families after weeks of nearly no aid reaching Northern Gaza. And they were met with gunfire and chaos… Our hearts break for the victims of that horrific tragedy, and for all the innocent people in Gaza, who are suffering from what is clearly a humanitarian catastrophe…
“… People in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane. And our common humanity compels us to act.”
On the day Biden declared that he was finally leaving the race, after a bout of Covid, Vice President Kamala Harris was actively strategizing with her close bunch of allies and advisers. She was fully prepared. The New York Times reported (July 25, 2024) that the president had informed her that he was quitting. Biden announced his decision at 1.46 pm. Harris, in sneakers and a sweat shirt, was “ready to go”.
The NYT reports: “I wasn’t going to let this day go by without you hearing from me,” Ms. Harris had said over and over, as day turned to night, according to five people who received her calls, or, were briefed on them. She phoned past Democratic presidents, many of her potential rivals — including Govs. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, JB Pritzker of Illinois and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania — the Democratic congressional leaders, Senator Bernie Sanders, the heads of the various influential caucuses and other top Democrats, a person with direct knowledge of the call list said. The blitz demonstrated exactly the kind of vigour and energy that Mr Biden had lacked in recent weeks. Mr Biden had reportedly made 20 calls to congressional Democrats in the first 10 or so days after the debate, while his candidacy hung in the balance. Ms Harris made 100 calls in 10 hours.
Meanwhle, polls are reflecting a decisive shift in the popularity ratings of Donald Trump and Harris. She is almost neck-to-neck with Trump, and her campaign has not even started. Contrast this with Biden lagging behind Trump by six points, even as Trump, his ear bandaged, seemed to be all over the place. Now, apparently, he seems to have disappeared from the headlines.
In the final days of July, according to media reports, Trump leads Harris by one per cent — he has 48 per cent ratings, while she is close behind at 47 per cent.
Interestingly, Barack Obama had chosen a mysterious silence on the issue of endorsing Harris, even while a majority of Democrats are backing her. The USA Today reports that Obama “is serving as a sounding board for her, as he has, over the 20 years they’ve known each other.” Apparently, the first Afro-American president of the US is waiting for the right moment to endorse her candidature.
Kamala Harris is apparently using Freedom by Beyonce as her theme song for the presidential campaign. Jonathan Weiler writes in his newsletter, how Anand Girihardadas describes the concept: “The freedom not just to get by, but to get ahead. The freedom to be safe from gun violence. The freedom to make decisions about your own body. We choose a future where no child lives in poverty. Where we can all afford healthcare….”
If elected, Kamala Harris would be the first woman president of her country with African and Asian origins.
Remarks by Vice President Harris at the American Federation of Teachers’ 88th National Convention.