As Israel continues this relentless genocide against the Palestinians with out thought for a reprieve, the Palestinian factions condemned the brutal massacre committed by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) after bombing the Mustafa Hafez School. The school which housed hundreds of displaced families west of Gaza City. Hamas and its allies will be holding the US administration responsible for the ongoing genocidal crimes in Gaza. The attack on the school took place last week Tuesday.
“The criminal bombing carried out by the fascist Zionist occupation army is a confirmation of its government’s criminal approach, and its insistence on continuing the genocide war against our people in the Gaza Strip,” Hamas Movement said in a statement. The Movement reiterated that it holds “President [Joe] Biden and his administration fully responsible for the continuation of these massacres against our people.” “These crimes would not have continued without the full American complicity and the political and military support it provides to the Zionist extremist government.” Hamas also called on the international community, the United Nations and its institutions to stop these ongoing crimes and violations against defenseless civilians.
For its part, the Islamic Jihad Movement said that the Israeli massacre in Mustafa Hafez School is an evidence of the Biden administration’s green light to Israel to commit more massacres.
Hamas and its allied organizations such as the Islamic Jihad Movement (IJM) are gathering all their might to stir up public anger both among the Palestinians and the public of the Arab World. They may be right to blame the United States and the administration of current President Joe Biden for sponsoring Israel with the military and financial aid. Biden and his advisors such as Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken may be responsible for sending the aid to arm Israeli troops, but Hamas and the IJM won’t be left unscathed due to the massacre they perpetrated on the seventh of October. They knew Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu would have been ruthless in his response even if he was slow to respond to protect his own citizens.
The International Criminal Court has already charged Netanyahu and his inner circle as well as Hamas and its surviving leaders with acts of genocide and terrorism respectively. Although it remains to be seen if Netanyahu will ever face the risk of going on trial.
As it stands in Chicago, in the US there were large pro-Palestine demonstrations outside the Democratic National Convention (DNC).
Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrating outside the Democratic National Convention “have a point”, Joe Biden said as he took to the stage to give an emotional farewell speech on Monday night. Hundreds of activists marched to the United Centre in downtown Chicago to protest against Kamala Harris’s stance on the war in Gaza, with some accusing the vice president of “genocide”. Four people were detained by the police when they managed to break through a security perimeter that the city’s police had set up around the venue. Mr Biden, who has faced backlash from parts of the Democratic party’s base for sending military aid to Israel, struck a diplomatic tone on the protests while delivering the headline speech of the first day of the convention. “Those protesters out in the streets, they have a point,” the US President said, adding: “A lot of innocent people are being killed on both sides.”
The point seems to have been lost on Biden as he continued to supply the Zionist regime with weapons and money to continue the war. Neither Biden nor any member of his administration have admitted any regret for having done this. It would have gone a long way in ending Netanyahu’s genocidal war in Gaza. Harris herself has never backtracked on her support for the Israeli regime. She has never used the influence she has had to call for the end to the continuous supply of American tax payers’ money in weapons to the Israelis. Although Biden may be right to agree with pro-Palestinian demonstrators outside the DNC his words of support have come too late. Biden may be right to point out that most of the people killed in this war were mostly innocent, but it has been more so the Palestinians. More often than not they have borne the brunt of Israeli brutality.
An estimated 1,000 protesters gathered for the march to the convention centre, although organisers claimed that up to 15,000 people turned up. Some held signs which read “Abandon Harris”, while others are reported to have chanted “Harris, Harris you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide” and “US out of the Middle East.” JB Pritzker, the Democratic governor of Illinois, said the breach of the security perimeter had been “brief” and that the police had done a “great job”. Ms Harris has tried to chart a middle ground on the issue of Israel and Gaza, but is struggling to keep young, Muslim and Arab American voters onside without distancing herself from the US President or isolating the wider electorate. She drew fire from different parts of the political spectrum when she did not appear in Congress for a speech by Benjamin Netanyahu last month, but met the Israeli prime minister in private instead.
The spread of the demonstrators would have been massive. It should be clear from their number of 1,000 or 15,000 that none of them trust Vice President and presidential candidate Harris to be at the helm of the White House. The question is “what is it that determines the support that the Biden and other US presidential Administrations have given to Israel?” Is it the continued funding given by the Israeli lobby also known as the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to US politicians such as presidential candidates? Or is it the continued “check and balance” Tel Aviv’s military provides in Washington to its neighbours? The Americans have been playing a dangerous game of manipulation when it comes to the politics of the Middle East. Israel often helps by having waged military incursions in Lebanon and Syria. As a special detach of the American international military police protecting their interests.
While Washington’s interests are being conserved abroad those who call for a change in how policy is though of at home are ridiculed. Meanwhile it looks like the war in Gaza will leave deep scars for the Palestinians both in the Strip and in the West Bank.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
