Since her ascension to the top of the Democratic presidential ticket, Kamala Harris has tried to appear sympathetic to the Palestinian cause while reaffirming her strong commitment to the state of Israel, two contradictory stances that cannot possibly exist in the same place at the same time.
Through their actions, Harris and the rest of the Democratic party have shown which of those two stances they back up with action and which is only empty rhetoric. According to the report, the US has been increasing weapon shipments to Israel since July and August was the second busiest month for US weapon shipments since October.
The report notes that the weapons are ostensibly to help Israel respond to attacks by Hezbollah in Lebanon and a potential attack by Iran, but as antiwar.com points out, they are also being used to slaughter Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
As president, Biden has the power to unilaterally end weapon shipments to Israel under the Leahy Law, which forbids weapon transfers that may be used to violate human rights.
“There’s been The New York Times reports of Joe Biden behind closed doors cussing Netanyahu to his staff. And that doesn’t mean anything. It’s much like the talk of ‘oh, ceasefire now’ at the convention,” explained the Left is Dead podcast host James Carey on Sputnik’s The Critical Hour. “Okay, well, what’s one thing that could facilitate that? Probably the major world power that’s sending off the arms to Israel that fuels these things. It’s our F-16s and F-15s flying over the West Bank and Lebanon. These are our planes supplied with our bombs."
“All we’re going to get is more harsh language and more empty demands for a ceasefire because, obviously, the Democratic Party is not willing to acknowledge the very clear thing to everybody who’s watching that without the US supplying Israel, a ceasefire would be much easier because [Israel would] have to do it.”
While Biden and Harris allegedly work to secure a ceasefire, the Israelis have greatly increased their operations in the occupied West Bank, tearing up streets and bulldozing monuments under the guise of counter-terror operations. At least 12 Palestinians have been killed in the Jenin refugee camp, including 83-year-old Tawfiq Ahmad Younis Qandil, who was shot by an Israeli sniper as he stepped outside of his home. His family said he was going to get groceries.
“I think we're seeing the right wing of Israel sort of look to shift their genocidal kind of war to both areas. And you're seeing now Israeli ministers talking about, ‘oh, well, we're going to have to evacuate people from the villages in the West Bank,’” Carey explained. “And you know how it works there. Do you get to come back? When do you get to come back? And chances are, to answer both those questions, is never.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that Israel would use the same tactics it is using in Gaza in the West Bank. “We must deal with the threat just as we deal with the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, including the temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents and whatever steps are required,” he wrote.
On Saturday, Israel cut off all water, internet and electricity to Jenin.
“It's just, much like Gaza, flatten it. Destroy whatever you can, and make sure that there's nothing to even come back to,” Carey explained, describing the Israeli plan.