How to End the Gaza Violence

As of late Friday the ceasefire in Gaza seems to be holding, if tentatively. While we should be pleased that this round of fighting appears temporarily on hold, we must realize that without changes in U.S. foreign policy it is only a matter of time before the killing begins again.

It feels like 2009 all over again, which is the last time this kind of violence broke out in Gaza. At that time, over 1,400 Palestinians were killed, of which just 235 were combatants. The Israelis lost 13, of which 10 were combatants. At that time, I said of then-President Bush’s role in the conflict: “It’s our money and our weapons. But I think we encouraged it. Certainly, the president has said nothing to diminish it. As a matter of fact, he justifies it on moral grounds, saying, oh, they have a right to do this, without ever mentioning the tragedy of Gaza…. To me, I look at it like a concentration camp.”

The U.S. role has not changed under the Obama administration. The same mistakes continue. As journalist Glenn Greenwald wrote last week: “For years now, U.S. financial, military, and diplomatic support of Israel has been the central enabling force driving this endless conflict. The bombs Israel drops on Gazans, and the planes they use to drop them, and the weapons they use to occupy the West Bank and protect settlements are paid for, in substantial part, by the U.S. taxpayer….”

Last week, as the fighting raged, President Obama raced to express U.S. support for the Israeli side, in a statement that perfectly exemplifies the tragicomedy of U.S. foreign policy. The U.S. supported the Israeli side because, he said, “No country on Earth would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders.” Considering that this president rains down missiles on Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and numerous other countries on a daily basis, the statement was so hypocritical that it didn’t pass the laugh test. But it wasn’t funny.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton traveled to Tel Aviv to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, but she refused to meet with elected Palestinian leaders. Clinton said upon arrival in Israel, “America’s commitment to Israel’s security is rock solid and unwavering.” Does this sound like an honest broker?

At the same time, Congress acted with similar ignobility when an unannounced resolution was brought to the House floor after the business of the week had been finished; and in less than 30 seconds the resolution was passed by unanimous consent, without debate and without most representatives even having heard of it. The resolution, H. Res. 813, was so one-sided it is not surprising they didn’t want anyone to have the chance to read and vote on it. Surely at least a handful of my colleagues would have objected to language such as “The House of Representatives expresses unwavering commitment to the security of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state with secure borders.”

U.S. foreign policy being so one-sided actually results in more loss of life and security on both sides. Surely Israelis do not enjoy the threat of missiles from Gaza, nor do the Palestinians enjoy their Israel-imposed inhuman conditions in Gaza. But as long as Israel can count on its destructive policies being underwritten by the U.S. taxpayer it can continue to engage in reckless behavior. And as long as the Palestinians feel the one-sided U.S. presence lined up against them, they will continue to resort to more and more deadly and desperate measures.

Continuing to rain down missiles on so many increasingly resentful nations, the U.S. is undermining rather than furthering its security. We are on a collision course with much of the rest of the world if we do not right our foreign policy. Ending interventionism in the Middle East and replacing it with friendship and even-handedness would be a welcome first step.