President Biden arrived late to the State of the Union address on Thursday. He had been blocked by demonstrators demanding an immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza and the end of US support for Israel’s slaughter of Palestinians. Hundreds of protesters wore T-shirts saying “Biden Legacy = Genocide.”
Naturally, Biden made no reference to genocide or the history of displacement, occupation, settler colonial violence, and apartheid. He claimed the “crisis began on October 7th” and repeated “Israel has a right to go after Hamas.” For months, Biden has spoken of 100% backing for Israel’s actions. Now continued activism and shifting opinion forced him to acknowledge the over 30,000 Palestinians killed and nearly 2 million under bombardment or displaced in his speech, but he did not call for an end to that bombing, or to US support for it.
As Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, prepares for the invasion of Rafah, Biden stated he should not “proceed without a credible and executable plan” for the safety of Palestinians. But of course, the toothless request was immediately dismissed by Netanyahu.
Hollow Words
Biden’s only policy response to the pressure from the majority of Americans opposing Israel’s actions was announcing a plan for the US military to “establish a temporary pier” in Gaza to deliver starving Palestinians some aid.
Mustafa Barghouti, who leads the Palestinian National Initiative, rightly slammed Biden’s announcement on Friday. “It seems to be just another effort to divert attention from the real issue here,” he said. “It’s that 700,000 people are starving in north Gaza now, and Israel is not allowing humanitarian aid to them or the rest of the Gaza Strip.”
Biden could get aid into Gaza immediately if he insisted that Israel lets aid trucks through the border, but the pier will take as long as 60 days to build.
The only reason Gaza doesn’t have a port is because Israel has banned it from having one as part of the 17-year blockade—which the US backs.
Biden isn’t breaking with US support for the blockade, stressing that the pier would be temporary. And even if it’s built, Israel will still be able to hold up the aid. It will have the right to check aid before it’s loaded onto ships and, as at the Rafa crossing, will use its usual cynical pretext of “security concerns” as an obstruction.
Opposition
As Biden made his speech, US representatives Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib held up signs that said, “Stop sending bombs” and “Lasting ceasefire now,” and refused to applaud Biden. They were joined in protest by Summer Lee and Ilhan Omar, but not by fellow “squad” member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Two years ago AOC refrained at the last moment from voting “no” to an additional $1 billion dollars in new funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile system. AOC had recently defended Biden, describing him as “one of the most successful presidents in modern American history,” and, along with independent Senator Bernie Sanders, pledged her support. Such are the pressures of seeking change through Congress inside a capitalist party.
At a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Brooklyn NY on International Women’s Day, the mention of Ocasio-Cortez initiated boos (as did mentions of “war criminal” Hillary Clinton and NY Governor Kathy Hochul), for not doing more for the Palestinian cause at this crucial time.
The real opposition comes from the large numbers of ordinary people who have taken to the streets since the assault began, revolted by Biden’s complicity in Israel’s genocide.
Biden has been dogged in campaign stops over his support for the Israeli genocide, as have many other Democrats and Republican politicians. A majority of Democratic voters prefer a presidential candidate who does not back US military aid for Israel, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. It also shows Biden tied with Donald Trump ahead of the November presidential election.
A huge wave of activists, who at one time would have supported AOC, or even Biden, have come to see they cannot rely on the Democratic Party. But they will come under extreme pressure to vote for him in the next election. This is the context for the record “uncommitted” votes in Democratic primaries reported on here from Michigan.
In Illinois, like many states, there is no “uncommitted” option, but everywhere we have the opportunity to protest and disrupt, including at this year’s Democratic Convention in Chicago, as Mike from Michigan suggests. In this moment, Palestine is the equivalent issue to Vietnam in 1968.
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A Desperate Situation
Time is running out for the over 1.5 million displaced Palestinians sheltering in Gaza.
At least 31,045 people have been killed and 72,654 injured in Gaza since the war began. People are already dying of malnutrition and dehydration and the UN warns hundreds of thousands are at imminent risk of famine caused by Israel’s blockade. Famine and disease are part of the Israeli plan.
“We fear that this already catastrophic situation may slide deeper into the abyss as many Palestinians mark the holy month of Ramadan — a period that is meant to honor peace and tolerance — should Israel launch its threatened military offensive into Rafah, where 1.5 million people have been displaced in deplorable sub-human conditions,” said Jeremy Laurence, the spokesperson from the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. He added “any ground assault on Rafah would incur massive loss of life and would heighten the risk of further atrocity crimes. This must not be allowed to happen.”
Biden could surely stop these actions with the threat of opposing all US aid. But he isn’t concerned about Israel’s murder of Palestinians in Rafah. He fears that revulsion at Israel’s slaughter is fuelling rage globally and could trigger revolt in the Middle East that would threaten US interests. He is also under pressure from growing opposition at home.
A Staunch Supporter
Behind the scenes, Biden calls Netanyahu “an asshole” (one of many supposedly private disagreements leaked from within the administration). For Biden it is not the Zionist project or the occupation that is the problem, but that Netayahu is so open about his genocidal aims. Despite his recent and slight public criticisms, Biden made it clear “I’m never gonna leave Israel.”
On the same day as Biden made his speech, classified briefing documents were revealed, showing that the US state has made more than 100 separate military sales to Israel since 7 October. Two of these sales include over $106 million worth of tank ammunition and $147 million for components needed to make 155-millimeter shells. Biden bypassed Congress to approve these sales. These are in addition to the regular $3 billion in US aid to Israel.
Biden has always been a “staunch supporter” of Israel, because he is thoroughly committed to US imperialism. It is not AIPAC or some “Israel Lobby” that creates this policy, but the uses of the militarized Zionist state for the ruling class interests behind the US empire. As Biden once revealingly stated, “If there were not an Israel, we would have to invent one to make sure our interests were preserved.” This means the fight against US policy in the Middle East is both more difficult and more radical.
What Next for Solidarity with Palestine?
The explosion of protest seen in the early years of the Trump administration and the George Floyd rebellion seemed to fade away around the 2020 election. It is now back with a vengeance under Biden. This time around, ongoing sustainable organizations need to be built.
Mass protests and disruptive direct actions can be paired with organizing a longer-term campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions. The BDS movement takes on more weight as it spreads from campuses to trade unions. The quick growth of Labor for Palestine is an important development.
The first Labor for Palestine demonstration in Los Angeles in February, and the labor contingent on the large March 2nd demonstration in New York were impressive steps forward. In LA, speakers urged unions to go beyond passing cease-fire resolutions, to fight for BDS, and Bay Area union members have initiated a range of campaigns. It will take more work to get official backing and broader participation.
The same protests around the country that repeat the chant “Cease-Fire Now” are also chanting “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free” and “There is Only One Solution: Intifada, Revolution.” The explosions of protest on the street have opened up new opportunities in the US. There is a need for mass involvement, collaboration, and open democratic discussion of strategy to continue involving newly activated individuals and grow the movement.
In Palestine, resistance will continue, and needs to be supported. It will need the collective power of the working class around the region to win liberation. In neighboring Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt masses have demonstrated a passionate solidarity, but this has been constrained and repressed as rulers give lip service to the Palestinian cause while building walls, arresting protesters, and making deals with Israel.
In the US our solidarity with Palestine is strengthened with solidarity for all these movements from below, not by siding with any country that represses its own people. Just as at home the movement has to reject both the far-right Trump and Genocide Joe.
The chant of “Israel Bombs, USA Pays, How Many Kids Did You Kill Today” is the echo of protests against the Vietnam war over 50 years ago. As in that movement, a generation facing the horrors of US imperialism can quickly move to supporting revolution overseas, and open their eyes to the necessity of revolution at home. Through all these struggles we also need to build an organized genuine socialist presence.
Marx21 US 