Why is the U.S. Shamefully Resisting a Ceasefire in Gaza?

Latest

Jewish Voice for Peace members and others organized a takeover of Grand Central Station in New York City Oct. 27, 2023, to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. PHOTO/Video Still, Forbes

Editor’s note: This article was updated on Nov. 28, 2023.

As this article is being written, a “humanitarian pause” is in effect in Gaza, allowing a prisoner exchange, but Israel has made clear its assault on Gaza will continue after the pause ends. Killings and arrests of Palestinians in the West Bank continue. So far, over 15,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including over 6,150 children, and 36,000 have been wounded. Thousands are missing. After Israel bombed Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital, children there told reporters, “We come now to shout [to the world] and invite you to protect us….We want to live as the other children live.”

Meanwhile, a young woman approached Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren recently while Warren was dining in a restaurant. She told Warren, “I’m a refugee from Gaza. Sixty-eight members of my family have been killed in the past three weeks. How many more of them have to die before you will call for a ceasefire?” Warren had no answer.

Anyone with a brain and a heart can see that a permanent ceasefire is necessary, and the U.S. can impose it on Israel, given Israel’s dependence on U.S. money, weapons and military protection. Why won’t Biden and the majority in Congress demand a ceasefire? It’s because Israel was created in part on behalf of American and European corporations and billionaires to further their interests in the Middle East. This meant colonizing Palestine. The Middle East is important to the U.S. because it is a crossroads of the world between profitable markets in Asia, Africa and Europe, and because it is rich in oil (including oil and gas under Gaza). The profits for U.S. oil companies are immense, and just as importantly, the U.S. uses the control of oil and the sale of weapons as a means of controlling countries across the world. The U.S. can also use Israel as a base for its own military interventions. And the U.S. weapons sales to Israel are another source of profit. As Biden said as a young senator years ago, “If Israel didn’t exist we’d have to invent it.”

But pressure is mounting to stop the mass murder of the Palestinian people. Some U.S. and UN officials have resigned in protest at the slaughter. Huge demonstrations are taking place across the world. People have marched, blocked traffic, occupied buildings, confronted Biden at public events, disrupted congressional hearings, and blocked the loading of weapons on to ships. Some Israelis have also taken a stand against Israel’s war crimes. Belgium and Spain have called for a war crimes investigation, and Belgium is considering “recognizing the State of Palestine.” At a demonstration confronting Biden in Chicago, one woman said, “My Jewish blood and my Jewish soul compel me to stand up and come here today and tell President Biden that we need a ceasefire now and anything else is immoral.” Progressive youth groups have warned Biden he will lose millions of youth votes. Of course, support for Biden among Arab-Americans and Muslims has evaporated.

As well as a fight to stop the massacre and finally liberate the Palestinians, this is a fight to prevent a war that could end the world, and a fight for democracy. The people have to win. We want everyone’s children to be safe and free, in the Middle East and everywhere else. The fight in Palestine is a critical battle in the fight to save humanity. We have to take the world away from the corporations and the billionaires whose greed and empire-building have brought us to the edge of the abyss.

PT Logo collage
+ Articles by this author

Bob Lee is a professional journalist, writer and editor, and is co-editor of the People’s Tribune, serving as Managing Editor. He first started writing for and distributing the People’s Tribune in 1980, and joined the editorial board in 1987.

Free to republish but please credit the People's Tribune. Visit us at www.peoplestribune.org, email peoplestribune@gmail.com, or call 773-486-3551.

The People’s Tribune brings you articles written by individuals or organizations, along with our own reporting. Bylined articles reflect the views of the authors. Unsigned articles reflect the views of the editorial board. Please credit the source when sharing: ©2024 peoplestribune.org. Please donate to help us keep bringing you voices of the movement. Click here. We’re all volunteer, no paid staff.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Featured

Winners and Losers in Trump’s ‘Ugly Bill’

Winners and losers: The bill represents the greatest upward transfer of wealth in U.S. history. It cut health care, food subsidies, raised cost of other necessities to give massive tax breaks to billionaires.

Resistance Against Mass Deportations Webinar Scheduled July 17

The Zooming to the Resistance Against Mass Deportations Coalition is planning the second in a series of webinars exploring how people across the country are fighting mass deportations. During the webinar, scheduled July 17 at 4 p.m. Pacific, a panel of fighters from California cities and the East Coast will share their experience resisting the cruel ICE raids.

Mamdani’s NY Campaign Electrifies Those Seeking a Better Life

Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, has struck a nerve by voicing the demands of those who are struggling to survive as the cost of living continues to rise.

Another Big Beautiful Betrayal for Rural America

You slash Medicaid, you’re swinging an axe at the heart of our rural hospitals, community clinics, doctors and nurses — and every family that depends on a job for a living. It’s not too late to raise hell.

ICE Terror Campaign Threatens Us All

Several recent Facebook reels show how ICE is ramping up its campaign of terror against immigrants, citizens and protestors alike as the effort to create a police state continues and resistance grows. One creator speaks to the significance of Haitians now being targeted.

More from the People's Tribune