Biden’s port plan

Saturday 9th March, 2024

US President Joe Biden has decided to build a temporary port in Gaza to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian civilians trapped in that war-ravaged enclave, where hospitals and schools are being bombed incessantly. He was expected to unveil the planned port project, in his State of the Union speech. In fact, what is on the cards is the construction of a pier off the coast of Gaza, and there will be no US military personnel to handle the aid delivery, according to media reports.

President Biden has the blood of Palestinian civilians on his hands; his government has thrown its weight behind Israel, which stands accused of unleashing genocidal violence in Gaza. There is no way Israel can sustain its military operations in Gaza without US backing. The Biden administration unflinchingly defends the interests of Israel at the UN while supplying military aid worth billions of dollars to Tel Aviv. The US has declared that it will provide ‘whatever Israel needs’ for the ongoing military operations. It is against this backdrop that President Biden’s plan to set up a temporary port in Gaza should be viewed.

Washington is coming under increasing international pressure to leverage its position as the patron of Israel to stop the Israeli military operations, which have reportedly claimed more than 30,000 Palestinian lives so far. It is not out of any concern for civilian lives that Biden has offered to build a pier off the Gaza coast. Many Democrats, troubled by the political fallout of the Gaza conflict, have been pressuring Biden to make a decisive intervention to stop the killings of Palestinian civilians. Instead of ensuring that Israel halts the offensive operations so that humanitarian aid can reach the civilians in distress swiftly, Biden has adopted ad hoc measures such as airdropping aid, and now he is planning to build a port!

Something is said to be better than nothing, and Biden’s port plan has been welcomed by those who feel for the hapless Palestinians suffering without food and medicine and mourning the preventable deaths of their loved ones. But neither Biden nor the US will be able fool the civilised world, which is calling for an immediate end to the Israeli offensive action in Gaza. True, it is Hamas that started the ongoing conflict by invading a part of Israel, killing dozens of Israeli military personnel and civilians and carrying out abductions, but Israel’s military response has been hugely disproportionate. The blame for the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza should be apportioned to Hamas. But the fact remains that Israel must be made to stop its military onslaught.

What is implied in Biden’s port plan is that the US either does not want to rein in Israel or is not equal to the task of restraining it vis-a-vis Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s intransigence. Is it that the creature has become more powerful than the creator in the end, or Washington is running with the unfortunate Palestinians and hunting with the belligerent Jews in view of international opprobrium, which is undermining America’s position as a global leader? Moreover, the Biden administration is helping Israel continue its attacks in Gaza while urging Russia to stop military operations in Ukraine.

Former US President Donald Trump is recovering lost ground rapidly. This is something his political rivals, especially the Democrats never expected after the last US presidential election. It is being widely speculated that Trump will bring the war in Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza to an end,if he is elected President again. Anti-war sentiments are on the rise in the US, much to the detriment of the interests of Democrats, and Biden will be at a distinct disadvantage come the November presidential contest. Biden is trying to help himself politically at home by setting up the proposed Gaza port rather than ameliorating the suffering of the Palestinians crying out for assistance.