Biden just tried to pass off a Hamas peace proposal as 'Israeli'. Then 'Israel' instantly rejected it.
Every day, we are closer to the fall of 'Israel'.
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During the transition from May to June, President Biden announced on Twitter that “Israel” had ‘offered a roadmap towards an enduring ceasefire’ set to roll out in three phases, culminating in:
The end to all hostilities in Gaza,
the withdrawal of all IOF troops from Gaza,
the release of all POWs held in Gaza as well as remains of POWs and
Major reconstruction plans for Gaza, which is noncommittal in its wording.
Biden also announced that this peace plan had been submitted to Hamas through Qatar for their consideration.
Hamas shortly thereafter released a statement in which they said they viewed this deal ‘positively’. Notably, they also attributed the credit for the plan to the USA — which is very different from the picture Biden presents.
Former president Barack Obama even took to Twitter himself to post in support of this deal, albeit with his usual imperialist foresight. There, he said the plan was put forward by ‘President Biden’, characterizing it as a White House plan.
So which is it? Is it an ‘Israeli’ plan, or a White House plan?
This deal is nothing new. For months now this is what Hamas, and more broadly the resistance, have been putting forward. If anything, this is Hamas’ peace plan.
“Israel”, despite being named as the instigator of this plan, instantly rejected this deal, like they’ve repeatedly rejected all peace deals offered by Gaza so far.
The Nethanyahu government indeed instantly responded to Biden’s announcement, saying that this deal is unacceptable to them.
Because Biden can’t admit that he is ceding ground to what his government claims is a terrorist group, he has to israel this peace deal and make it seem as if it came from his allies, who instantly and unceremoniously shouted out “Biden, what the hell are you talking about?”
In no uncertain terms, the Prime Minister’s office of ‘Israel’ tweeted that they sought a deal that “would also enable Israel to continue the war until all its objectives are achieved, including the destruction of Hamas's military and governing capabilities”.
This is not what was outlined in Biden’s proposal, as the first phase begins with a complete ceasefire, which presupposes that no more destruction can take place.
This plan, however, represents a very interesting change from the usual “there’s nothing we can do about this genocide” rhetoric.
It is very one-sided, although it does not entirely commit ‘Israel’ to take responsibility for their actions in Gaza. The release of the POWs was always on the table (and would force ‘Israel’ to take them back and stop bombing them with the Hannibal Doctrine). What Gaza gets in exchange will not bring back its martyrs, but it sets the foundations for the coming end of ‘Israel’, which I’ve talked about before.
On paper, this is a return to the status quo for Gaza. But putting all of the context of this release together, understanding it as change from the usual rhetoric, raises several more questions that don’t find very optimistic answers for ‘Israel’.
Why was this proposal announced without ‘Israel’s’ support, claiming it to be theirs, when they do not support it? The White House took the lead, and essentially said “this is what it’s gonna look like”. ‘Israel’ will likely be forced to accept this deal, which sees them on the losing side once again as they are forced to commit effort to undo the damage they’ve done.
Of course, Biden claimed this was an ‘Israeli’ proposal to help them save face and avoid the genocide charges that are still being discussed at the International Court of Justice and now the International Criminal Court. But, he did it without ‘Israel’s’ approval and possibly even without having consulted them first.
In effect, Biden is now supporting Hamas’ peace deal.
Keep in mind that the White House makes ‘Israel’s’ policies. With a phone call and by threatening to pull aid (of which the US sends 3 billion dollars worth every year), Biden could stop the atrocities in Gaza. By financing the ‘Israeli’ economy, the White House effectively owns it — and sees ‘Israel’ as its military outpost to West Asia.
A ceasefire will allow the second phase of ‘Israel’s’ downfall to play out. Focused on the destruction of Gaza leaves little place for ‘Israeli society’ to think of what comes next. Detractors are being arrested or silenced by their fellow settlers because what is important to the colonial project is the settling of Gaza, at this moment. But the economy is doing very badly, and as more (conscripted) IOF soldiers are being sent to Gaza to lose their lives there, that translates to the same amount of workers not making it back into the economy afterwards. There are only about 6 million full ‘Israelis’ in the country; any loss is substantial. We don’t have the exact numbers of enemy losses at this time due to the fog of war, but it seems to be very high.
On top of this, many settlers have already left the country and vowed not to return, and many refuse to move back to the border settlements.
These are deep problems that ‘Israel’ will have to face once a ceasefire is proclaimed. The Nethanyahu government is deeply unpopular and will have to contend with the backlash after Gaza, but I am not holding my breath that this will be a major crisis. The state — even the settler-colonial one — have ways of mitigating governmental crises to ensure their survival. Nethanyahu will probably be replaced, and business will carry on as usual on that front.
This is why we need to look at the deeper problems, the ones that can’t just be signed away by a bill or with enough money.
In that sense, I believe this proposal shows a ceasefire is coming soon. In the meantime we must, as pro-Palestine activists, keep the pressure on our governments and follow the requests of the Palestinian Resistance. If this deal is worth exploring for them, then we must pressure ‘Israel’ into sitting down at the negotiating table and accepting this proposal. This is done through hurting them where we can, which includes actions at home such as the student encampments, ongoing marches and protests, boycotts, etc.
Do Palestinians get their POW back?