Less than an hour’s drive from the carnage in Gaza, US senators and White House officials dined and celebrated with the regime responsible for the murder and maiming of protesters.
The Trump administration had reason to believe that its unconditional support for this brutal regime would see light opposition from Democrats. And indeed, the administration was effusively praised by Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer today:
“In a long overdue move, we have moved our embassy to Jerusalem. Every nation should have the right to choose its capital,” Schumer said in a statement. “I sponsored legislation to do this two decades ago, and I applaud President Trump for doing it.” — thehill.com/...
That is the entirety of Mr. Schumer’s statement, which was posted on the official Senate Democratic website.
The Senate minority leader was aware that dozens of Palestinian protesters had been killed by Israeli snipers and hundreds maimed, as they have been every week for several weeks. Mr. Schumer does not appear to believe Palestinian deaths, injury or suffering merit a mention when applauding Israeli or Trump administration “choices”. Mr. Schumer did not venture an opinion on when 4.5 million Palestinians living under oppressive Israeli military rule could expect their basic human rights restored. Nor did he indicate when he would sponsor legislation to build a US embassy at a capital the Palestinian’s chose. Palestinian rights were clearly was not a concern for Mr. Schumer “two decades ago” and he does not appear to be overly concerned about Palestinian lives or bodies today.
Apart from rare exceptions on the left like Rep. Lee, Rep. McCollum, Rep. Ellison, Rep. Pocan, Rep. Jayapal, Rep. Hank Johnson, Rep. Girjalva Rep. Rep. McGovern, Sen. Merkely and Sen. Sanders, the vast majority of Democrats maintained a studious silence over the killing of dozens of protesters by a regime that receives billions in military aid from the US each year. Though US law prohibits military aid to units that violate human rights, the Leahy Act has never been applied to Israeli forces.
Emboldened by the opposition’s silence, the Trump White House indulged in its favorite sport, victim blaming:
“The responsibility for these tragic deaths rests squarely with Hamas,” he said. “Israel has the right to defend itself.” [...]
When pressed on whether Israel bears any responsibility for the violence, Shah reiterated, “We believe Hamas bears the responsibility.” He referred to the Palestinian protests as a “rather cynical exploitation of the situation” and “a gruesome and unfortunate propaganda attempt.” — time.com/...
Yes, the White House deputy press secretary called the killing of dozens of protesters including women, children and disabled persons, an “unfortunate propaganda attempt”. As for the claims of “defense”:
Meanwhile, US media did its best to obscure the asymmetry between a nuclear-armed state deploying drones and snipers against protesters. News reports consistently referred to the killing of protesters as “clashes”, when describing snipers shooting at teenagers from hundreds of yards away. Other articles neglected to mention how protesters were being killed, studiously referring to “people” “dying”. As if the cause of death, and the identity of killers and victims was a mystery.
No Israeli soldier has been wounded by protesters. Israeli snipers have killed over a hundred Palestinian protesters in Gaza while wounding and maiming thousands of Palestinians. Snipers also appear to have targeted Palestinian journalists, shooting several and killing at least two. Yet Israeli authorities and media have repeatedly characterized the protesters as “violent”.
Since March 30, when the Gaza protests began, 101 Palestinians have been killed and well over 10,000 wounded, many maimed for life. Not a single Israeli injury and not a single rocket fired at Israel, even as Israel has bombed Gaza several times in recent weeks.
It doesn’t matter which numbers you want to believe or how many stones have been thrown (not a single injury caused by them), or even how many Hamas officials have called on Palestinians to protest. This is a massacre of a stateless population living under military siege. And we are all accomplices for not doing more to stop it. — mag.com/...
— @subirgrewal