The U.S. and Israel: a Match Made in Hell

When one is discussing a violent nation, one that disdains international law, hold human rights in contempt, and cares nothing for its reputation on the international stage, one is generally discussing either the United States or Israel. They are so often complicit in each other’s crimes, and that fact is becoming clearer as each nation is led by an unstable, corrupt and egotistical mad man.

We will not take the time herein to rehash the ugly history of this disgraceful duo; their current crimes are sufficient for a brief discussion.

U.S. violation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

This agreement, signed by President Barack Obama representing the United States, with Germany, France, Britain, Russia, China, the European Union and Iran, regulated Iran’s nuclear program, in exchange for the lifting of sanctions against that nation. One of the terms of the agreement was that international inspectors had to certify Iranian compliance, which it has done since its inception in 2015. The U.S. president had to certify, to Congress, compliance, based on the results of those international inspections.

Israeli Prime Murderer Benjamin Netanyahu was more than a little miffed by this agreement; he addressed the U.S. Congress prior to the completion and signing of the agreement, attempting to get that body to vote it down. This put Congress members in a very uncomfortable position: they had to defy one of their two leaders. Either the Democratic president would have to be thwarted, or a main source of their campaign contributions would need to be disappointed.

In the end, they risked the campaign dollars, and approved the agreement.

During the remainder of Obama’s term, he certified compliance, as President Donald Trump did, most grudgingly, for the first year of his administration. Yet while Obama had a ‘troubled’ relationship with Netanyahu, the bromance between Trump and the Israeli leader rivals that of Romeo and Juliet; never have there been two such peas in any pod.

So, in order to please his Israeli paramour, and against the wishes and counsel of the entire international body except Saudi Arabia and Israel, against the advice of the U.S.’s military leaders, and in violation of international law, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the JCPOA.

This, of course, threw the other signatories into an understandable tizzy. Companies within their borders had begun doing very lucrative business with Iran, and they have now been told by the U.S. that they have between 60 and 120 days to cease and desist. Yet their own governments have said they will respect the JCPOA. This means that Trump could sanction some of the U.S.’s oldest and most trusted allies. This does not seem to trouble Trump, or his war-mongering cohorts. This includes the current National Security Advisor John Bolton, who disdains international law, and says it only exists to constrain U.S. power.

U.S. embassy move to Jerusalem.

This seems to be a case where Congressional lust to please Israel (keep in mind those campaign contributions), may have caused more problems than even Congress thinks it is worth. Congress decades ago passed a law mandating the move of the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, to please its Israeli masters, but included a caveat that the U.S. president could delay the move due to ‘security considerations’. Every president since Bill Clinton has used that caveat. But security considerations be damned, said the illustrious Trump. So what if nearly the entire international community says that this must not be done, and that the final status of Jerusalem can only be determined through negotiations. So what if a resolution in the United Nations Security Council condemning the move was vetoed by the U.S., when every other nation represented on the Security Council voted in favor of the resolution. Who cares if the U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to make the decision to establish Jerusalem null and void. It is the fulfillment of a dream long held by Netanyahu, so that, it seems, is all that matters.

Israeli killing of Palestinian protestors.

For weeks, Palestinians in Gaza have been demonstrating, demanding the internationally-recognized right of return. Tens of thousands of Palestinians demonstrated, and they were met with live ammunition and tear gas by Israeli soldiers. Members of the press, clearly marked as such, were targeted, shot and killed. Medical personnel, also clearly marked and assisting injured Palestinians, had to fight Israeli soldiers who were attempting to prevent them from helping the wounded.

Around the world, such behaviors were condemned, yet no words of criticism emitted from the White House. Indeed, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., the ignorant, racist Nikki Healy, praised Israeli ‘restraint’, and said any country would have defended its borders, apparently from unarmed demonstrators who were making no effort to breach those borders. She has long demonstrated that she lives in a fantasy land also inhabited by the president that she so ably serves.

So, where does this all leave us? We have two countries, each of which encourages and supports the other in its international crimes against humanity. Each is led by an internationally-recognized mad man. Each oppresses other nations, as it also selectively oppresses those within its own borders.

Have we, perhaps, reached a tipping point, that time when opinions shift dramatically? Several Democratic members of Congress have done the previously-unthinkable in criticizing Israeli actions. And not a single Democrat attended the grand, bloody opening of the embassy in Jerusalem.Until very recently, one of the very few areas on which the heavily-divided and extremely partisan Congress could agree was in their unwavering devotion to Israel.

Things are changing, but not for the people in Palestine. With the occupation in full force, the head of the government in the West Bank nothing more than a traitor, and Gaza strangled by the illegal blockade, the abject, unspeakable suffering continues. Perhaps, however, real change may be on the horizon. It will not come too soon for Palestine.