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veto
By Voting to Exclude Palestine From Full UN Membership, the US Isolated Itself
The vote demonstrated that the international community remains largely united in its support of the Palestinians.
Apr 28, 2024
The outcome of the Palestinevote and the American veto at the United Nations Security Council on April 18 was predictable. Though European countries are becoming increasingly supportive of a Palestinian state, the United States is not yet ready for this commitment.
These are some of the reasons that the U.S. deputy envoy to the U.N., Robert Wood, vetoed the resolution.
One, U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East is still governed by Israeli priorities. And since the majority of Israelis reject the idea of a Palestinian state, or any “concessions” or even the most basic rights for Palestinians, the weak U.S. president neither has the courage, nor the desire to defy the Israeli position.
The outcome of the vote further isolates the United States precisely as much as the Israeli genocide in Gaza has also exposed and isolated Washington.
Two, the fact that Israel, as per the words of its ambassador at the U.N., Gilad Erdan, saw that a vote for Palestine would be equivalent to “rewarding terror with a Palestinian state,” created the kind of political discourse that would have made a positive American vote, or an abstention, akin to supporting this so-called terrorism.
Three, U.S. President Joe Biden, in his own Democratic Party’s calculations, cannot politically afford supporting an independent Palestine only a few months ahead of one of the most contested and decisive elections in U.S. history.
His position remains that of supporting a strong Palestinian Authority—which only exists to “secure” Israel against Palestinian Resistance—while giving the illusion that a Palestinian state is forthcoming.
“There needs to be a Palestinian Authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state,” Biden said in October 2023.
The same position was, for the lack of a better word, articulated by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in January 2024: There is a need for a “pathway to a Palestinian state.”
But what does this mean in practice?
“The problem is getting from here to there, and of course, it requires very difficult, challenging decisions. It requires a mindset that is open to that perspective,” according to Blinken. In other words, more illusions and newspeak.
On the other hand, the Republican Party leadership made it clear that their support for Israel is blind and unconditional. They are also ready to exploit any comment—let alone action—by Biden and his officials that may seem critical of Israel in any way. All of these factors combined made the American veto quite predictable.
Important Lessons
However, the vote was still important, as it, according to Palestinian political leaders and officials, showed that it is the U.S., not the Palestinians, who are isolated within the international community.
Indeed, the vote demonstrated that:
One, the international community remains largely united in its support of the Palestinians.
Two, the positive vote by France, an influential European country, signals a shift in the perception of the European body politic toward Palestine.
“The time has come for a comprehensive political settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, based on the two-state solution,” the French Delegation at the U.N. tweeted on April 19.
Despite the negative outcome of the vote, however, Palestinians now have a renewed resolve that they will ultimately prevail, despite the numerous obstacles created by the U.S. and Israel.
Three, the strong statements emanating from Ireland, Norway, Spain, and others in this regard indicate that the trajectory of support of Palestine in Europe will continue in the coming months and years.
Ireland’s Foreign Minister, Michael Martin, expressed his disappointment “at the outcome of the U.N. Security Council vote on Palestinian U.N. membership,” he tweeted.
“It is past time for Palestine to take its rightful place among the nations of the world. (Ireland) fully supports U.N. membership and will vote in favor of any UNGA resolution to that end.”
The same position was also adopted by Norway.
“Norway regrets that the Security Council did not agree on admitting Palestine as a full member of the UN,” Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide tweeted, adding:“Norway is a staunch supporter of Palestine’s right to statehood. The Two State Solution is the only way to durable peace.”
Four, the outcome of the vote further isolates the United States precisely as much as the Israeli genocide in Gaza has also exposed and isolated Washington.
Despite the Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip, Washington remains the main line of defense for Tel Aviv, allowing it to violate the rights of the Palestinian people and to deny them the very political horizon needed for a just peace.
And, finally, the vote and veto further accentuate Biden’s inability to liberate himself from the stronghold imposed on him and his party by Israel’s supporters—Israel’s backers within the Democratic Party institution and the pro-Israel lobby from without.
Despite the negative outcome of the vote, however, Palestinians now have a renewed resolve that they will ultimately prevail, despite the numerous obstacles created by the U.S. and Israel.
In truth, this collective feeling of hope and empowerment is not the outcome of the strong support for Palestine at the UNSC and the General Assembly, but of the growing sympathy and support for Palestine worldwide and, even more important, the continued resistance of Palestinians in Gaza.
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As Israeli Forces Fire on Starving Palestinians, US Again Vetoes UN Cease-Fire Resolution
"We should ask ourselves: How many innocent lives must be sacrificed before the council deems it necessary to call for a cease-fire?" said the Algerian envoy to the United Nations.
Feb 20, 2024
As a United Nations agency halted aid deliveries in northern Gaza, where acute malnourishment is rampant among children, citing a "breakdown of social order" fueled by Israel's bombardment of and blockade on the enclave, the United States for a third time on Tuesday vetoed a cease-fire resolution at the U.N. Security Council—saying it was an inopportune time to demand that Israel end its massacre of Palestinians.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the cease-fire resolution, proposed by Algeria, would "negatively impact" negotiations for a truce that are ongoing.
Amar Bendjama, Algeria's ambassador to the U.N., said the U.S. ambassador's lone vote against the resolution "implies an endorsement of the brutal violence and collective punishment inflicted upon" Palestinians in Gaza.
Thirteen countries supported the resolution, while the U.K.—which has veto power, like the U.S., China, France, and Russia—abstained from voting.
The vote marked the third time the U.S. has vetoed a cease-fire resolution at the U.N. Security Council (UNSC). Meanwhile, the Biden administration has approved weapons transfers to Israel without the oversight of the U.S. Congress since the assault began in October, and has vehemently defended the bombardment as being focused on defeating Hamas, even as Israel has killed more than 29,000 Palestinians including more than 11,500 children.
"We should ask ourselves: How many innocent lives must be sacrificed before the council deems it necessary to call for a cease-fire?" said Bendjama. "Palestinian lives matter. Each one of us decides where to stand in this tragic chapter of history."
As the U.S. rejected the cease-fire resolution, Al Jazeera reported on the chaos that has erupted in northern Gaza as Israel has blocked aid trucks from reaching starving civilians there.
The World Food Program (WFP) said Tuesday it was pausing deliveries after crowds of desperate people overwhelmed aid workers.
As Al Jazeera reported, children collected flour that spilled from an aid truck in Gaza City, before Israeli forces began firing on the crowd.
"We want to feed our children just like everyone else," one Palestinian man told Al Jazeera, "so we went to get some flour. But then we were shot at, shells were fired, and tanks advanced at us."
The WFP and the U.N. Children's Fund said Monday that starvation is particularly severe in northern Gaza, with 1 in 6 children under age two—more than 15%—acutely malnourished. An estimated 3% of children under two are experiencing a severe form of wasting—being underweight for their age and height.
In December, 15 agencies including the WFP warned that northern Gaza is at risk for a famine by May unless conditions significantly improve.
The United States' veto of Algeria's resolution on Tuesday, said Bendjama, should be understood as "approval of starvation as a means of war against hundreds of thousands of Palestinians."
The U.S. proposed its own resolution calling for a "temporary cease-fire as soon as practicable," and warning Israel not to conduct an expected ground operation in Rafah, where more than 1.5 million people—most of whom have been forcibly displaced from other parts of Gaza—are now sheltering.
The Permanent Mission of Liechtenstein to the U.N. called on the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) to take action to protect Palestinians.
Under Section A of Resolution 377A of the U.N. Charter, also known as "Uniting for Peace," the UNGA can convene an emergency meeting and make recommendations for collective measures, if members of the UNSC can't reach an agreement and fail to exercise their "primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security."
Hossam Baghat, executive director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, suggested the U.S. veto should trigger "mass resignations of U.S. diplomats and public servants from the State Department and across the administration."
Al Jazeera reported that Palestinians in Gaza expressed anger over the United States' latest veto.
"There is a great deal of pessimism and frustration. Palestinians no longer trust the international community, as we have been hearing from locals here in Gaza," correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum reported from Rafah. "During the Security Council meeting there have been more attacks on the ground here in Gaza. People here are completely frustrated."
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Biden Vetoes Move by GOP, Corporate Dems to Block Water Regulations
"Let me be clear: Every American has a right to clean water," said Biden. "This veto protects that right."
Apr 06, 2023
U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday vetoed legislation pass by congressional Republicans and corporate Democrats to stop the federal government from protecting public health and the planet, blocking a resolution passed by both chambers last month to gut water protections.
Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Jacky Rosen (Nev.), and Jon Tester (Mont.) joined former Democrat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and every Republican in the Senate to pass H.J. Res. 27 last week, following the bill's passage in the GOP-controlled U.S. House.
The legislation rejected the Environmental Protection Agency's definition of the "waters of the United States" (WOTUS) that are protected under the Clean Water Act, as "traditional navigable waters, the territorial seas, interstate waters, as well as upstream water resources that significantly affect those waters."
The regulation, introduced in December, is expected to restore protections for millions of marshes and other waterways after the Trump administration wiped out those regulations, permitting increased industrial pollution in nearly half of all wetlands across the country.
Biden's veto, said the president will protect Americans' right to clean water.
\u201cI just vetoed a bill that attempted to block our Administration from protecting our nation's waterways \u2013 a resource millions of Americans depend on \u2013 from destruction and pollution.\n \nLet me be clear: Every American has a right to clean water.\n \nThis veto protects that right.\u201d— President Biden (@President Biden) 1680809643
Republicans would need a two-thirds majority to override Biden's veto—a level of support they're unlikely to get.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday claimed that a presidential veto would allow EPA officials to regulate pollution "way outside the authority that Congress actually provided in the Clean Water Act," and expressed hope that the U.S. Supreme Court will ultimately rule that the government cannot protect navigable waters from industrial pollution.
The veto is the second of Biden's presidency. Last month he vetoed a resolution that attempted to overturn a rule allowing retirement fund managers to consider the impact of their investments on the climate and planet.
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