Palestinian rights

Over the years, the approach of most American policymakers toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been Israel-centric with near total disregard for the suffering endured by the Palestinian people. The architects of policy in successive US administrations have discussed the conflict as if the fate of only one party (Israel) really mattered. Israelis were treated as full human beings with hopes and fears, while Palestinians were reduced to a problem that needed to be solved so that Israelis could live in peace and security.

It is not just that Israelis and Palestinians haven't been viewed with an equal measure of concern. It's worse than that. It appears that Palestinians were judged as less human than Israelis, and were, therefore, not entitled to make demands to have their rights recognized and protected.

Operating from this mindset, the US has given Israel carte blanche, while pressure and punishments have been reserved for the Palestinians. On occasion, policymakers have timidly raised issue with some Israeli practices, but because they’ve taken no effective measures to change these behaviors, Israel has seen no reason to alter its course. As a result, Israel operates with impunity, while Palestinian actions have been scrutinized and condemned and their protests have either been ignored or silenced as disruptive or counterproductive.

Recent actions by the Biden Administration sadly fit this pattern. In just the past few weeks, they have: condemned the decision of the International Criminal Court to begin prosecution of Israel for its war crimes in Gaza since 2014 and its illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank; criticized the UN Human Rights Council for its condemnation of Israeli abuses of Palestinian human rights; rejected tying US aid to Israel's human rights behaviors; declared opposition to Palestinian calls to boycott, divest, and sanction Israel for its violations of Palestinian rights; and ‘embraced’ the expanded definition of anti-Semitism that includes some legitimate criticisms of Israel.

Especially revealing was one of the reasons given for US opposition to Palestinians taking their complaints to international fora. The US charged that, “Such actions against Israel...increase tensions and undercut efforts to advance a negotiated two-state solution.” This appears to suggest that Israel’s aggressive land confiscation, settlement construction, demolition of Palestinian homes, detention without charges or trial of hundreds of Palestinians, collective punishment of the entire population of Gaza, and Israel's mass killing sprees of Palestinians in 2014 and 2018, did not “increase tensions or undercut efforts” at peace making. But Palestinians seeking legal remedies against these Israeli actions is disruptive. In short, Israel can do whatever it wants, with US backing. But when Palestinians protest – precisely because the US will do nothing to defend them – then they are at fault.

Excerpted: ‘US Policy Ignores Palestinian Human Rights’

Commondreams.org