The Israel-Hamas war has proven much about President Joe Biden.
He cares deeply about Israel’s survival. He’s willing to devote major resources to the Middle East, despite a desire to focus more on China. And he’s really, really had it with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Here’s another reality the bloodshed in Israel and Gaza has exposed: Biden is not — fundamentally — a human rights president.
This might sound harsh to Biden stans. The president, after all, is an empathetic figure. He has experienced personal tragedies, and he certainly talks the talk about helping the oppressed. Besides, doesn’t every president compromise on human rights? Especially in morally tangled cases that affect U.S. national security?
Since taking the Oval Office, Biden has often put his view of U.S. national security and the political scene ahead of rights’ activists demands, especially if he calculates he can weather the blowback. (See: his eventual willingness to engage with Mohammed bin Salman despite the Saudi strongman’s poor rights record; his seesawing on whether to reduce military aid to Egypt; and his early decision on where to set the U.S. refugee admissions cap, a topic on which Biden miscalculated.)
Still, the past 4½ months have been shattering for many Biden supporters. After all, he had pledged to make human rightsa central part of his foreign policy and return the U.S. to the stronger global moral standing it had prior to Donald Trump’s presidency.
In talks with nearly a dozen activists in recent days, I’ve been struck by the sense of betrayal some — especially in Arab American and Muslim American communities — feel over Biden’s unwillingness to change U.S. policy to pressure Israel to stop its military operation in Gaza. As the humanitarian crisis there deepens, some accuse Biden of not valuing Palestinian lives. Many plan to express their anger at the ballot box, including
Joe Biden Is Not a Human Rights Guy. Don’t Be So Surprised.
10
57
27.02.2024
The Israel-Hamas war has proven much about President Joe Biden.
He cares deeply about Israel’s survival. He’s willing to devote major resources to the Middle East, despite a desire to focus more on China. And he’s really, really had it with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Here’s another reality the bloodshed in Israel and Gaza has exposed: Biden is not — fundamentally — a human rights president.
This might sound harsh to Biden stans. The president,........
© Politico
visit website
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Andrew Mitrovica
Mort Laitner
Rami G Khouri
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
Nikkei Editorial
