Doesn't matter if Biden, Harris, or Trump: Palestinians say US remains main sponsor of Israel's Gaza genocide

On Sunday, Biden dropped out of the US presidential election and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party's new nominee.

Sally Ibrahim

Gaza

24 July, 2024

https://www.newarab.com/news/doesnt-matter-if-biden-or-harris-us-sponsors-israels-gaza-war

Regardless of who is in power in the United States, Palestinians are extremely pessimistic that there will be any fundamental shift in US policy about Israel's war on the Gaza Strip, including pressuring Israel to accept a ceasefire in the coastal enclave.

In separate interviews with The New Arab, Palestinians in the war-torn besieged coastal enclave say that the US is a "primary partner in this war of extermination" and without its support, "Israel would not have succeeded in destroying the Gaza Strip and killing such large numbers of people."

"The US is the primary sponsor of Israel; it is Zionist, and looks after its interests via this criminal state without a care for human rights, international laws, or universal standards," one Palestinian in Gaza remarked to TNA. 

On Sunday, Joe Biden dropped out of the US presidential election and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party's new nominee—a stunning move that upended the 2024 race for the White House.

The 81-year-old Biden stepped aside after weeks of pressure from Democrats following a disastrous debate performance, throwing the election battle against Republican Donald Trump into unprecedented turmoil.

"While I have intended to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term," Biden said in a letter published on social media platform X while recovering from Covid at his beach house in Delaware.

Republicans and Democrats, two sides of the same coin

Over the years, more and more Palestinians have become extremely disgruntled with the United States and believe that they won't be able to achieve justice and peace as long as the superpower remains sole mediator over the question of Palestine. 

At one point there was much hope. In November 2008, former President Barack Obama assumed the US presidency to be the first African-American president. At that time, the Palestinians truly believe that he might be the refuge that would save them from the "ongoing Israeli criminality."

"But unfortunately, we were very disappointed," Mohammad Al-Safadi, a Palestinian from Gaza, said to TNA. Israel launched a large-scale war on the Gaza Strip that lasted for more than 50 days in 2014, killing of thousands of Palestinians and destroying thousands of homes and civilian infrastructure.

"I cannot forget the shameful silence by Obama […] We hoped that he would understand our suffering because he comes from a community that was subjected to persecution, killing, and racism […] Unfortunately, he did nothing but work for Israeli interests," the 65-year-old father of ten said. 

"Whichever party wins in America, whether Republican or Democrat, this will not challenge American foreign policy, which is to care for Israel's interests in the Middle East and expand its control and power in the Palestinian territories and across the Arab world."

A similar sentiment was shared by Rula Abdul Rahman, a Palestinian from the Jabalia camp in northern Gaza, when Obama gave his full support to Israel's war in 2014. The 49-year-old mother of four lost her entire family during that war after the Israeli army attacked their home while she was on duty as a nurse in Al-Shifa hospital. 

"In every war that Israel wages and I provide first aid to the victims, the first thing that comes to my mind is America and its endless support for Israel, that it is the real killer before Israel," she remarked.

'No radical change'

There are rare moment in which Kamala Harris has criticized Israel's military approach in its current genocidal war on Gaza. In March, she said that Israel is "not doing enough" to alleviate the "humanitarian catastrophe" due to its ground invasion of a coastal enclave.

Nevertheless, Palestinian political analysts unanimously agree that is US unlikely to change its foreign policy approach towards the Middle East for the sake of the "Gaza file."