*An interview with Akbar Shahid Ahmed by Daniel Finn* Jacobin, June 12 https://jacobin.com/2024/06/biden-administration-israel-cease-fire-policy
*Benjamin Netanyahu can hardly believe the leeway Joe Biden has given him through eight months of carnage. Biden has joined Republican attacks on his own base rather than impose any limits on an Israeli campaign that has killed over 37,000 Palestinians.* . . . *Akbar Shahid Ahmed:* ... The United States is trying to do two things at once here. One could question that approach, given that it has so far failed at doing just one thing — namely, preventing a catastrophe and having this war achieve any of its goals, even with huge US enablement. In view of that failure, one could question why US government officials are trying to do two things, and yet they are. They are trying to say, “we’re turning up the heat on Israel,” while simultaneously creating conditions so that if this falls apart, they can blame the Palestinians. They are creating those conditions by saying that the onus is on Hamas. That’s the up-front message, while we are also tacitly hearing the line that they’re being a little bit tough on Israel to accept something, because they know that Hamas was ready to accept it. For Israel, there are no clear consequences if it rejects the plan. Biden has not said he would cut off any form of aid. What I’m hearing, however, even from officials close to this plan, is that there’s not a lot of hope, because Biden is still not at a point where he would put teeth on this approach. For Israel, there are no clear consequences if it rejects the plan. Biden has not said he would cut off any form of aid. He has continued to say that if this falls apart, the Palestinians would be responsible. . . . *Daniel Finn*: That brings up the question of how this is playing out in terms of US domestic politics. When we last spoke <https://jacobin.com/2024/01/joe-biden-antony-blinken-jake-sullivan-benjamin-netanyahu-gaza-israel-palestine> in early January — five months ago now — you said there could very well be a major wake-up call coming for the Biden administration in the Democratic primaries. Since then, we’ve seen the “uncommitted” campaign in states like Minnesota and Michigan having a significant impact. We’ve also seen the student encampments developing in universities all over the United States and having a major impact on public debate. Has any of that factored into the thinking of the Biden administration or the Democratic congressional leadership? *Akbar Shahid Ahmed:* The question of the student encampments is an interesting one. For the administration, that was a moment of doubling down. While it may have heard the message from the “uncommitted” votes in the primaries, I think the administration processed the message from the student encampments in a very different way by saying that these students don’t understand anything, and we don’t want to deal with them. The president himself made it very clear. He did not see these protests in terms of young people being unhappy with his policy. He saw it exclusively through the lens of young people being antisemitic and disruptive. That was a very stark statement that the administration has not backed away from. The White House statements on what was happening at Columbia University in particular were extremely harsh. What the administration is doing here is joining with conservatives in going after its own coalition. It is amplifying the views of Republicans who are saying that university campuses in the Biden era are hotbeds of antisemitic anger and it’s a nightmarish situation in America right now. The administration playing into the hands of its own political foes has been a consistent theme. It has also condemned Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, who has been involved in the “uncommitted” campaign. In many instances, it has echoed the statements of its foes instead of listening to people within the Democratic Party who would say “we want to get people excited to vote for you, but we’re unable to do that right now.” That speaks to the question of how the administration sees the electorate. It is operating from a very clear playbook. I’m not in a position to tell you whether it will work, but I do know that this is how it is thinking. That playbook tells it that it doesn’t really need Democratic Party loyalists or young people. If it loses large groups among voters of color, particularly Muslim and Arab Americans, it’ll get them back next time. They’re looking at the mythical figure of the independent voter. However, while this mythical independent voter was perhaps persuadable in 2020, things look very different in 2024. The administration itself is boosting the impression that under Biden, there is a state of chaos, particularly abroad, but also on campuses and at the border. It is creating a sense of crisis, and by tapping into the politics of fear, it may be digging its own grave. . . . *Daniel Finn*: Another very important development since we last spoke back in January is what has been happening on the international legal front, with the South African case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Israel of genocide, and more recently a request from Karim Khan of the ICC for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Defense Minister Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders. The public response from Biden and other US officials to the ICJ case and the ICC’s request for warrants has been very dismissive and hostile. But if you look beyond that rhetoric, is their genuine concern on their part about these cases going ahead and what the implications might be for US policy? *Akbar Shahid Ahmed*: There is definitely concern in the Biden administration over the ICJ and ICC cases, because there has also been a question of the extent to which the United States is on trial with Israel, given that it is providing overwhelming support and making the offensive possible. At this point, it is also helping Israel to violate the order from the ICJ that said that the Israeli military could not go into Rafah in a way that would harm civilians disproportionately. There was obviously no way for the Israelis to comply with that order without stopping their offensive. I would say that Biden and his team are in a real bind. They say that they value international norms and laws, and this is creating a fissure between them and their allies. The Biden administration has come out against the ICC warrants, while other governments have said they stand with the ICC. This is also creating a debate within the Democratic Party, so that is an additional pressure point. I think that there is much greater concern than the administration is letting on in public. . . . *Akbar Shahid Ahmed is the senior diplomatic correspondent for the Huffington Post.Daniel Finn is the features editor at Jacobin. He is the author of One Man’s Terrorist: A Political History of the IRA.* -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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