A contingent of Palestinian American neighborhood members declined an invite from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken for an off-the-record dialog on Thursday, citing their notion of the Biden administration’s complicity in what they deem as the continued “genocide” in Gaza.
The group expressed that accepting the invitation can be “insulting and performative,” significantly given the escalating loss of life toll and widespread human struggling within the besieged coastal enclave.
In an announcement shared by the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) advocacy group, the neighborhood leaders declared, “After nearly four unbearable months of constant U.S.-enabled Israeli violence against our families, friends and other innocent civilians in Gaza and throughout Palestine, we cannot imagine what Secretary Blinken could have to say or discuss with us.”
“President Biden could stop this horror with one phone call. Instead, this administration has bypassed Congress to rush more bombs to Israel to kill more Palestinian children, and on the very day the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel is plausibly committing genocide, the U.S. cut funding to UNRWA, the largest humanitarian organization in Gaza, based on unproven allegations by Israel regarding 0.09% of UNRWA employees in Gaza,” they added.
They had been referring to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees within the Near East (UNRWA).
U.S. President Joe Biden has confronted mounting criticism from key Democratic constituencies, together with Arab and Muslim voters, forward of November’s presidential election, and the aim of Thursday’s assembly stays unclear.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller confirmed the assembly with Palestinian American leaders came about Thursday, saying Blinken held it “because he thinks it’s important to hear directly from individuals, as I said, both inside the State Department and outside the State Department.”
“He finds that process to be constructive. It informs his thinking. It helps him, he believes, shape policy in the best way possible, and he’ll continue to hold such meetings,” Miller advised reporters.
But, nearly all of those that had been invited to Thursday’s dialogue declined, in accordance with IMEU.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Blinken and different senior officers have confronted continued protests which have at instances transpired outdoors of their residences and which have repeatedly disrupted the president’s nationwide marketing campaign occasions.
Thursday’s public snub comes in the future after a federal choose threw out a case towards the Biden administration, charging it with failing to stop and abetting a genocide in Gaza.
While he dominated to dismiss the case on jurisdictional grounds, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White pointed to a current interim ruling from the International Court of Justice that allowed genocide costs towards Israel to proceed to be prosecuted as a result of they’re believable.
“Court implores Defendants to examine the results of their unflagging support of the military siege against the Palestinians in Gaza,” he acknowledged, referring to the Biden administration.
The group that rebuffed Blinken mentioned they “do not know what more Secretary Blinken or President Biden need to hear or see to compel them to end their complicity in this genocide.”
“They show us every day whose lives they value and whose lives they consider disposable. We will not be attending this discussion, which can only amount to a box-ticking exercise. Our families, our community and all Palestinians deserve better,” they added.
Israel launched its battle towards Gaza on Oct. 7 following a cross-border raid by the Palestinian group Hamas.
At least 27,019 Palestinians have been killed and 66,139 injured, principally ladies and kids.
Roughly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed within the Hamas assault.
Source: www.dailysabah.com