Time Is Running Out To Stop a Major Famine in Gaza

The president pretends that his administration is working overtime to save lives in Gaza:

The United States is committed to pulling out every stop to get more aid to those in Gaza who desperately need it. We won’t stand by. We won’t let up.

None of this is true, but Biden needs the American public to believe that it is. The administration has not pulled out every stop, and in fact they seem unwilling to do much at all. The U.S. has not only been standing by while the Israeli government uses starvation as a weapon against the people of Gaza, but it also continues to provide that government with arms and diplomatic protection to assist them in their policy of collective punishment. The administration is trying to create a smokescreen with its public messages and stunts to distract from its ongoing complicity in the terrible crimes against the Palestinians of Gaza.

The reality of the Biden administration’s response to the man-made humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza couldn’t be more removed from this story of a relentless drive to do anything possible to stave off starvation. If the U.S. were committed to “pulling out every stop,” it would not be indulging in the insulting theater of airdropping a tiny, inadequate amount of food. The U.S. is doing the bare minimum to make it look as if it is concerned about the humanitarian crisis, but it isn’t doing any of the things needed to prevent large-scale loss of life.

Jeremy Konyndyk and Hardin Lang of Refugees International urge the U.S. to take real action to stave off famine:

The United States is likely the only outside power that can ensure a famine is avoided, given the leverage it has with its ally Israel. As negotiations about a second cease-fire and hostages-for-prisoners swap gain steam, the United States has a crucial opportunity to press Israel to change course and allow a major famine-prevention effort. U.S. President Joe Biden must act now to make famine prevention a top priority and be prepared to deploy meaningful U.S. leverage – including pausing arms sales – if the Israeli government does not comply [bold mine-DL]. Famine would not only constitute a humanitarian cataclysm; it would also represent a geopolitical failure that would damage U.S. credibility in the Middle East for years to come.

They make an excellent case, and the administration should follow their recommendations. The trouble is that there have been lots of smart, informed people pleading with the government for months to get ahead of this disaster to no avail. As far as anyone on the outside can tell, the administration has paid no attention.

Read the rest of the article at Eunomia

Daniel Larison is a contributing editor for Antiwar.com and maintains his own site at Eunomia. He is former senior editor at The American Conservative. He has been published in the New York Times Book Review, Dallas Morning News, World Politics Review, Politico Magazine, Orthodox Life, Front Porch Republic, The American Scene, and Culture11, and was a columnist for The Week. He holds a PhD in history from the University of Chicago, and resides in Lancaster, PA. Follow him on Twitter.