Commentary by Xinhua writer Ma Qian
BEIJING – Washington has, once again, exposed its consistent hypocrisy and untrustworthiness over the long-standing Israel-Palestine tensions that broke out into the worst violent conflict between the two sides since 2014.
While uS President Joe Biden on Monday voiced support for a ceasefire in the acute clashes, his administration has just reportedly approved a potential sale of US$735 million in weapons to Israel.
This time, under the backdrop of the spiraling bloodshed in the Gaza strip, the US duplicity and cruelty only reminded people how incorrect and inequitable the superpower’s Middle East policy has been over decades.
The incessant scourge suffered by local civilians, as a manifestation of the US reckless political calculations, now poses an urgent call for practical and unified actions by all relevant parties to cool down the situation and restore peace and stability on the ground as soon as possible.
The current violent escalation in the Gaza strip is an epitome of the years-long tit-for-tat violence between Israel and Palestine, the seed of which has long been sowed by the United States’ flawed, partial Middle East policy in blatant favor of Israel for its own political gains.
Instead of taking real actions to mitigate the alarming bloodshed, one-sided Washington has deliberately turned a blind eye to Israel’s unrestrained use of armed violence against the Palestinian enclave, sweeping Palestinian Muslims into war and suffering.
Much worse, it set barricades to international mediation by compelling the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to postpone a meeting on the Palestine-Israel issue that was originally scheduled for May 14, and blocking the issuance of a UNSC statement expressing concern about the situation in Palestine.
Though a self-proclaimed “human rights defender,” the United States showed overt apathy to the trampling on Palestinians’ human rights, only to lay bare its double standards and two faces. Despite being a permanent member of the UNSC, Washington has taken a position against the international community and rejected to fulfill its international obligations to safeguard world peace and stability.
In recent years, the Israel-Palestine issue has been marginalized, as the United States kept shifting its policy focus in the Middle East, in an attempt to cement the broader political landscape in the region for the sake of its own strategic interests.
Hence, Tel Aviv has been emboldened by Washington’s indulgence and skewed policy-making to aggressively push ahead with its hard-line political agenda over the troubled Israel-Palestine situation.
During his four years in office, former US president Donald Trump altered the US regular positions on the Israeli-Palestinian issue and turned to provide all-out support for Tel Aviv, causing greater wrath among Palestinians and eroding the foundation of the international peace process for the two sides.
He announced the official recognition of Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel, instructed the State Department to begin moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and green-lighted Jewish settlement expansion among other steps, which all added to breakout of conflict between the two sides.
The United States had better understand that its defiance of walking the talk and selfish quest of political gains at the heavy price of others will only deviate from its original goals and ultimately isolate itself in the international community.
During his visit to Middle East countries in March this year, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi put forward a five-point initiative on achieving security and stability in the Middle East. One of them is upholding equity and justice and working for a sound solution to the question of Palestine.
At present, all relevant parties should take strong, practical and unified actions in time for the de-escalation and cessation of violent attacks that grip the Gaza Strip. Firm support for the two-state solution is also essential, so as to push Israel and Palestine back on track to find a feasible political solution to the ongoing clashes. – Xinhua
