After eleven day bitter fighting and indiscriminate bombing by Israel in the Gaza strip border, the two sides Israel army and the Palestinians, mainly Hamas group agreed to truce from 2 AM of Friday and all negotiators including Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations envoy got an assurance from both Israel and Hamas that the cease fire will be observed with all seriousness.

For US President Joe Biden, taking a position against Israel was not easy as the Democratic Party has a strong pro-Israel lobby and the donors to the Democratic Party belonging to Wall Street include a large number of Israeli lobbyists. Further, former President Trump pampered Israel beyond limits and made task of Biden tougher. But the US President could not ignore the feelings of the leftwingers of his Party including his vice-president Kamala Harris and finally took a position which marks a significant change in US’s Israel policy.

In his fourth phone call to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu since the fighting began, Biden finally demanded that Israel de-escalate the barrages, which have killed at least 230 Palestinians, including more than 60 children. Before that at least six lawmakers of the Democratic Party including four original members of the squad, introduced a joint resolution to halt the latest $ 735 million US arms sale to Israel.

“For decades, the U.S. has sold billions of dollars in weaponry to Israel without ever requiring them to respect basic Palestinian rights. In so doing, we have directly contributed to the death, displacement, and disenfranchisement of millions,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., the Squad member who authored the resolution to veto the arms deal.

“At a time when so many, including President Biden, support a ceasefire, we should not be sending ‘direct attack’ weaponry to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to prolong this violence,” she added.

Fellow Squad member Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., directly confronted Biden on May 18 about supporting Netanyahu when the president came to Dearborn to tout—and drive—the UAW-made Ford F-150 electric trucks being rolled out there. Tlaib is co-sponsoring the arms deal ban. Tlaib whose parents are Palestinians met President at airport and told him bombing by Israel must stop immediately. Palestinian human rights are not a bargaining chip and must be protected, not negotiated, she told Biden.

“Approving this sale now, while failing to even try to use it as leverage for a ceasefire, sends a clear message to the world — the U.S. is not interested in peace, and does not care about the human rights and lives of Palestinians,” Tlaib added when the arms sales ban resolution was unveiled.

Lawmakers “repeatedly requested a ceasefire in Israel and Palestine, yet once again, Benjamin Netanyahu has refused,” said Democrat Pocan. “That leaves us at a point where the only way to prevent innocent children and others from being killed is to take a necessary look at future weapons sales to the region. He said that peace is in everyone’s interest and if anyone refuses that, the US must question how they use US assistance.

First-term Rep. Bush, a Squad member and a Black Lives Matter activist elected to Congress, told colleagues in a House floor speech the day before there are similarities between BLM’s campaign against U.S. systemized racism and Palestinians’ drive for their own homeland.

Senate Republicans tried to wrap themselves in the Israeli flag with a one-sided pro-Netanyahu resolution. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a longtime Netanyahu and arms sales critic—and the only U.S. lawmaker who has ever lived in Israel strongly denounced the Israeli attacks and favoured the resolution to ban arms sales to Israel.

“Whereas every Palestinian life matters; and Whereas every Israeli life matters,” it read, “Be it resolved, the Senate urges an immediate cease-fire to prevent any further loss of life and further escalation of conflict in Israel and the Palestinian territories, and supports diplomatic efforts” to solve the conflict between the two.”

The weapons sales ban drew support from more than 70 U.S. organizations, including the National Writers Union and Labour Against War And Racism, the renamed U.S. Labour Against War. It held a national zoom meeting of members on the evening of May 19 to plan its next moves.

Israeli bombing of Gaza also drew protests from The News Guild, a Communications Workers sector, after an Israeli bombing run the weekend before deliberately hit and destroyed a 12-story office building that included the bureaus of both the Associated Press—which the Guild represents—and al-Jazeera..The bombing by Israel was a blatant attack on press freedom and was clearly intended to prevent independent reporting on the Israeli government actions, the Guild said.

“The intentional bombing…was a blatant attack on press freedom that was clearly intended to prevent independent reporting on the government’s actions. It violates international law,” the Guild said.

So long, President Biden has been implementing the progressive agenda on domestic front, especially relating to the workers and the vulnerable sections of the population to the satisfaction of the Left in the Democratic Party. But now a small step has been taken in correcting the earlier pro-Israel stance in the sphere of foreign policy. This has to be extended to new more areas and it needs continued pressure by the Left including the trade unions and mass movements outside. (IPA Service)