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High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell admitted that the bombing of Palestinians by Israel will not be condemned by the European Union as they do with Russia’s bombing of Ukraine because there are “double standards” when it comes to foreign policy.
And with Gaza, with Washington’s full support of Israel, he said for the press to condemn Israel is essentially forbidden.
When Borrell was asked by the newspaper El Pais about Israel’s most recent bombing campaign in Gaza, he admitted that Western diplomats “do not use the same criteria for all problems.”
Borrell said that the conditions in Gaza are “scandalous,” and described Gaza as an “open-air prison.” But he said there was a level of “moral imperative” for nations to support Kyiv and its fight with Russia.
Besides, he suggested that the U.S. carries most of the blame for the continued fighting in Gaza and said Washington will need to step up its commitment if there’s going to ever be a solution.
He said there currently seems to be no path forward diplomatically.
Gaza has been under a brutal blockade by Israel for years.
Last week, Israel launched a series of airstrikes in densely populated areas that resulted in the deaths of at least 48. The clash was seen as the worst since last year’s conflict. Israel said it was targeting Islamic Jihad targets based on an imminent threat. No Israeli was injured. A cease-fire was reached a week ago Sunday.
An 11-year-old girl succumbed to her injuries and two more children, 8 and 14, were reportedly fighting for their lives at a hospital in Jerusalem as of Sunday. A total of 17 children were killed in the attacks, The Associated Press reported.
Russia Fires Back
The Russian Embassy in Cairo criticized Israel’s bombing of Gaza and compared the airstrikes to the “deaths of people in Bucha” that the embassy said were “brutally murdered by the Ukrainian Nazis.”
Ukraine and the West have blamed Russian troops for the killings in Bucha.
The Russian embassy posted a screengrab of Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s 3 April post that criticized Moscow for the deaths in Bucha, saying, “It is impossible to remain indifferent in the face of the horrific images from the city of Bucha near Kiev, from after the Russian army left. Intentionally harming a civilian population is a war crime and I strongly condemn it.”
The Russian embassy wrote last week, “Compare Yair Lapid’s lies about [Ukraine] in April and attempts to place blame and responsibility on [Russia] for the deaths of people in Bucha brutally murdered by the Nazis with his calls in August for bombing and strikes on [Palestinian] land in the Gaza Strip. Isn’t that double standards, complete disregard and contempt for the lives of Palestinians?”
U.S. Ambassador Calls Palestinian Leaders ‘Bad Guys’
Tom Nides, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, said he supports Israel’s right to defend itself against “bad guys” after the country launched airstrikes into residential Gaza that killed at least 49 Palestinians.
Israel said the airstrike was successful because it killed the top leadership in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Israel Defense Forces said it did all it could to prevent civilian deaths and blamed a misfired rocket from militants in the city for killing 16.
Again, as we have noted, this was an unprovoked attack by Israel, not one Israeli was killed, scores of Palestinian buildings were bombed and at least 17 children were among the dead.
Nides called members of Islamic Jihad “bad guys.”
“We’re aware of the situation going on in Gaza,” he said, according to AntiWar.com. “We understand this was an important mission for the Israelis.”
Israel claimed that the strikes were needed due to the looming threat of future attacks, but the website noted that the group made no public threats before the strike.
TRENDPOST: The Trends Journal has reported extensively on the tense relationship between Israel and Palestinians. Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch Israel have stated that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians meets the internationally accepted definition of apartheid. (See “ISRAEL ACCUSED OF APARTHEID BY HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH,” “SHOOTING BREAKS OUT IN ISRAEL : REVENGE OR TERRORISM?” “AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: ISRAEL’S TREATMENT OF PALESTINIANS AMOUNTS TO APARTHEID” and “APARTHEID STATE OF ISRAEL CLAMPING DOWN ON PALESTINIANS.”)
TRENDPOST: While the Western media continually chastises Russia for its war against Ukraine and its intent to occupy Ukraine, those who note Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian and Syrian land are denounced as being “anti-Semites.”
In the 1967 six day war, Israel invaded and seized Palestinian territories of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza Strip, the Syrian Golan Heights, expelling some 300,000 Palestinians from their homes, while gaining stolen territory that was three and a half times its original size.
AntiWar.com reported that Nides said Washington was “fully supportive” of Israel’s actions. The website noted that his comments were in lockstep with President Joe Biden who said the U.S. was “fully supportive.”
Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, said in a statement after the ceasefire that the U.S. remains “dedicated to our ironclad commitment to Israel’s security and will remain fully engaged in the days ahead to promote calm,” Blinken wrote, adding that the U.S. will work to help “improve the quality of life for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”
TRENDPOST: As we reported last week in “UNPROVOKED, ISRAEL BOMBS GAZA KILLING 43, WOUNDING HUNDREDS,” Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who was considered a centrist, was seen as taking a political risk by ordering the strikes and there were suggestions that he used the strikes to prove he will keep Israel safe in his upcoming election against his chief opponent, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Polls released on Monday—a day after the cease-fire was announced—showed overall approval of his handling of the conflict and also showed Netanyahu failing to win a majority.
Lapid last week made the rare move and addressed the residents of Gaza in a video. He appealed for peace and said, “There is another way to live. The path of the Abraham Accords, of the Negev Summit, of innovation and economy, of regional development and joint projects. The choice is yours. Your future depends on you.”
He claimed that Israel destroyed the Islamic Jihad’s “entire top military brass,” according to Haaretz. He said his forces made “special efforts” to avoid civilian casualties and called the deaths of innocent people, particularly children, “heartbreaking.”
He said Israel would not “apologize for defending its people with force.”