Biden’s Pontius Pilate Moment: How America Ignores the Suffering of Gaza Under Israeli Bombardment

Biden Washing his Hands of Responsibility: Israel’s Modern-Day Pontius Pilate

As the death toll in Gaza climbs, the US refuses substantive action to restrain Israel, merely paying lip service to protecting civilians. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan claimed Israel bears the “burden” of sparing innocents in its bombardment of the trapped enclave. But America’s continued diplomatic shielding of Israel rings hollow beside the mounting tragedy.

“There is a burden, as I said before and as the president has said, on Israel to take the necessary steps to distinguish between Hamas, who does not represent the Palestinian people, and innocent Palestinian civilians” in Gaza, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on CNN talk show “State of the Union.”

“We do believe that thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed in this bombardment, and every single one of those deaths is a tragedy,” just as those in Israel are, Sullivan said.

“What we believe is that every hour, every day of this military operation, the IDF, the Israeli government, should be taking every possible means available to them to distinguish between Hamas — terrorists who are legitimate military targets — and civilians who are not.”

With over 8,000 Palestinians dead, including many children, Israel’s disproportionate military campaign has faced growing outcry. Yet the US obstinately defends its ally’s “right to self-defence” while issuing platitudes about avoiding civilian casualties. If all life carries equal worth, America’s moral hypocrisy is glaring.

Sullivan claims the US is asking “tough questions” as the humanitarian disaster worsens. But words without consequences permit Israel to act with impunity. Only leveraging America’s immense military and diplomatic influence could alter Israel’s calculus. Biden refuses.

The US provides Israel with over $3.8bn in annual military aid with few strings attached. Threatening to halt arms sales could quickly force Israel’s hand on minimising strikes in densely populated Gaza. The US could condition aid on protecting civilians, as some Democrats advocate. However, Biden has so far resisted calls from his own party’s progressive wing to condition military aid.

It could sanction Israeli officials. It could allow UN condemnation. But America shields Israel from accountability, betraying its principles. This tacit complicity in war crimes makes US rhetoric on human rights ring hollow.

Platitudes about protecting civilians ring hollow alongside UN vetoes shielding Israel from accountability. Leadership requires courage to defend the vulnerable, not empty pronouncements while enabling oppression.

As Gaza teeters without water, food or electricity under blockade and a mounting death toll of over 8,000, the Biden administration acts like a modern Pontius Pilate washing his hands of any responsibility.

Israel is left unhindered in its actions, but America cannot claim innocence through idle words. again and loader, a true moral leader would act decisively to defend the vulnerable, not cravenly choose political expedience.

If the arc of history bends towards justice, it is because courageous people bend it. The righteous speak truth to power. America must move beyond rhetoric to non-violent action targeting injustice if Palestinian cries are to be heard. Or history will remember its cowardly silence and that of other world leaders timidly acquiescing in their response to a coming genocide.

For now, only the brave mobilisation of conscience worldwide echoed in public protest holds back the tanks, as citizens speak truth to power – our strongest weapon of peace. So we must persist in mass resistance, our collective dissent the last barrier between Gaza and genocide.