LOS ANGELES.–Vetoing a U.S.-brokered ceasefire resolution in the Gaza Strip, Russia and China voted to oppose the resolution objecting to ambiguous language that would have given Israel the discretion to continue military operations against Hamas. Russia and China want an unambiguous Security Council Resolution demanding an unconditional ceasefire, forcing Israel to stop its war with Hamas. U.S. and its Gulf State allies, including Saudi Arabia, know that there can be no peace in the beleaguered Gaza Strip until Hamas leaves the territory for good. Oil rich Gulf States, among other nations, have given Hamas over $100 billion in humanitarian relief since 2007 when the Palestinian terrorist group seized the Mediterranean seaside territory by force from the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority [PA]. All the cash poured into Gaza has gone up in smoke with Hamas wars.
Hamas was founded in 1987 by blind, wheel-chair bound Sheikh Ahmed Yassin for only one purpose: Destroying the Jewish State. Arabs in the Holy Land lived for over 500 years under Ottoman Turk rule, never once accusing the Turks of occupation. Arabs living in the Holy Land were labeled Palestinians by Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO] founder Yasser Arafat. Giving Arabs in the Holy Land a name of Palestinians helped sell the idea of liberation from the Jewish takeover when U.K. decided in 1948 to give the British Mandate of Palestine to Jews seeking an independent state in the wake of the WW II Nazi Holocaust. When that happened in 1948, Arabs living in the Holy Land were given a choice to join the new State of Israel or leave the territory. Arafat formed his PLO in 1964 with the intent conquering the Jewish State and reclaiming Arab land.
Arafat worked with several Arab countries, especially Egypt, to conquer Israel at the earliest possible time, eventually waging a multi-pronged Arab war in 1967 designed to liberate Arab lands from the Jewish State. Once the Six Day War was over, Israel vanquished the armies of six Arab states, leaving Egypt’s military in ruins. Since the Six Day War, Israel faced many other Arab uprisings, wars and terror attacks, all designed to complete what Arafat and others couldn’t do in 1967. Today’s war with Hamas relates directly to the long history of trying to liberate the Holy Land from Jewish control. Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 slaughter killed 1,200 Israelis, taking another 253 hostage, leaving the current stand-off in Gaza and also today’s veto in the Security Council. Today’s veto by China and Russia reflects the poor state of relations between the U.S., Russia and China.
China and Russia objected to the use of deliberately obscure language that conditioned a ceasefire on Hamas releasing all remaining hostages held since Oct. 7, 2023. “If the U.S. was serious about a ceasefire, it wouldn’t have vetoed time and again multiple council resolutions,” said China’s Amb. Zhang Jun. “It wouldn’t have taken such a detour and player a game of words while being ambiguous and evasive on critical issue,” referring to past Security Council Resolutions that omitted the return of all Israeli hostages. All prior Security Council resolutions called for an immediate ceasefire of Hamas and Israel, without returning Israeli hostages or leaving Hamas in power. Secretary of State Antony Blinken now believes there can be no peace in Gaza without ridding the territory of Hamas, resisting Security Counsel Resolution that block Israel from removing Hamas from Gaza.
China and Russia would ordinarily go along with a U.S.-backed Security Council Resolution if Biden has normal U.S.-Russia and U.S.-Chinese relations. But relations among the U.S., Russia and China are on a war footing. Never before under any past U.S. president, has the U.S. gone to war against the Kremlin until Biden. So, when U.N. Amb. Linda Thomas-Greenfield asks for cooperation from Russia and China, she doesn’t get it now on matters of import to the U.S. When it comes to dealing with Iranian-backed Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, the U.S. has no cooperation from Russia and China. If Biden wants to give the U.S. more clout in the Security Council or elsewhere around the globe, he needs to end his proxy war in Ukraine against the Kremlin. Biden’s proxy war damages U.S. foreign policy and national security.
Engaged in urgent shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East, 62-year-old Secretary of State Antony Blinken needs the help of Russia and China to complete his diplomatic work in Gaza or elsewhere including the Red Sea. How’s that supposed to happen with Biden in a proxy war with the Kremlin in Ukraine? Biden can’t have it both ways, expecting cooperation from Russia and China while waging war and pushing for war with Communist China. Biden has blasted China for continuing normal diplomatic relations with Russia when the U.S. conducts proxy war against the Kremlin. No secretary of state can do his job without cooperation from global partners, including U.S. adversaries. If the White House wants cooperation in the Security Council, it needs to understand the linkage between cooperative relations with Russia and China on pressing global issues.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
