Secretary of State Anthony Blinken recently visited Palestine, where he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority “President” Mahmoud Abbas. People ask in wonder what was achieved, what the United States might do to relieve the tensions, and whether it is possible that the U.S. can bring about the renewal of “peace negotiations.”
However, no such serious advances were made, and apparently they were not even discussed. Indeed, it seems that they were not even needed. According to the official State Department website, Blinken said,
We bolstered our assistance to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, including approximately $50 million in new funding that I announced today in Ramallah, enabling the provision of essential services like food, vaccines, education, as well as vital aid for refugees. That brings U.S. total funding for Palestinians over the last two years to nearly $940 million. We’re supporting quality health care through the East Jerusalem Hospital Network, and we’re making real progress toward implementing an agreement to provide a 4G network in the Palestinian territories.”
Blinken must be a very talented diplomat. Considering everything that is happening now in Palestine, resolving it all so simply is quite astonishing. $50 million for refugees – a drop in the bottomless bucket of the needs of Palestinian refugees – and 4G network for Palestinians in the West Bank ghettos is all it took to make all the problems go away.
There is one line at the very end of the State Department’s statement that is particularly cynical: “We look to both sides not to take steps that actually make things worse.” This comment is noteworthy because Blinken did make one proposal that will make things far worse and will without doubt bring about more violence. Two sources reporting on Blinken’s visit – JNS and Axios – mention a security plan suggested by the U.S. behind the scenes, to develop and train a Palestinian military force that will fight against the Palestinian resistance in Nablus and Jenin. In other words, yet another U.S.-trained and armed Palestinian faction added to the mix – one that will be dedicated to killing more Palestinian freedom fighters.
If there was any doubt that this administration wants to see more Palestinian blood being shed, and to see Palestinian society disintegrated, here is all the proof.
I am reminded that during a previous visit to Ramallah, Secretary Blinken met with civil society leaders, including Human Rights Defender Issa Amro. I met Issa when he returned to Hebron immediately after the meeting. He made sure that Blinken heard precisely how severe the situation has become for Palestinians and that the U.S. is complicit in Israeli crimes through its support of the apartheid regime. So it’s not that Blinken hasn’t heard from the right people or that he doesn’t know that Palestine is on the edge of a precipice, he just doesn’t care to do anything about it and is even happy to make things worse.
Legitimizing Jewish Terrorism
However, U.S. complicity does not end with a mere $3.8 billion, arms sales and diplomatic cover; it goes much deeper. The JDL, or Jewish Defense League, is a known terrorist organization. It also goes by the name, Kahana Chai, or Kach for short, which means “Kahana Lives” in Hebrew. This organization was placed on the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations in October 1997. In May 2022 the JDL was removed for reasons beyond understanding. The official explanation is that they, “are no longer engaged in terrorism or terrorist activity and do not retain the capability and intent to do so.”
Another more honest explanation is that there is no such thing as Jewish Terrorism because it is not a phenomenon, only a few cases here and there. Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is now the Israeli minister of national security, and the entire group of ministers, assistant, deputy-ministers and members of the Knesset who are part of his party are all Kahana-Chai people. Several of them, including Ben-Gvir, were convicted in an Israeli court for belonging to a terrorist organization. Today, according to opinion makers and the Israeli press, it was determined that once again, there is no such thing as Jewish Terrorism.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, “The Jewish Defense League (JDL) is a radical organization that preaches a violent form of anti-Arab, Jewish nationalism.” Furthermore, they state that, “The JDL’s position with regard to Israel is denial of any Palestinian claims to land and the calling for the removal of all Arabs from the ‘Jewish-inherited soil.’ The group has orchestrated countless terrorist attacks in the U.S. and abroad, and has engaged in intense harassment of foreign diplomats, Muslims, Jewish scholars and community leaders, and officials.”
The removal of this dangerous terrorist group from the State Department list allowed them to raise untold millions of dollars in the US. Without the removal and the fundraising, it is highly unlikely they would have been so successful in the last elections. Furthermore, unlike some groups in Israel politics that rise and fall, this group of hate-filled fanatic, violent racists will not be going anywhere anytime soon.
The racist settler group in charge of Palestinian welfare
Regavim is a racist settler group that operates throughout all of historic Palestine. Their main mission is to save “Jewish Lands” from Arab takeover. The co-founder of Regavim is Bezalel Smotrich. Smotrich was caught at one point in his career as a Jewish terrorist with eight hundred gallons of gasoline, attempting to do the things that terrorists do – use deadly violence to intimidate and terrorize. In a previous government he was slated to become the Minister for Jerusalem Affairs, but that didn’t happen. In the current government he holds two vastly important and sensitive positions: Minister of Finance and Minister within the Minister of Defense in charge of the Civil Administration, the bureaucracy which manages the lives of Palestinians in the ghettos of the West Bank.
Regavim has a very effective fundraising arm that operates in the United States, and it remains somehow under the radar. Ask most people who are knowledgeable about what is known as the “Israel-Palestine” issue if they heard about Regavim and they will say “no”.
While Regavim has never been officially identified with the JDL or the Kahana-Chai group, their ideologies are identical. They make absurd and very dangerous claims that “Palestinians are taking over Jewish lands,” and that in the Naqab there exists a “state within a state,” which they refer to as “Bedouinstan.” They say that the Palestinian Bedouins built illegally, pollute the environment and are encroaching on “Jewish Land.” Furthermore, they claim that entire areas within “Israel” are simply lawless, and that Arabs are wildly violent and need to be brought under control.
More than $3.8 billion
The United States not only funds and arms Israeli apartheid, which make it complicit in the crimes Israel commits against the Palestinian People, it makes it possible for the worst among the Zionist zealots to act with impunity. The State Department claim that the Kahana-Chai group “are no longer engaged in terrorism or terrorist activity and do not retain the capability and intent to do so,” is completely false.
They engage in terrorist activity against Palestinians in Palestine all the time, it is just that now they do it wearing suits. They are funded largely by groups in the U.S., which allowed to achieve great influence and power within Israel. And now they create policy, legislate and are in charge of every government agency that controls the lives of Palestinians.
Feature photo | Illustration by MintPress News
Miko Peled is MintPress News contributing writer, published author and human rights activist born in Jerusalem. His latest books are”The General’s Son. Journey of an Israeli in Palestine,” and “Injustice, the Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five.”
The post The US is Legitimizing Jewish Terrorism Against Palestinians appeared first on MintPress News.