While Israel’s war waged on in Gaza and President Joe Biden waged on in support, his administration quietly announced that the United States would be expelling several African countries from a Free Trade Program. The African Growth and Opportunity Act helped promote economic development by providing African nations with duty free access to the US markets. Basically, it made it more lucrative for trade deals to be possible to stimulate growth in their economy. But now for African nations are being expelled from that program. Why you ask? Well, Biden says that these countries can no longer participate because they violated human rights. Yeah, that’s right. Biden stays busy backing Israel what slaughters 1000s upon 1000s of civilians in Gaza, after decades of perpetuating human rights violations on the Palestinians. But in this sudden act of moral courage, Biden is quick to bounce African countries from a trade program for violating human rights. This isn’t about a trade program or comparing countries atrocities, which is why I didn’t name those five African nations. This is about calling out duplicity, and its consequences. If Biden wants a chance at a second term, he’s going to have to tone down on the blatant hypocrisy when it comes to standing up for human rights. More specifically, many millennials and Gen Z voters are simply unwilling to accept his foe concern about protecting innocent Palestinian lives. It’s evident that Israel’s war on Hamas has changed the landscape for Biden’s reelection campaign. The octogenarian likely thought he could run this game like the government ran Iraq, Afghanistan and other wars of the past. That is gaslighting the American people about who the bad guy is and who orchestrated what attack, while mainstream media echoes whatever narrative the government seeks to promote. While that may have been how things worked in the past, No, not today, neither the federal government nor mainstream media get to gatekeeper the truth anymore. This ain’t the early aughts.
85% of the world now has a smartphone. More than 60% are on social media. We all now have unfiltered and unfettered access to first hand accounts of what is going on in Palestine, and also how our tax dollars will be spent and funding yet another brutal war. One that’s waged against helpless civilians, the vast majority of which are children. Oh no. No wonder more than 65% of adults in the United States want Biden to push for a ceasefire, not a pause. We’ve watched tick tock videos of babies in Gaza covered in blood, Instagram reels of rocket slamming into refugee camps in hospitals, Twitter clips of Israeli soldiers mocking Palestinian hostages, and shooting civilians point blank. We’ve seen heartbreaking footage of Israel transgressing international law to wage an insanely disproportionate and inhumane attack on innocent lives. This is not something that should be condoned, let alone support it. Human rights groups have been sounding the alarm quite loudly. Yet, Biden has attempted to justify Israel’s actions, while proclaiming that he cares about protecting innocent Palestinians all in hopes of convincing us that will send billions of tax dollars to Israel in furtherance of its purported battle against evil and still elect him next year. That’s simply too hypocritical of a narrative to stomach for many of us. Surveys already show that the majority of millennials and Gen Zers aren’t quite down to fund a genocide. A recent Quinnipiac poll found that 51% of voters under 35 disapprove of the US sending weapons and military support to Israel. Only 21% back Biden staunch supporter the nation, and the President’s favourability rating among those under 35 has cratered to a staggering 25% Biden is handing out band aids to Palestine while helping Israel stock up on bullets. It’s simply incongruent, and he’s going to pay for it at the polls. Government hypocrisy simply isn’t operating with impunity like it used to. You can’t claim to care about innocent civilian lives while funding war to take those lives and expect to stay in office.
