Afrasianet - Tawfiq Rabahi - The concept of the "scapegoat" is historically extended, which ancient civilizations reduced to the slaughter of society into a single container that bears all the dirt, so that what is below it can be purified.
The concept expresses an immortal human instinct that is widespread to this day.
The search for a scapegoat. This is what some in the political establishment of the US Democratic Party are seeking. The establishment is fighting this battle in the hope of winning a chance to return to the political scene after realizing, first, that the current president has burned himself and his party's fortunes in the upcoming elections, and secondly, that it is Gaza that destroyed Kamala Harris's chances in the last elections.
The group was guided by former President Joe Biden to be the ideal redemption kit. There is no doubt that Biden is a symbol of helplessness and collusion with Israel in its war of extermination on Gaza, but it would be unfair to blame him alone for its full burden. There are partners with him from the narrow lining surrounding him. The advice of these partners, their lack of advice to him, and their deliberate silence on Israel's crimes amount to participation in crimes that may warrant international prosecutions.
A little of this collusion is revealed in a book titled "Crossing the Red Line" CROSSING THE RED LINE Recently released in the United States by Pakistani-American journalist Akbar Shahid Ahmed.
Through testimonies from within decision-making positions, and small details, the book documents how the Biden administration allowed Israel to continue its war on Gaza, despite mounting evidence of abuses and massive civilian casualties, and how it subsequently provided it with cover for political and legal accountability.
The book repeats what is known: Biden adopted a strategy of embracing Israel and softening with it, believing that this would give him leverage to mitigate the ugliness of its war. But inaction, the absence of political pressure, and the serious threat of using military aid encouraged Israel to continue its vicious war comfortably.
What is not known and what the book reveals for the first time, and this is more dangerous, is the great collusion of Biden's closest aides in covering up Israel's crimes. A small group that behaves according to the logic of the paralysis and as it pleases, has caused the war on Gaza to continue with the brutality that the world has followed. In every situation, they cooperate in the search for a way out, whose goal is not to end the war, but to protect Israel in the end.
It is a handful of senior aides to the president, but the book identifies names who bear the most responsibility. They are four, most notably Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, and then Assistant National Security Adviser John Wiener. All three are led by the veteran politician in charge of Middle East and so-called terrorist wars in successive administrations, from George W. Bush to Biden and Brett McGurk.
"Biden and the quartet caused voters to vote for Trump so he returned to the White House and established patterns of impunity that in turn led to more bloodshed"
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In his testimony to the author, a senior official says that McGurk's vision of Israel's war on Gaza is "terrible, but that's what they (the Palestinians) have done to themselves."
In a reading of the book, the Quincy Institute's Responsible Statecraft magazine website describes McGurk as "the main villain in the story."
The quartet is accused (in the book at least) of obstructing efforts to formally scrutinize Israeli abuses, downplaying warnings about famine and Palestinian suffering, and questioning narratives, testimonies, and images coming from Gaza. They are also accused of ignoring the advice of his task forces, and of ignoring the voter protests that brought Biden to the presidency.
Even within the administration itself and as a team, the quartet dared to suppress colleagues in positions of prestige who wanted to make a different voice heard and criticized Gaza policy. He succeeded in silencing USAID chief Samantha Power and U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
Even when Israel killed seven employees of the World Central Kitchen in April 2024, six of them Westerners, including Americans, the administration dared to say nothing, because the containment force led by the quartet within the administration prevented it. Less than a month after the killing of the seven aid workers, the Israeli army swept through Rafah with the encouragement of the White House that "angry" public statements could not cover.
Responsible Statescraft said that the Quartet's weapon of self-defense, along with a circle of accomplices in various ways and levels, was a single statement: "It is not fair to blame bureaucrats who are obliged to carry out the whims of an arrogant president."
It is not clear whether efforts to sacrifice Biden and scapegoat him will succeed. But the fact is that the man has made the task easier for them through his reluctance to take decisive positions, and his historically excessive enthusiasm for Israel at the expense of Arabs and Palestinians. It is also true that sacrificing Biden is less costly for the quartet, and for the Democratic Party as well, than sacrificing others. In addition to being politically finished, the man is mentally healthy. Physically, beating him is like beating a dead body.
Therefore, it is easy for the Quartet to succeed in recycling itself to return with future democratic administrations. Who will stop them? The memory of the American voter is short and his margin of movement is narrow. And who is the alternative if he prevents the Quartet and the Democrats?
Biden and the quartet caused voters to vote for Trump and he returned to the White House. They established patterns of impunity that in turn led to more bloodshed under Trump.
Less than two weeks later, the midterm elections are underway, and the world finds itself forced to re-enter the vortex of American political calculations and the position of each party in it in the long term. But ultimately, the difference between the two parties is like the difference between the plague and cholera.
This is Palestine's dilemma with who inhabits the White House and the Capitol, no matter who he is and no matter where he comes from. And this is Israel's luck with them.
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Tawfiq Rabahi - Algerian journalist
