• The US’s proposed “ceasefire” resolution has been vetoed by Russia and China and rejected by Algeria.
• Criticisms of the proposed resolution include it not demanding a ceasefire but “calling” for one, it being too ambiguous and giving the green light to Israel to invade Rafah.
On March 22nd, the UN security council failed to pass a United States draft resolution for a “ceasefire” in Gaza. However, calling it a “ceasefire” would be mischaracterisation of the resolution as it “calls” for a ceasefire but doesn’t demand it. This ambiguity is the reason why Russia and China vetoed the resolution and Algeria voted against it. The resolution states that there is an “imperative” for a ceasefire but does not demand an actual ceasefire from Israel. What this means is the resolution would allow Israel to continue its attacks and according to Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, contained an “effective green light” for Israel to mount a military operation in Rafah, where more than 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering. If we remember from the start of Israel’s attacks on Gaza, Palestinians were told to evacuate to the south and now there is a slow push from the US to almost allow this invasion of Rafah (Gaza’s southernmost city) to take place.
Knowing this, it becomes almost laughable that the US has called Russia and China’s veto “cynical”. What really is cynical is even proposing this type of “ceasefire” if it can be called that. The “ceasefire” that many US diplomats like Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Anthony Blinken are supporting is already on the table and this agreement was proposed by Israel. The agreement would mean a 6 week pause of Israel’s genocide of Gaza and the return of hostages to Israel. After this period of 6 weeks is over, Israel essentially has the green light to invade Rafah and continue its genocide of Gaza. This “ceasefire” is Israel’s negotiating position simply renamed as a “ceasefire”. This agreement would simply guarantee that Israel will get all of their people out which would then give them an opportunity to finally do what they have been proposing for all these years which is the complete takeover of Gaza.
China’s representative, Zhang Jun, said that the draft “dodged the most central issue, that of a ceasefire” through its “ambiguous” language. And Russia’s representative, who was previously mentioned, accused the US leadership of “deliberately misleading the international community”. This refers to the use of the word “ceasefire” which was used by the majority of the international community to refer to a permanent end to Israels genocide of Gaza. However, the US uses the same word to describe a temporary pause which overwhelmingly benefits Israel more than it does the Palestinian people.
Western media may have short term memory loss however nobody will forget how the US rejected the previous resolutions and how their representative raised her hand in shame showing the world that they are the only ones in that security council who believe the killing of innocent women and children should continue. The media has now completely flipped the narrative making it seem like Russia and China along with the Arab world’s representative in the security council, Algeria, are the ones against a ceasefire. All that the US’s draft resolution achieved was giving their manipulative media a headline that says, “Russia and China have vetoed a ceasefire resolution” which they want you to translate to “Russia and China = bad” and “USA = good”, therefore “Israel = good” and “Palestine = bad”. It also wouldn’t be far-fetched to suggest that the Biden administration has finally used the word “ceasefire” but with a different meaning before the US elections to manipulate as many people as they can to vote for Joe Biden again.
