‘Israel Needs U.S. Support’

Here is something to think about whenever you hear the West wax lyrical about ‘both sides’ with regard to the Zionist occupation of Palestine. In this 5 June 1986 video, then-US Senator and now-US President Joe Biden let the cat out of the bag as to why Israel is so important to the United States. Hint: It’s to protect Western interests in West Asia.

These remarks given on the US Senate floor demystify the overwhelming show of support Israel has received from almost every Western leader as Palestine intensified its resistance this week. It should serve as a wake-up call for the majority of the international community, which international polls show is interested in justly resolving the Palestinian question.

It matters to Africa, as the motherland knows the pain and indignity of living under oppression. Before Palestine was divided for the creation of Israel, Britain wanted to carve out 13,000 km2 of Uganda, present-day Kenya, from the Mau escarpment to Lake Victoria for the creation of a Jewish state. Who knows, perhaps today, Africans would be on the frontlines for their land as Palestinians are for theirs. Even today, Israel has played a large role on the continent, as seen with "normalisation" agreements Egypt, Morocco and Sudan have signed. The West should be viewed as a biased arbiter, as decades of complicity in the oppression and death of Palestinians shows.

Let us know what you think of Biden's remarks.