A DEADLY DANCE ON THE HEAD OF A PIN
The philosophical question “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?” was raised by the 13th century philosopher Thomas Aquinas. A metaphor for wasting time debating topics of no practical value, it sums up what efforts to resolve Gaza will be unless the U.S. actually makes “changes in policy”.
Consider that it took six months into the war to reach this point last week: “There are signs that the two countries (the U.S. and Israel), for all the recent drama, might be starting to shift from political theater to mature statesmanship.”
Seven more aid workers (bringing the toll to more than 200), 33,000 Gazans and more than 90 journalists had to die so that adults supposedly capable of running countries could posture, pose and playact before getting down to business.
Doesn’t anyone involved in policy-making have at least a passing acquaintance with recent history?
The U.S. administration signalled its “displeasure” with the footwork of its dance partner Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu by finally abstaining, rather than the usual Pavlovian response of a veto, on UN Security Council Resolution 2728 (2024).
Almost immediately afterward, a State Department spokesman declared 2728 “non-binding”, and therefore has “no impact at all on Israel and Israel’s ability to continue to go after Hamas.”. U.S. ally South Korea backed that up by noting that it did not explicitly include the word “decide” (the head of a pin if ever there was one) and was not adopted under Chapter VII.
A leading expert on such matters disagreed, and noted that “as is well established, the Security Council can adopt legally binding resolution” without such nitpicks.
Netanyahu couldn’t give a damn either way, not least because the current U.S.-Israel-UN dance makes the marathon ones portrayed in the film “They Shoot Horse Don’t They?” look like Chopin’s “Minute Waltz”.
Israel accepted Resolution 242 as binding in 1967, but has still not fully met the requirement that its forces withdraw from territories occupied in the Six Day war, which include the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.
TWO TO TANGO
In the face of the international outrage over the drone bombing of three clearly marked aid vehicles on an Israeli military-approved route —which, it is worth noting, only spurted forth because most of the victims were Westerners — Netanyahu offered a metaphorical shrug: “Unfortunately, in the last day there was a tragic case of our forces unintentionally hitting innocent people in the Gaza Strip. It happens in war.” It took the implied threat of a reconsideration of continued arms supply deals to get him as far as a ritual offering that Israel “deeply regrets the tragic incident.”
But then again, he has an historical dance partner precedent for glibness where contrition is appropriate. When Iraq fell into a paroxysm of disorder and looting after the U.S. invasion, then U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dismissed it as: “Stuff happens.”
The wreckage of the World Central Kitchen vehicles was still smoldering when the U.S. reiterated that arms deliveries agreed upon but not fulfilled would go ahead.
By comparison, within days of Israel’s accusation that a dozen out of more than 12,000 UNWRA staffers were (allegedly) involved in the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, 17 countries and the European Union suspended funding for the agency, which is widely held to be essential for aid delivery in Gaza. This despite the fact the UN quickly launched an investigation and fired the accused.
OUT OF STEP
A memorandum signed by President Biden in February states that countries receiving U.S. military aid must “facilitate and not arbitrarily deny, restrict, or otherwise impede, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance”, or U.S.-supported international efforts to provide aid.
In March Sarah Yager, Washington director at Human Rights Watch noted that: “Given ongoing hostilities in Gaza, the Israeli government’s assurances to the Biden administration that it is meeting US legal requirements are not credible.”
According to the authoritative Israeli daily paper Haaretz, the strike “was launched because of suspicion that a terrorist was travelling with the convoy”.
Hamas has made itself deserving of literal annihilation. Obliterating aid workers in clearly marked vehicles on a “suspicion” there might be a Hamas gunman with them, is well out of step with Israel’s insistence that its forces are disciplined and act within the rules of war, however.
The only “angels” in Gaza are aid workers, and unless Washington makes good on its threat of “changes in policy”, the only dance that matters in Gaza will be the “Danse Macabre”, which is already in full swing, and it’s not philosophical.
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