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If youāve been listening closely ā amid ongoing reports of Donald Trumpās legal victories, setbacks and increasing wealth ā you may have heard that a cease-fire resolution passed a United Nations Security Council vote earlier this week.
Itās a good thing whenever meaningful steps are taken to keep civilians from getting killed.
But donāt confuse a cease-fire resolution in the UN with an actual cease-fire.
How did this resolution come about? By the United States abstaining from voting on the resolution.
Well, thatās brave, isnāt it?
In other words, we werenāt particularly for it, but we didnāt veto it as weāve done before while providing diplomatic cover for Israel. (And administration officials are quick to point out that the cease-fire resolution is ānon-binding.ā)
Howās that for being a world leader and beacon of peace?
Even still, Netanyahu was irate that the U.S. didnāt do his veto-bidding this time around ā and the Biden administration is kindaā sortaā taking a tougher stance toward Israelās continued bombardment of civilians.
The right-wing prime minister shouldnāt be too upset, though.
As of now, nothing has been done to slow the torrent of U.S.-supplied weaponry that has been raining down on Gaza for months.
Joe Bidenās tactic of strong public support for Netanyahu and Israel, while taking a tougher line behind the scenes, appears to be doing nothing but adding to the current death toll of 32,000 Palestinians.
(And, donāt worry, I havenāt forgotten that this war was sparked by the terror attack on October 7 when Hamas took 253 people hostage and killed 1200 by Israeli government estimates.)
The United States has to take more of a stand against the Israeli policy that is clearly to wipe Gaza off the map.
Thatās all for this cartoon update, Iāll see you back here shortly with more animation, writing and behind-the-scenes drawing ā as well as cartoons that may provide some relief from the awful mayhem.
-Mark
Plus, if they were next door, they would have tunnels all over the neighborhood. Their family would stand in front of them while they shot at you and howl about elder abuse when you defend yourself. Eventually, after years of attacks, you would become tired and fight back big time. Or would you rather sell your house and wander the world as a guest.
He is not my beloved. He is elected and can be unelected. It is terrorists who refuse surrender against overwhelming force, who hold civilian hostages of no military value, who continue launching rockets. Their subway system needs to be dismantled. Then they will rebuild it by stealing from their people or by direct Iranian support, but it will buy time. Then they will resume attacks, sure. After Hamas took control of Gaza, even the Egyptians closed their border and blew up tunnels. Hamas is internationally regarded as a terrorist organization. The goal of terrorists is to kill and in this case to die and go to paradise. That is not a western way to understand warfare where there are concrete goals.