Day of Shame at the US Capitol

The first day of infamy was December 7, 1941. The Japanese Empire attacked the American military bases at Pearl Harbor and the Philippines and declared war on the United States and the British Empire. President Franklin D. Roosevelt first used the term in modern history, saying the next day, in a joint session of Congress, “Yesterday, December 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy…”

It was a great speech, marking the American defeat in a very heroic and epic way for Americans, like all Anglo-Saxon cultures, and creating a brave story of defeats as possible victories. For the Eastern and African cultures, defeats and slavery such as captivity could not be part of national stories. Consequently, when President Roosevelt gave that short speech in Congress, Americans were not ashamed to their core; they did not sink through the floor; on the contrary, Roosevelt’s speech had a long-lasting impact and was considered one of the most famous speeches in American politics. Half an hour later, Congress declared war on Japan.

Thirty thousand and 179 days later, in that same room, the American people witnessed another speech that will infamy live on July 24, 2024. That honorable room, where many scoundrels abused their sanctity and many small-town politicians lay there staring into the eyes of their constituents, still remained the symbol of the idea upon which the United States was founded. The United States was a nation created by the consensus of the people. Yes, in order to create that nation, those people had to carve out a country from what the native people considered their own, through massacres, genocides, and other inhuman war crimes, but they did it, and they admitted what they had done and tried to atone for their crimes.

Last week, in that chamber of Congress, a war criminal, a likely convict of genocide, tarnished the entire history of the United States. He is someone who has no respect for any religion or ideology, but poses as a Zionist, fulfills dreams of creating a homeland for all Jewish people, and in fact is just trying to remain prime minister of Israel so he doesn’t end up in jail. Netanyahu tarnished the people’s lectern, put his bloody hands on it, and lied about his intentions in Gaza. He also lied about killing noncombatants in Gaza. The confirmed death toll in Gaza is about 40,000, and the majority of the dead – tens of thousands – were women and children, and not every man killed was a combatant. Israel has largely ignored civilian casualties, claiming that all the men killed were Hamas fighters. The real death toll is likely to be much higher than the official figures from Gaza’s Health Ministry, a fact even the Biden administration has acknowledged. Many of the dead are likely buried under the rubble or were buried by Israeli forces in makeshift sites.

Netanyahu said Col. John Spencer, director of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point, confirmed that Israel has been more careful to avoid civilian casualties than any military in history. Spencer, a well-known pro-Israel partisan, stands alone in the broader community in suggesting that Israel has been more careful to avoid civilian casualties than any military in history. Spencer is a well-known pro-Israel partisan and stands alone in the broader community in suggesting that Israel does more to reduce civilian casualties, including from the Biden administration. The world has been calling on Israel for months to avoid civilian casualties. He brazenly said that the hunger in Gaza is not caused by Israel blocking food supplies, but by Hamas stealing them. US lawmakers in that chamber brazenly applauded him, even as the UN and international aid agencies have repeatedly raised the alarm about Israeli restrictions on humanitarian access. Israel denies forward movement once convoys enter Gaza and attacks convoys attempting to bring in desperately needed supplies.

Netanyahu outright lied when he said that the number of civilian casualties resulting from Israeli operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah is “practically zero.” Even the US media has reported that there have been multiple Israeli strikes in Rafah that have resulted in civilian casualties, including one that set fire to a tent camp housing displaced Palestinians in May, killing at least 46 people. Netanyahu himself called the strike a “traffic accident.” UN experts were outraged by the attack. Moreover, Israeli airstrikes earlier in February killed at least 95 civilians in Rafah; about half of those victims were children. Amnesty International called the strike “unlawful” and said it provided “evidence that Israeli forces are disrespecting international humanitarian law.”

Another lie that members of Congress and Netanyahu’s personal invitee, Elon Musk, a businessman and investor and one of the world’s richest men, applauded was that the “vast majority of the American people” support Israeli atrocities in Palestine. They do not. Polls show that a significant share of Americans disapprove of or have serious reservations about Israel’s war in Gaza. After narrowly supporting Israel’s military action in Gaza in November, Americans now oppose the campaign by a solid margin. Some 55 percent currently disapprove of Israel’s actions, while 36 percent approve.

I have news for the representatives and senators who cheered this war criminal with great joy. Just wait until the schools reopen, and you will hear those cheers echoing in the university squares.

Netanyahu spoke for 59 minutes, and those who refused to protest against him by not attending the session stood up 49 times and applauded his slander and libel, while Israeli opposition leaders slammed the speech. Opposition leaders expressed disappointment over the lack of commitment to the prisoner swap deal with Hamas. Yair Lapid, the leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party, called the speech “disgraceful.” “An hour of talking without saying a single sentence: ‘There will be a kidnapping deal,’” he wrote on Twitter.

Israel, which has disregarded a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, is facing international condemnation for its continued brutal offensive against Gaza.

Roosevelt’s speech 83 years ago had “innocence violated” as its central theme because Japan had attacked American troops without provocation. Netanyahu repeated his claim that Israel’s offensive on Gaza was a response to Hamas’s October 7 invasion. The US was not occupying any Japanese territory; Israel was invading and occupying Palestinian territory. American lawmakers were helping a war criminal desecrate a chamber they had justifiably prided themselves in until last week. No more: That chamber and its lectern will live in shame for having lost their innocence when Netanyahu smeared the blood of innocent Palestinians on them.