Doesn't matter if Biden, Harris, or Trump: Palestinians say US remains main sponsor of Israel's Gaza genocide

Regardless of who is in power in the United States, Palestinians are extremely pessimistic that there will be any fundamental shift in US policy about Israel's war on the Gaza Strip, including pressuring Israel to accept a ceasefire in the coastal enclave.

In separate interviews with The New Arab, Palestinians in the war-torn besieged coastal enclave say that the US is a "primary partner in this war of extermination" and without its support, "Israel would not have succeeded in destroying the Gaza Strip and killing such large numbers of people."

"The US is the primary sponsor of Israel; it is Zionist, and looks after its interests via this criminal state without a care for human rights, international laws, or universal standards," one Palestinian in Gaza remarked to TNA. 

On Sunday, Joe Biden dropped out of the US presidential election and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party's new nominee—a stunning move that upended the 2024 race for the White House.

The 81-year-old Biden stepped aside after weeks of pressure from Democrats following a disastrous debate performance, throwing the election battle against Republican Donald Trump into unprecedented turmoil.

"While I have intended to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term," Biden said in a letter published on social media platform X while recovering from Covid at his beach house in Delaware.

Republicans and Democrats, two sides of the same coin

Over the years, more and more Palestinians have become extremely disgruntled with the United States and believe that they won't be able to achieve justice and peace as long as the superpower remains sole mediator over the question of Palestine. 

At one point there was much hope. In November 2008, former President Barack Obama assumed the US presidency to be the first African-American president. At that time, the Palestinians truly believe that he might be the refuge that would save them from the "ongoing Israeli criminality."

"But unfortunately, we were very disappointed," Mohammad Al-Safadi, a Palestinian from Gaza, said to TNA. Israel launched a large-scale war on the Gaza Strip that lasted for more than 50 days in 2014, killing of thousands of Palestinians and destroying thousands of homes and civilian infrastructure.

"I cannot forget the shameful silence by Obama […] We hoped that he would understand our suffering because he comes from a community that was subjected to persecution, killing, and racism […] Unfortunately, he did nothing but work for Israeli interests," the 65-year-old father of ten said. 

"Whichever party wins in America, whether Republican or Democrat, this will not challenge American foreign policy, which is to care for Israel's interests in the Middle East and expand its control and power in the Palestinian territories and across the Arab world."

A similar sentiment was shared by Rula Abdul Rahman, a Palestinian from the Jabalia camp in northern Gaza, when Obama gave his full support to Israel's war in 2014. The 49-year-old mother of four lost her entire family during that war after the Israeli army attacked their home while she was on duty as a nurse in Al-Shifa hospital. 

"In every war that Israel wages and I provide first aid to the victims, the first thing that comes to my mind is America and its endless support for Israel, that it is the real killer before Israel," she remarked.

'No radical change'

There are rare moment in which Kamala Harris has criticized Israel's military approach in its current genocidal war on Gaza. In March, she said that Israel is "not doing enough" to alleviate the "humanitarian catastrophe" due to its ground invasion of a coastal enclave.

Nevertheless, Palestinian political analysts unanimously agree that is US unlikely to change its foreign policy approach towards the Middle East for the sake of the "Gaza file."

Various analysts opined to TNA that if the Democratic Party, for which Kamala Harris is running, wins, it may ease some of the war's burden on the Palestinian population, but it will not be able to bring about a radical change on Israel.

Ayman al-Raqab, a Gaza-based Palestinian analyst, told TNA that US President Joe Biden's announcement of his withdrawal from the US election race will not have any impact on the situation in the Gaza Strip, especially regarding ceasefire negotiations.

Al-Raqab notes that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is now visiting Washington, has continuously threatened the Gaza Strip and Palestine with more blood, meaning that the war will go on. 

Hussam al-Dajani, another Gaza-based political expert, also stresses that Biden's withdrawal will not have an impact in general on the course of the truce negotiations and the prisoner exchange deal. 

He told TNA that the latest amended proposal regarding the conclusion of the armistice agreement is Biden's proposal, and so far he has been unable to accomplish it or force Netanyahu to approve it.

But al-Dajani hopes that both Russia and China (as two alternative powers) would take matters into their own hands and play a more active role in the Israel/Palestine conflict, ending the US's primary control of the issue. 

He believes that Netanyahu does not care about the identity of the next US president (whether Democrat or Republican) because he will remain committed to his policy and try to force US political leaders to implement all the military and political aid he desires.

"After all," al-Dajani concluded, "Israel is merely a US colonial project."