Palestine Tet – 17 – Alex Christoforou and Alexander Mercouris: Blinken Bombs Big Throughout The Middle East: Israel, Oman, Turkey

Gaza – a dead boy and his balloon.

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The Israelis are not interested in a “humanitarian pause”, the Arabs are not interested in talking about a peacekeeping force. The Administration is just talking to itself; it is not addressing the serious problems that exist in the Middle East and it is completely losing respect.

Alexander Mercouris: The Duran

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Notes – The Duran – November 6, 2023 (a transcript of the first nine minutes)

A. Christoforou: Blinken is floating a peacekeeper plan, a Plan B; Plan A was to promote the Israeli plan to expel the residents of Gaza to Egypt, as reported in the NY Times – that this was indeed what they (USA, Israel) was thinking of doing at the beginning of this war and now a peace keeping force is being suggested, but after the war is concluded.

Blinken is traveling around the Middle East pitching this idea. Do I have it right, is that what’s going on?

A. Mercouris: I think you basically got it right but when I use the word “basically” I say that because what is coming out of the Administration are these ideas which are clearly not thought through at all.

They are also coming out with ideas about “humanitarian pauses” as well. This is not noticed, supposed to be a cease-fire; it’s a pause for a couple of days in the fighting in Gaza to make more humanitarian relief supplies to go in.

There is also this talk about “peacekeeping forces”.

The trouble is that nobody in the Middle East is interested in any of these ideas. The reason that they are not interested in any of these ideas is because people in the Middle East understand that they are completely detached from reality. They don’t reflect the concerns that the people in the Middle East have, and to say it straightforwardly, these plans – if one can even call them plans – are principally shaped in order to fulfill the domestic political needs of the Biden Administration, its own electoral problems.

Briefly, let’s start with what Blinken did…

First he went to Israel

First he went to Israel. He met with Netanyahu in Tel Aviv. The meeting did not go well. Blinken brought with him this idea of a humanitarian pause. The Biden Administration has been talking about “humanitarian pauses.” To be clear this is not a cease-fire – it’s only intended for a couple of days, maybe a week – to allow supplies to enter in (to Gaza). It’s clearly intended to get the pressure off Biden from the Arab leaders and also from people from within the Democratic Party, its activist base of that party.

So Blinken comes along floats this idea to Netanyahu of a “humanitarian pause”. Entirely predictably, Netanyahu immediately shoots it down. He says “no way” “this is not what I’m going to do; I’m not interested in this idea at all. And not only am I not interested in this idea but if you’re talking about any cease-fire or cessation of hostilities, its only purpose would be for Hamas to release all of its hostages without any conditions. We’d need to stop the fighting for a short time to get those hostages safely released. Then of course, once the hostages are released, then the fighting can resume”.

That was what Netanyahu said. He absolutely trashed Blinken’s ideas. But he also trashed Blinken himself because he had said that they were going to have a press conference together and Netanyahu refused to turn up. So you can already see that Netanyahu had absolutely no time for Blinken at all.

Sec. Antony Blinken is over in Israel again begging Netanyahu to be less barbaric and agree to a humanitarian pause. Netanyahu rebuffs Blinken who, after all, doesn’t have Congress in his back pocket.

@ Ralph Nader

Then Blinken heads off to Oman

Then Blinken heads off to Oman where there is a big meeting with Arab foreign ministers, the foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt, U.A.E., Qatar I believe, all of these countries are there to meet him along with the acting Prime Minister of Lebanon, who is also there.

There he’s talking not so much now about a “humanitarian pause” but he wants to impress the Arab leaders. He tells them that “we” have to find some kind of solution for what happens in Gaza once Hamas has been defeated. Why don’t we all get together and send a peacekeeping force to Gaza from your countries. The Arab leaders collectively said to him: “You must be kidding! What are you talking about? We have a battle going on in Gaza; the priority for us is to stop that. We want a cease-fire! We want it now! Why aren’t you working to get a cease-fire from the Israelis?

This time there was a press conference; the Arab foreign ministers did attend it. In it Blinken gets publicly trashed all over again.

They he flew off to Turkey

Then he’s flow off to Turkey – not clear why he’s going to Turkey at this time. Personally given the kind of rhetoric that is coming from Erdoğan I would have given Turkey a wide berth. There have been protests at Incilik (U.S./NATO military base); crowds have tried to enter Incilik. He comes to Turkey; he arrives in Istanbul to be greeted by only one official turns up, the deputy governor of Istanbul Province. The foreign minister is not there; the president is not there; the prime minister is not there.

Again, he is being shown colossal disrespect from the Turkish authorities and from Erdoğan himself. He is being humiliated. Alright Blinken is not one that should be taken especially seriously but still he is the U.S. Secretary of State.

Through the humiliation of Blinken, the United States itself is being humiliated in three completely different ways. The Israelis, the Arabs and now the Turks are all telling him “We have no respect for you at all. These ideas that you’re coming up with – they don’t interest us.”

The Israelis are not interested in a “humanitarian pause”, the Arabs are not interested in talking about a peacekeeping force. The Administration is just talking to itself; it is not addressing the serious problems that exist in the Middle East and it is completely losing respect.

Christoforou: There is no plan in other words.

Mercouris: There is no plan.

Well there is a simulation of a plan.

You talk about a “humanitarian pause” – nobody is interested in that. The Israelis aren’t interested in it; the Arabs aren’t interested in it. Talking about a peacekeeping force, the Arabs are not interested in it. I doubt that the Israelis seriously are. Nobody’s interested in talking about these things.

The Arabs want a cease-fire. The Israelis want to destroy Hamas; those are the things the people in the Middle East are concerned with. The (Biden) Administration wants to have it both ways. They don’t want to call for a cease-fire so they talk about a “humanitarian pause” and instead of taking about a cease-fire with the Arabs, they try to pull the wool over the eyes of the Arabs – and by the way – of the activist wing of the Democratic Party in the United States by talking about a peacekeeping force.

These aren’t real plans. These aren’t real ideas and what they do is they project weakness.

Christoforou: They can’t say the word “cease-fire”. They prohibit any leaders in the Collective West from using the word “cease-fire”. They literally say: don’t use the word “cease-fire”. Now Blinken is running around saying “pause”, “humanitarian pause” and no one is buying it. Netanyahu is saying “No cease-fire”. He’s saying the word “No cease-fire”. It’s nonsense.

Mercouris: It’s absolute nonsense.

Christoforou: And Biden’s polling numbers are plummeting.

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