Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi: the US could restrain Israel, but has chosen not to

According to a report released by Brown University’s Costs of War project, from October 7, 2023 to September 30, 2024, the US sent 17.9 billion dollars in military aid to Israel, which accounts for the largest amount of military funding ever granted to Israel in a single year. Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people, as well as its 76-year project of colonization of Palestine would not be possible without the vital military, financial, diplomatic, and political support of the United States.

The US presidential elections, which will see Democrat Kamala Harris face off against far-right Republican Donald Trump, are set to be held on Tuesday, November 5. The elections are being held over a year into Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, and the result of the elections may cast a shadow on the current situation in particular, and the Palestinian cause in general.

To discuss more about the impact of US policy, and the possible repercussions of the US presidential elections on the Palestinian cause, Peoples Dispatch interviewed prominent Palestinian politician, physician, and activist Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi.

Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi is the Secretary General and co-founder of the Palestinian National Initiative, and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC).

𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡: What has the last year of Israeli genocide revealed about US policy towards the region?

𝐃𝐫. 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐚 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐢: It has revealed that the United States can restrain Israel if it wants, but it did not, which makes the United States complicit in the genocide being carried out by Israel against the Palestinian people. A clear example that proves that the US has an influence on Israel, is its ability to restrain the Israeli aggression on Iran.

𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡: Were people expecting more from Democrat Joe Biden?

𝐃𝐫. 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐚 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐢: The Palestinian people were completely disappointed by Biden and his administration, including his State Secretary, Defense Secretary and National Security Advisor, who all came to take part in Israel’s war cabinet meetings, and gave their blessing to Israel during its genocidal aggression on Gaza. They further sent American fleet, ships, aircrafts to support Israel. Biden has provided Israel with no less than 17.9 billion dollars of military equipment, and more than 50,000 tons of explosives and weapons. All of that was used in committing the genocide against the Palestinian people.

𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡: Are any major changes expected if either Kamala or Trump gets elected? Does the outcome of these elections impact the Palestinian struggle?

𝐃𝐫. 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐚 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐢: Trump’s election may make the situation even worse, while it is still unclear about Kamala Harris, who maybe will be more sensitive regarding the changes that are happening inside the Democratic Party, where the majority of the younger generation are against the policy of Biden in relation to what has been happening in Gaza and to Palestinians in general.

However, so far she could not make any definite decision or take any definite position to stop the genocide against the Palestinian people. Like Biden, Harris continued with the biased approach towards Israel. This needs to be completely changed, because when it comes to the reputation of the United States it has been negatively affected by the policy of this administration, not only in Palestine but also worldwide. We shouldn’t forget that Kamala Harris was the US vice president during the genocide, she was not outside the administration. Perhaps, she will adopt a different approach in comparison to Biden, but that needs to be proved in reality and in action.

𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡: With regards to the broader region, one of Trump’s pet projects while president was advancing normalization with Israel. What is your view of how Israel’s genocide has impacted the process of normalization? Have there really been major setbacks? Will these setbacks be recovered or is it irreversible?

𝐃𝐫. 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐚 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐢: The war crimes in Gaza did not affect the existing normalization agreements between three Arab countries and Israel. Unfortunately, it has not changed at all, but the war crimes in Gaza and the genocide have restrained other countries from proceeding in normalization with Israel. Even the countries that maintained normalization agreements with Israel, are very embarrassed about the current situation, because their peoples are against normalization. It is not apparent yet whether the genocide will have further impact on normalization. The largest popular protest against normalization is happening in Morocco, and it is the most important country among the three countries that normalized with Israel”, the prominent Palestinian politician said, referring to Morocco, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, which signed the US-backed normalization agreements with Israel known as “the Abraham Accords” in 2020.