Gaza is the scene of an indefensible humanitarian catastrophe

Politics no longer stops at the water’s edge – nor should it. The presidential race already features deep divides over U.S. foreign policy – on NATO (Biden embracing; Trump scorning), on Putin (Biden negative; Trump favorable), on climate change (Biden addressing the threat; Trump dismissing it); on democracy (Biden championing; Trump undermining).

- Jesse Jackson

What too often gets overlooked are areas where the two candidates largely agree – a particular danger when the bipartisan consensus ignores the moral center.

For example, Biden has supported Israel in his assault on Gaza. Trump is even more devoted to the Netanyahu government. But Gaza is the scene of an indefensible humanitarian catastrophe. More than 30,000 Gazans have been killed, the majority of women and children. Ninety percent of the population has been displaced from their homes. Much of Gaza has been bombed to rubble. Hospitals have been bombed, relief workers shot. Restrictions on food, water, and medicine have left literally thousands of children vulnerable to starvation or deadly diseases. The International Court of Justice has ruled that Israel’s assault will lead to genocide and called on the government to take steps to protect civilians.

Yet the assault goes on. Efforts to negotiate a temporary ceasefire are stalled. The Biden administration continues to send arms and bombs to Israel while standing virtually alone at the United Nations in vetoing international resolutions. This stance violates basic morality, isolates the U.S. from the world, and contradicts Biden’s rhetoric about a “rules-based order.”