Weekly Commentary: President Biden will have civilian Gazan blood on his
hands if he discourages civilians from leaving Rafah
Dr. Aaron Lerner 12 March 2024

One of these days, Israel is going to launch a massive information campaign
urging the civilians now located in Rafah to save their lives by following
Israeli evacuation instructions.

Simple and straightforward instructions to evacuate to special areas a short
walk away from Rafah.

The civilians who choose to "stroll to safety" will be safe.

The civilians who opt instead to sacrifice themselves and their families as
human shields for Hamas could very well end up fulfilling their desire to
die as shahids.

So, how does President Biden fit into this?

When Israel announces its program, Mr. Biden has several options:

#1. President Biden can endorse the program and call on Gazan civilians to
do the moral thing and choose life for themselves and their families,
emphasizing that this is, indeed, the moral choice.

The overwhelming majority of civilians, seeing that their prospective deaths
as human shields won't change the outcome of the war, will choose life -
just as so many in northern Gaza did when told to evacuate earlier in the
war.

#2. President Biden can vocally oppose the arrangements and warn Israel that
unless it has a magic way to destroy Hamas while not touching a single hair
of a human shield, Israel will face grave consequences.

The overwhelming majority of civilians won't budge, either out of the belief
that Israel won't defy Mr. Biden or that the payoff for sacrificing their
family's lives as human shields in exchange for American sanctions against
the Jewish State is worth dying for.

Yes, President Biden will have civilian Gazan blood on his hands if he
discourages civilians from leaving Rafah.

Share the message.

I daresay that having this blood on his hands would not, on balance, improve
his re-election prospects.

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Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on
Arab-Israeli relations

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