There is much "dissent in America", which is "calling for a ceasefire" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, along with "dissent within the Democratic Party" towards the "position of the Biden administration", according to Dr. Oscar van Heerden, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for African Diplomacy and Leadership, University of Johannesburg.
"The first thing that came to mind [after reading Joe Biden's article] was [that] this is necessary because the United States, like Israel is beginning to lose the PR war [...] The Biden administration is feeling the pressure to change their current stance, which is to give Israel a blank check to do whatever it wants to do," the researcher says.
Dr. van Heerden says he found the article full of "dualism", where Biden is "saying what needs to be said", but, "acting completely in contradiction".
"Talking about ending this war etc., when you have deployed carrier battleships into the Mediterranean to support Israel, putting boots on the ground through special forces [...] All of this to the Israeli state and then you release a statement saying that we must end the war. It's simply a joke", Dr. van Heerden explains.
The US played the role of the "historic peace broker" since the dawn of the conflict, but "have dismally failed".
"I think that there is a need for new players. New great powers need to come into the equation," he elaborates.
To hear what else the expert had to say, check out the entire episode of the AfroVerdict podcast, brought to you by Sputnik Africa.
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