World
Biden’s legacy is Gaza genocide, Palestinian rights advocates say
Democratic politicians and commentators in the United States have heaped praise on President Joe Biden since he dropped out of the 2024 presidential race on Sunday.
Representative Maxine Waters, for instance, called Biden a “kind and decent man”. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, extolled his “vision, values and leadership”.
But while political leaders showered Biden with compliments, bombs continued to rain down on Gaza, killing dozens and sparking another wave of mass displacement in Khan Younis.
For many Palestinian rights advocates, the carnage and abuses in Gaza will define Biden’s place in the history books, as the US remains steadfast in its support of Israel’s war in the Palestinian territory.
“He’ll be remembered for the hundreds of thousands killed, injured and displaced in Gaza,” said Abed Ayoub, the executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC).
“There is no way around it. ‘Genocide Joe’ is what he’s going to be remembered as.”
Thank you, President Biden! I am one of your greatest supporters and I was willing to stay with you through the Democratic Party nomination. However, you have decided to step down and you have endorsed your Vice President Kamala Harris. You are a kind and decent man who is…
— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) July 21, 2024
Since Israel’s war on Gaza started on October 7, Biden has offered the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unconditional military and diplomatic support.
Only once did Biden withhold a shipment of bombs to Israel over humanitarian concerns — and even then, he released part of that cargo a couple months later, amid pressure from Netanyahu.
Israel’s war, meanwhile, has killed nearly 39,000 Palestinians, displaced hundreds of thousands, fuelled a man-made hunger crisis and destroyed large parts of the territory. United Nations experts and other observers have warned of a “risk of genocide” in Gaza.
Ayoub told Al Jazeera that, despite Biden’s domestic achievements, the president will rank among the worst in US history due to his unconditional support for Israel.
The US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) echoed that comment. “Nothing will erase the fact that Biden’s legacy is — and always will be — genocide,” the group said in a statement.
Netanyahu ‘bear hug’
The US president has been a stalwart supporter of Israel throughout his decades-long political career.
He frequently calls himself a Zionist and argues that Jews across the world would not be safe without Israel.
He put that worldview into policy during his presidency, as he pushed on with Former President Donald Trump’s pro-Israel doctrine. Biden kept the US embassy in Jerusalem and refused to reverse the Trump-era decision to recognise Israel’s claims to the occupied Golan Heights in Syria.
He also aggressively pursued formal ties between Israel and Arab states, a goal Trump advanced with the 2020 Abraham Accords.
That push for normalisation, however, came without progress towards the recognition of an independent Palestinian state or the dismantling of systemic anti-Palestinian discrimination.
The outbreak of the war in Gaza further underscored Biden’s pro-Israel policies.
Weeks after the conflict started, Biden travelled to Israel and publicly embraced Netanyahu in what many critics have described as a “bear hug”.
That sign of friendliness was widely understood to be an endorsement of Netanyahu’s response in Gaza, after the Palestinian group Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7.
Even early in the conflict, human rights groups accused Israel of horrific violations rising to the level of genocide — a push to destroy the Palestinian people.
Within the first week alone, the Israeli military said it had unleashed 2,000 strikes across Gaza — a strip of land roughly the size of Las Vegas.
Biden has since authorised continuous arms transfers and more than $14bn in additional aid to sustain Israel’s Gaza offensive. Moreover, his administration has vetoed three United Nations Security Council proposals that would have called for a ceasefire.
Hatem Abudayyeh, the chair of the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), said Biden will be remembered above all for enabling Israel’s “crimes against humanity”.
“He could’ve turned the tap of money and weapons off in October, but he allowed this genocide to happen. He is complicit, and that’s what will be written on his tombstone,” Abudayyeh told Al Jazeera.
Biden and Palestinians
Following his entry into politics in 1970, Biden quickly rose from local to national prominence, mounting a successful dark-horse campaign to represent Delaware in the US Senate in 1972.
After nearly four decades in Congress, he became vice president under Barack Obama, and in 2021, he won the presidency himself.
The president does not hail from a political dynasty, and he is not an exceptional orator. His success in politics is often credited to his interpersonal skills and ability to project empathy.
That sense of compassion, however, never extended to Palestinians, activists say.
“For nine and a half months, President Biden has funded and armed the brutal Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, making the US government directly complicit in the killing of at least 39,000 people, including over 15,000 children,” Jewish Voice for Peace Action said in a statement on Sunday.
“Americans have watched in horror and outrage as Biden sent the Israeli government the weapons it used to wipe out entire generations of Palestinian families, to destroy hospitals, bakeries, schools, mosques, churches, universities, refugee camps, homes and Gaza’s entire health care system and electricity and water grids.”
Beyond policy, Biden’s rhetoric at times seemed dismissive of Israeli atrocities and Palestinian suffering.
“I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war,” the US president said in October.
But that stance caused Biden troubles both domestically and abroad.
Even before Biden delivered a disastrous debate performance on June 27, the 81-year-old had started to trail his Republican rival Trump in public opinion polls.
Parts of the Democratic base — including young people, progressives, Arabs and Muslims — voiced frustration and anger with his support for Israel.
Groups like the USCPR argued that Biden’s age and debate performance were only one factor in the pressure that forced him from the presidential race.
“It was not Biden’s failed debate that showed he is unfit to lead,” USCPR said. “It was the tens of thousands of bombs he sent to kill Palestinian families. It was his callous, dystopian disregard for Palestinian lives.”
Other commentators likewise argued that Biden failed to show enough concern for the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza.
Aaron David Miller, a veteran former US official, described the situation bluntly in an interview with the New Yorker in April.
“Do I think that Joe Biden has the same depth of feeling and empathy for the Palestinians of Gaza as he does for the Israelis? No, he doesn’t, nor does he convey it. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,” he said.
World
The deadly car explosion in New Delhi is being investigated under an anti-terrorism law
NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian police were investigating the deadly car explosion in New Delhi under an anti-terrorism law, officials said Tuesday, as forensic experts worked to determine the cause of the blast.
The explosion occurred near the historic Red Fort late Monday, killing at least eight people and injuring several others.
Senior police officials told The Associated Press that a case was registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, India’s main anti-terrorism law, which allows broader powers to investigating agencies to detain suspects. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was on a scheduled visit to Bhutan on Tuesday, said investigators would “get to the bottom of this conspiracy.
“The conspirators won’t be spared and all those responsible will be brought to justice,” Modi said.
Police said the explosion was believed to have originated from a Hyundai i20 car that had stopped at a traffic signal. Nearby vehicles were badly damaged, and photos showed shattered windows, twisted metal and flames engulfing several cars.
Police were trying to trace the car’s owner. There was no immediate information about the occupants, who were believed to have been killed.
Home Minister Amit Shah said Monday that “all angles” were being investigated and that security agencies would reach a conclusion soon. He said footage from cameras in the area would play a key role in the investigation.
Major train stations, including in Mumbai and in Uttar Pradesh state, which borders New Delhi, were put on security alert. The security force responsible for guarding key installations in the capital, including New Delhi’s international airport, metro system and major government buildings, said its personnel had also been placed on security alert.
A former imperial palace, the Red Fort is a sprawling Mughal-era complex and a major tourist attraction in the Old Delhi section of the city. Located about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) from Parliament, the 17th-century monument is a symbolic location where Indian prime ministers deliver their Independence Day speeches on Aug. 15 each year.
The area around Red Fort is typically crowded, serving as a main route to the bustling bazaars of the old city.
World
Government shutdown reaches overseas bases as many feel the strain
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Thousands of miles from the stalemate in Washington D.C., the effects of the government shutdown are being felt around the world. While President Donald Trump found a way to temporarily pay U.S. troops — others on base aren’t so lucky, including teachers and support staff.
Donna Irwin, a substitute teacher at a naval base in Italy, says the impact is deeply felt. “It has been absolutely terrible to watch and the morale at the school, I mean it’s low,” Irwin said.
LAWMAKER WARNS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS POTENTIALLY LEADING TO BIG WASTE IN THE MILITARY, IMPACTING READINESS
Some American educators abroad are not allowed to take second jobs while the government shutdown leaves military school staff unpaid overseas.
The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) operates 161 schools in 11 countries, seven states and two territories across 10 time zones. Nearly 900,000 military-connected children live worldwide, 67,000 of whom are enrolled in DoDEA schools and served by more than 14,000 employees.
In a statement, DoDEA’s communications operations chief Jessica Tackaberry told Fox News that they remain “committed to providing a world-class education” and that they “understand the difficulties this situation may create for our dedicated educators and staff who are working without pay. DoDEA is closely monitoring the situation and will continue to provide guidance and support to employees as needed.”
Athletics and co-curricular activities are also considered excepted activities at this time.
The Department of Defense Education Activity acknowledges the challenges faced by educators and staff working without pay during the government shutdown.
Irwin considers herself lucky that her husband is still getting a paycheck as a sailor, but with half their income on hold, they’re cutting back. She says that even when the government reopens, repayment can still take a while.
HOUSE CONSERVATIVE LEADER GIVES BLESSING TO SENATE SHUTDOWN DEAL, WITH ‘ONE CAVEAT’
“Especially out here, you feel forgotten because we are here to support that mission — as DoD contractors, as spouses and family members of the service members,. You know, these bases, these installations — they really don’t function without us, without our vital jobs and our support,” she said.
It’s a unique situation for Americans living abroad. For many, taking a second job off base isn’t allowed under their contract agreements. Living an ocean away from family who could help adds to the stress. Some are simply trying to explain to European landlords that their employer isn’t sending a paycheck, and they can’t afford rent or utility bills.
Some teachers at military bases abroad pay out of pocket for snacks and school supplies for their students as they work without compensation during the government shutdown. (John Moore/Getty Images)
“We oftentimes forget about all those little auto-pay things we have — everything from streaming services to healthcare needs — and they’re having to do these deep dives into their bank accounts and cancel all of these, you know, car insurance, your vehicle,” Irwin said.
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Despite the shutdown, educators say their students still come first and that the mission continues — even if it means footing the bill themselves for snacks and school supplies. Irwin works in a special education classroom, teaching essential life skills such as cooking and cleaning.
“I have no budget for any of that in my current classroom, so I’ve been having to go to the commissary myself and make do, trying to buy things that I can’t afford right now for these students who desperately need those life skills,” Irwin said. “I think the saddest thing for me is watching my students come in, and they don’t fully understand everything that’s happening with the government and with politics and to see them worried, to see them worry about, ‘Am I going to have a meal tomorrow, am I going to have a meal today?’”
World
US Senate passes bill to end longest ever government shutdown
The measure still needs to be approved by the House and signed by US President Donald Trump.
Published On 11 Nov 2025
The United States is moving closer to ending its record-breaking government shutdown after the Senate took a critical step forward to end its five-week impasse.
The Senate on Monday night approved a spending package by a vote of 60 to 40 to fund the US government through January 30, and reinstate pay for hundreds of thousands of federal workers.
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The spending bill next moves to the House of Representatives for approval and then on to President Donald Trump for a sign-off before the shutdown can finally end.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he would like to pass it as soon as Wednesday and send it on to Trump to sign into law.
The vote in the Senate follows negotiations this weekend that saw seven Democrats and one Independent agree to vote in favour of the updated spending package to end the shutdown, which enters its 42nd day on Tuesday.
Also included in the deal are three-year funding appropriations for the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration, military construction projects, veterans affairs and congressional operations.
The bill does not, however, resolve one of the most central issues in the shutdown – extending healthcare subsidies. Senate Republicans have agreed to vote on the issue as a separate measure in December.
US legislators have been under growing pressure to end the government shutdown, which enters its forty-second day on Tuesday, as their constituents feel the impact of funding lapses for programmes like food stamps.
Hundreds of thousands of federal employees have been furloughed or required to work without pay since the shutdown began on October 1, while Trump has separately threatened to use the shutdown as a pretext to slash the federal workforce.
Voters have also felt the impact of the shutdown at airports across the US after the Federal Aviation Administration last week announced a 10 percent cut in air traffic due to absences from air traffic controllers.
The cuts have created chaos for US air travel just as the country is heading into its busiest travel season of the year.
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