There have been mixed reactions to the Biden Administration’s decision to place economic and travel-based sanctions on four Israeli settlers on Thursday, February 1. Some have been cautiously optimistic that the sanctions—which came in the form of an Executive Order—would bring long-absent accountability for Israeli settler violence in the West Bank. Others have criticized the sanctions as a cynical move to whitewash the Biden Administration’s own crimes and win over disillusioned Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian voters, whose support for Biden has substantially plummeted as a result of his unwavering support for Israel’s onslaught on the Gaza Strip.
It’s always a diversion.