Above photo: Mike Wisniewski of the Los Angeles Catholic Worker.
For His Role in the Genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
In a “Hail Mary Pass,” Will the Pope Use the Threat of Excommunication to End the Biden Administration’s Complicity in Genocide in their meeting on January 10?
While Catholic U.S. President Joe Biden continues to provide weapons to Israel that have killed over 45,000 Palestinians in Gaza, Pope Francis has called for an investigation to determine if Israel’s military attacks on Gaza constitute genocide and by implication that the Biden administration is a participant in the genocide.
It would not be the first time the Pope has identified the role of individual Catholics in genocide. In 2017, Pope Francis asked for forgiveness for Catholic church’s role in Rwanda genocide acknowledging that some Catholic priests and nuns ‘succumbed to hatred and violence’ by taking part in 1994 killings.
But the question is, when will the Pope finally exert his moral authority over devout Catholic Joe Biden and other Catholic members of the Biden administration and excommunicate them for their overt and seemingly enthusiastic participation in the Israeli genocide of Gaza, apparently succumbing to the Israeli hatred and violence toward Palestinians?
An excellent opportunity will be on January 10, 2025, when President Biden is scheduled to meet with Pope Francis, the third time as President of the United States and the sixth time since Pope Francis became Pope.
One-third of Biden’s cabinet are Catholics and would be subject to excommunication for their participation in the genocide of Gaza. Catholic cabinet members and special advisors in the Biden administration are:
–Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin
–Administrator of USAID Samantha Power
— Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough
— Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra
–Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack
–Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo
–Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm
–Climate Envoy John Kerry
Pope Francis has called Israeli attacks on Gaza and Lebanon “immoral” and disproportionate
The Pope has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in Gaza, as well as for the release of hostages and increased humanitarian aid to Gaza. Pope Francis said on September 15, 2024 that Israel’s attacks in Gaza and Lebanon have been “immoral” and disproportionate and that Israel’s military domination has gone beyond the rules of war.
In a new book “Hope never disappoints. Pilgrims towards a better world,” based on interviews with the pontiff published in Rome on November 19, 2024, Pope Francis finally uses the word “genocide” in connection with Israel’s actions in Gaza, “According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide.”
Pope Francis asked the global community to “study whether Israel’s military campaign in Gaza constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people,” in some of his most explicit criticism yet of Israel’s conduct.
Plenty of Investigations and Reports Have Already Been Conducted
Just in case Pope Francis’ advisors have not realized that already there is a plethora of studies and reports on the Israeli genocide of Gaza, here is a listing of just of few done by reputable global organizations.
The International Court of Justice Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel)
On 29 December 2023, South Africa brought a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide over allegations of genocide against the Palestinians in the wake of the attacks on 7 October 2023 by Hamas and other armed groups, in which nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in Israel were killed and some 240 were taken hostage. Hearings on South Africa’s request for provisional measures took place in The Hague on 11 and 12 January 2024.
The 84-page filing by South Africa accused Israel of acts and omissions “genocidal in character, as they are committed with the requisite specific intent … to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group.”
Article 94 of the UN Charter provides that judgments of the ICJ are binding on the parties to the dispute and that, if they are not implemented, then recourse is to be had to the Security Council, which may make recommendations or decide upon measures to be taken to give effect to the judgment.
The ruling issued by the ICJ ordered six provisional measures including for Israel to refrain from acts under the Genocide convention, prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to genocide, and take immediate and effective measures to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza. Crucially, the Court also ordered Israel to preserve evidence of genocide and to submit a report to the Court, within one month, of all measures taken in line with its order.
ICJ Ruling on Implementation of Provisional Measures to End the Genocide
The Pope’s advisors should emphasize to the Pope that on January 31, 2024, a panel of UN experts “urged states parties to the Genocide Convention to abide by their obligations to prevent genocide, taking all measures in their power to ensure implementation of the ICJ’s provisional measures.”
This is a specific call to the Biden administration to implement the ICJ’s provisional measures, which it has not done.
United Nations experts also stressed the critical role that civil society plays to give effect to this ruling, a role that millions of the world’s population has taken to heart with massive demonstrations, disruptions of Congresses and Parliaments, encampments on university campus’ and hunger strikes.
In the United States, the Biden administration has ignored civil society and continued to supply billions of dollars in weaponry to Israel for the continuation of the genocide of Gaza.
Other Recent Rulings of the ICJ on Israel’s Policies and Practices in the Occupied Territories
Additionally, on July 19, 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued its advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising from Israel’s policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and the consequences of Israel’s conduct for other states following an 18-month process including public hearings where more than 50 states, including Palestine, and three international organizations participated.
The advisory opinion stated that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is a clear violation of international law.
As background, in July 2004, the ICJ issued a first advisory opinion finding that the construction of the separation wall inside the Occupied Palestinian Territories had to be halted because it was contrary to international law. Amnesty International had also argued that the construction of the wall violates international law and contributes to serious human rights violations.
According to Amnesty International, the international community’s failure to implement the recommendations of the 2004 ICJ advisory opinion has emboldened Israel’s defiance of international law and reinforced its impunity.
U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Occupied Since 1967
In March 2024, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Occupied Since 1967, Francesca Albanese in a report called “Anatomy of a Genocide” wrote that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
Citing international law, Ms. Albanese wrote that genocide is defined as a specific set of acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. “Specifically, Israel has committed three acts of genocide with the requisite intent: causing seriously serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, and imposing measures intended to prevent birth within the group.”
Special Rapporteur Albanese followed up with the October 1, 2024 report to the United Nations General Assembly titled “Geocide as a Colonial Erasure,” which goes even further in condemnation of Israeli actions in Gaza. The introduction to the 32-page report underscores the horrific nature of the Israeli assault on the existence of Palestinians. “The violence that Israel has unleashed against the Palestinians post-7 October is not happening in a vacuum, but is part of a long-term intentional, systematic, State- organized forced displacement and replacement of the Palestinians. This trajectory risks causing irreparable prejudice to the very existence of the Palestinian people in Palestine. Member States must intervene now to prevent new atrocities that will further scar human history.”
Amnesty International- Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza
in a report published on December 5, 2024, Amnesty International found sufficient evidence to conclude that Israel has committed and is continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip.
The 296-page report, ‘You Feel Like You Are Subhuman’: Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza, documents how, during its military offensive in Gaza since October 7, 2023, Israel has “unleashed hell and destruction on Palestinians in Gaza brazenly, continuously and with total impunity.”
Human Rights Watch – Israel’s Crime of Extermination, Acts of Genocide in Gaza
On December 19, 2024, Human Rights Watch released its report on Israel’s crime of extermination and acts of genocide in Gaza accusing Israeli authorities of widespread deprivation of water as threatening the survival of Palestinians in Gaza.
In its 179-page report, “Extermination and Acts of Genocide: Israel Deliberately Depriving Palestinians in Gaza of Water,” Human Rights Watch found that Israeli authorities have intentionally deprived Palestinians in Gaza of access to safe water for drinking and sanitation needed for basic human survival. Israeli authorities and forces cut off and later restricted piped water to Gaza; rendered most of Gaza’s water and sanitation infrastructure useless by cutting electricity and restricting fuel; deliberately destroyed and damaged water and sanitation infrastructure and water repair materials; and blocked the entry of critical water supplies.
Not Surprising, Israeli Says Murder of 45,000 Palestinians is in Self-Defense
In response to the Pope’s comments, Israel’s ambassador to the Holy See Yaron Sideman posted on X, “Following today’s report in Vatican News: There was a genocidal massacre on 7 October 2023 of Israeli citizens, and since then, Israel has exercised its right of self-defense against attempts from seven different fronts to kill its citizens. Any attempt to call it by any other name is singling out the Jewish State.”
On Ukraine-US has provided $175 Billion in weapons
Since the war began, the U.S. Congress has voted through five bills that have provided Ukraine with ongoing aid, doing so most recently in April 2024. The total budget authority under these bills is $175 billion.
On November 20, 2024, the Biden Administration announced its 70th tranche of equipment to be provided from DoD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021 in a Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) package, which has an estimated value of $275 million. This package will provide munitions for HIMARS rocket systems and artillery and anti-tank weapons.
In a rebuke to the United States among other war-mongering countries, the Pope said,
“In this regard, how can I not refer to the many ongoing armed conflicts that remain still unresolved, despite the fact that they cause immense sufferings for the countries at war and the entire human family where there is much talk of peace [but where] the highest yielding investments are in the production of arms…I simply mention two failures of humanity today: Ukraine and Palestine, where people are suffering, where the arrogance of the invader prevails over dialogue.”
Pope Francis has been vocal in his opposition to both conflicts since the beginning of each conflict while President Biden is up to his eyeballs in complicity in both conflicts by providing huge amounts of weaponry to both Ukraine and Israel.
Pope Francis Called for End to Use of Land Mines as Biden Approved US Mines in Ukraine
One week after U.S. President Joe Biden approved on November 19, 2024 Ukraine’s use of American land mines in the Russia-Ukraine war, Pope Francis called for an end to global production and use of anti-personnel explosives in a message delivered at an international summit on abolishing land mines.
Pope Francis wrote in a letter to the Fifth Review Conference on the Convention of Anti-Personnel Land Mines in Siem Reap, Cambodia, “Conflicts are a failure of humanity to live as a single human family. These treacherous devices continue to cause terrible suffering to civilians, especially children.”
The Pope urged all states that have not yet done so to accede to the convention, and in the meantime to cease immediately the production and use of land mines. The United States, Russia and China are among the 33 states that have not yet agreed to abide by the agreement.
Pope Francis should remember that Biden’s decision to authorize the use of landmines by Ukrainian military forces follows shortly after his decision to give Ukrainian military permission to fire long-range American missiles at Russia. The Kremlin has responded by lowering the threshold in which it would use its nuclear arsenal.
U.S. Provided Banned Cluster Bomb Munitions to Ukraine
The Pope should also remember that In July 2024, in contravention to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, the Biden administration provided cluster bomb munitions to Ukraine. The Convention was negotiated in response to the “unacceptable harm” inflicted by these weapons, particularly harm to children.
Biden’s transfer decision also runs counter to international progress, notably due to the adoption of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2008 and increasing stigmatization of cluster munitions it has generated.
Although the U.S., Ukraine, and Russia are not party, the Convention has 111 States parties and an additional 12 signatories. It prohibits the production, stockpiling, transfer, and use of cluster munitions, and assistance with those activities. It also obligates States parties to destroy stockpiles, clear unexploded submunitions, and assist victims.
Since its widespread use of the cluster bomb munitions in Iraq in 2003, the U.S. has only used cluster munitions once, for a single strike in Yemen in 2009. The last U.S. cluster munition manufacturer ceased production in 2016. In order to send the munitions to Ukraine, President Biden had to waive a U.S. policy prohibiting transfers of cluster munitions with a more than one percent failure rate.
The Pope knows that US bombs and ammunition has been used by Israeli military in attacks on Christians and Christian Churches in Gaza
Pope Francis reportedly continues to offer daily prayers and has called frequently for ceasefire and provision of humanitarian assistance for all of Gaza, including the small Christian community that also has been targeted by Israeli snipers using U.S. provided ammunition. Pope Francis repeated has condemned the Israeli government for its denial of food and medicines to those living in Gaza, including his own Christian parishes, and by extension, the Biden administration for continuing to send weapons to Israel and refusing to sanction Israel for its actions.
As of August 3, 2024, 41 members of the Christian community in Gaza City have been killed by the Israeli attacks and siege of Gaza. 17 were killed in the Israeli strike on the Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius on October 19, 2023. Israeli army snipers assassinated three women, including 84-year-old music teacher Elham Farah on November 13 and on December 16, 2023, Nahida Khalil Anton and her daughter Samar Kamal Anton while inside the Holy Family Church complex. 21 others inside the Holy Church compound have died from lack of food, drinking water, medicine and adequate medical care from the blockade imposed by the Israeli army.
As reported on December 22, 2024, Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 22 as the Vatican envoy visited Christians for pre-Christmas Mass. Israeli authorities allowed a rare Gaza visit by the leader of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, for the Mass while the ever-present buzz of Israeli drones was heard during the Mass.
His visit came as Pope Francis again criticized Israel’s actions in Gaza. Francis said Saturday, December 21, 2024, that his envoy, the Cardinal, had been unable to enter because of Israeli bombing. During his annual Christmas greeting, Pope Francis said,
“Yesterday children (in Gaza) have been bombed. This is cruelty, this is not war.” On December 22, the Pope again called for a ceasefire.
With each prayer, the Pope must remember that Biden and his administration is providing the weapons and munitions that have killed over 45,000 Palestinians, as well as members of his Christian community.
In a “Hail Mary Pass,” Will the Pope Challenge Biden’s Complicity in Genocide on January 10?
While its very, very late in the Biden administration, let us hope the Pope through his moral authority makes strong statements and demands to President Biden during their meeting on January 10, 2025 to stop the weapons flow to Israel and Ukraine in the final weeks Biden is in office.
The Pope should remind Biden that he and his administration have succumbed to the “hatred and violence” the Pope had warned about.
In the final month of his administration, on December 23, 2024, after a phone call with Pope Francis the previous week, President Biden commuted the death penalty sentences of 37 men on death row. The Vatican’s news agency reported that the Pope had prayed this month that federal inmates facing execution would have their sentences commuted.
In a “Hail Mary pass” for stopping the U.S. participation in the genocide of Gaza, let’s hope the Pope will pray to stop the genocide of Gaza and that his threat of excommunication would be a powerful incentive if Biden is indeed the devout Catholic he has claimed to be.
Ann Wright served 29 years in the U.S. Army/Army Reserves and retired as a Colonel. She was also a U.S. diplomat for 16 years and served in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan and Mongolia. She resigned from the U.S. Department of State in March 2003 in opposition to the U.S. war on Iraq. She has been to Gaza eight times and in Israeli prison twice as a part of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. She is the co-author of “Dissent: Voices of Conscience.”