There was jubilation in media earlier this month when US Vice President Kamala Harris called for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza.

But while her words appeared to echo Israel’s calls for an end to the war, critics say she failed to herald a real policy shift.

Speaking in Selma, Alabama on March 3 to commemorate the 1965 civil rights march, Harris drew attention to the ongoing human rights crisis in Gaza, which has been the subject of a sustained Israeli
bombing campaign since October.

He said that there should be an immediate ceasefire in view of the immense suffering in Gaza.US President Joe Biden’s administration had so far refrained from calling for a ceasefire.

Biden and his officials have long called for a pause in the fighting to evacuate Israeli prisoners from Gaza and bring more aid to the region. But they have stopped short of calling for an end to Israel’s military offensive.

Sandra Tamari, executive director of the Adala Justice Project advocacy group, said Biden’s position does not match his call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

Pause vs Permanent Ceasefire

The US government is working to secure a deal that would result in a temporary suspension of hostilities in exchange for the release of about 130 Israelis held hostage by Hamas and other groups in Gaza.

Biden’s Democratic allies have described his efforts to attack the cease-fire as a rebuttal to criticism that it does not go far enough to end Israel’s war in Gaza.

But rights advocates have sought to highlight the gap between Biden’s temporary truce and lasting peace. This is why many activists are adding the qualifiers “sustainable” and “permanent” to their calls
for a ceasefire.

Beth Miller, political director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action, said it is “unacceptable” that Biden is only calling for an end to the fighting while refusing to use American leverage to end Israel’s war. The US
sends billions of dollars in aid and arms to Israel every year.

“We are calling for an immediate and permanent cease-fire that will end the bombing of Gaza and the killing of Palestinians. That is what we are asking for when we call for a cease-fire,” Miller told Al
Jazeera.

“This is the only way to stop and stop this genocide. It is the only way to release the hostages. It is the only way to end the siege and move forward where people can truly live in peace and justice.

‘No ceasefire’

In recent weeks, Biden himself has regularly used the word truce when addressing the conflict.

“My national security adviser told me we’re close. We’re close. We’re not done yet. My hope is that, by next Monday, we’ll have a ceasefire,” the US president said on February 26. Said while eating ice cream in New York.

Josh Rubner, an adjunct lecturer at Georgetown University’s Justice and Peace Program, said the rhetoric within the administration shows it is responding to public pressure in support of the ceasefire. But he emphasized that the term itself does not signal a change in policy.

“And it’s certainly not a ceasefire.”

Osama Andrabi, a spokesman for the left-wing advocacy group Justice Democrats, asserted that progressives are calling for a lasting ceasefire that would not allow Israel to “bomb and destroy Gaza”
after a few weeks.