war crimes

‘Starvation Is Taking Place’: Sanders Demands Biden Cut Off All Military Aid to Israel

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Original article by JON QUEALLY republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

A baby, hospitalized due to malnutrition and dehydration, lie in an incubator at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, Gaza on March 2, 2024. Palestinians are not able to obtain basic food supplies since the embargo, imposed by the Israeli forces, continues. (Photo by Mahmoud Issa/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The independent Senator said arming a nation that is actively “prohibiting aid convoys from delivering desperately needed food and water” represents a clear violation of U.S. law.

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday accused Israel of standing in clear violation of the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act by creating the conditions for mass starvation within the Gaza Strip as he called on the Biden administration to halt all military aid to the country until Palestinians are granted the life-saving humanitarian relief they urgently need.

“Starvation is taking place in Gaza,” Sanders said in a statement. “Israel is prohibiting aid convoys from delivering desperately needed food and water.”

While the U.S. government initiated airdrops over the weekend with the aim of providing tens of thousands of meals for those starving and suffering malnutrition in the besieged territory of Gaza, relief agencies said the effort was only a drop in the bucket of what is needed to stem what the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) on Sunday called a “hell on earth” situation.

Sanders on Friday was supportive of airdrops—an effort he said would “buy time and save lives”—but added that “there is no substitute for sustained ground deliveries of what is needed to sustain life in Gaza.”

The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Sanders, “must open the borders and allow the United Nations to deliver supplies in sufficient quantities. The United States should make clear that failure to do so immediately will lead to a fundamental break in the U.S.-Israeli relationship and the immediate halt of all military aid.”

On Sunday, as Common Dreams reported, UNICEF issued a warning to the world that ten child deaths from starvation had already been documented, that others had likely occurred, and many more should be expected if conditions on the ground were not immediately addressed.

“Horrific reports confirmed that, over the last few days only, at least 10 children died of malnutrition in Gaza,” the agency said. “These deaths are man-made, predictable, and entirely preventable.”

Agnes Callamard, secretary-general of Amnesty International, called the situation in Gaza an “engineered famine” created by Israel and its international allies who have stood aside or provided backing to Netanyahu.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunda all pressed the Israelis to increase military aid as she pressed by both Netanyahu and Hamas leaders to accept a cease-fire deal. [sic]

“People in Gaza are starving,” Harris said during an event in Alabama. “The conditions are inhumane and our common humanity compels us to act.”

“The Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid. No excuses,” she added, but notably did not say what, if any, consequences the Israelis would face from the White House if they refused.

As Sanders’ office noted in its Sunday statement, Israel’s ongoing blockade of food, water, medical supplies, and fuel as the civilian population suffers at such levels is a clear violation of Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act, which states:

No assistance shall be furnished … to any country when it is made known to the President that the government of such country prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance.

“Today,” said Sanders, “I urge President Biden to implement this law and make it clear to Israel that, if aid access is not immediately opened up, he will impose consequences under the Foreign Assistance Act and stop military assistance to Israel.”

Original article by JON QUEALLY republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Continue Reading‘Starvation Is Taking Place’: Sanders Demands Biden Cut Off All Military Aid to Israel

Israelis engulfed by a wave of international condemnation over shooting of more than 100 Palestinian aid seekers

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/israelis-engulfed-wave-international-condemnation-over-shooting-more-100-palestinian

Palestinians walk through the destruction from the Israeli offensive in Jabaliya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Febraury 29, 2024

THE Israelis were engulfed by a wave of international condemnation on today following the shooting of more than 100 Palestinians during an aid delivery in Gaza.

This came after Israeli troops opened fire on Palestinians scrambling for desperately needed food at an aid station in Gaza City on Thursday.

While the Israeli military said that a “stampede” occurred when thousands of Palestinians surrounded a convoy of 38 aid trucks, local officials said the Israeli forces opened fire at people.

Israel said that many of the dead were trampled in a chaotic crush for the food aid, and that its troops only fired when they felt endangered by the crowd.

…

The Palestinian death toll in Gaza now stands at more than 30,035, mainly women and children.

Israel’s killing spree in Gaza began after a Hamas attack on October 7 left 1,200 people dead.

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/israelis-engulfed-wave-international-condemnation-over-shooting-more-100-palestinian

Continue ReadingIsraelis engulfed by a wave of international condemnation over shooting of more than 100 Palestinian aid seekers

‘The Child Deaths We Feared Are Here,’ Says UNICEF

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Original article by JAKE JOHNSON republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

A Palestinian child receives treatment at a private children’s hospital in Rafah that specializes in providing care to children suffering from malnutrition.
 (Photo: Mohammed Talatene/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)

The United Nations Children’s Fund said at least 10 kids in a northern Gaza hospital have died of malnutrition and dehydration—and many more are “fighting for their lives.”

The United Nations Children’s Fund said Sunday that at least 10 children have reportedly died of starvation and dehydration at a hospital in northern Gaza as Israeli forces continue to obstruct and attack aid convoys, fueling desperation across the territory.

Adele Khodr, UNICEF’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said malnutrition is ravaging the Gaza Strip and warned that child deaths “are likely to rapidly increase” unless Israel ends its military assault and allows humanitarian aid to flow unimpeded.

“The child deaths we feared are here,” said Khodr. “At least ten children have reportedly died because of dehydration and malnutrition in Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip in recent days. There are likely more children fighting for their lives somewhere in one of Gaza’s few remaining hospitals, and likely even more children in the north unable to obtain care at all.”

“These tragic and horrific deaths are man-made, predictable, and entirely preventable,” Khodr added.

Nearly half of the more than 30,000 people killed by U.S.-backed Israeli forces in Gaza since October have been children, and humanitarian officials have said disease and famine could soon become bigger killers than Israel’s bombs and bullets. United Nations experts and human rights groups have accused the Israeli government of using starvation as a weapon of war, intentionally depriving Gazans of food and other necessities.

A group of U.N. officials warned last month that an “explosion in preventable child deaths” was looming.

“The sense of helplessness and despair among parents and doctors in realizing that lifesaving aid, just a few kilometers away, is being kept out of reach, must be as unbearable, but worse still are the anguished cries of those babies slowly perishing under the world’s gaze,” Khodr said Sunday. “The lives of thousands more babies and children depend on urgent action being taken now.”

Agnes Callamard, secretary-general of Amnesty International, said that “these deaths are unlawful, the result of acts by Israel authorities which engineered famine.”

“They knew the likely outcome of their actions but persisted. Over weeks and months,” Callamard added. “And all states that cut UNRWA funding, sold weapons, and supported Israel bear responsibility too.”

While virtually all of Gaza’s population is in need of food, conditions are particularly dire in the northern part of the territory. Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program, told members of the U.N. Security Council last week that “if nothing changes, a famine is imminent in northern Gaza.”

With aid deliveries plummeting due to Israel’s obstruction, families have been forced to eat grass, leaves, animal feed, and scraps left behind by rats. On Saturday, the U.S. airdropped 38,000 meals into Gaza—a move that critics said would do little to slow the rapid spread of hunger across the Palestinian territory.

Melanie Ward, CEO of Medical Aid for Palestinians, described conditions in Gaza as “the fastest decline in a population’s nutrition status ever recorded.”

“That means children are being starved at the fastest rate the world has ever seen,” Ward said in an appearance on CNN. “We could save them all. But we’re not being able to.”

This story has been updated to include comment from Agnes Callamard of Amnesty International.

Original article by JAKE JOHNSON republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Continue Reading‘The Child Deaths We Feared Are Here,’ Says UNICEF

We need a Revolution. What’s the plan?

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https://juststopoil.org/2024/03/03/we-need-a-revolution-whats-the-plan/

This system is fucked, politics is failing us, we need a revolution or we really do face rule by ‘the mob’. As we pass through 1.5C of heating to 2C and then the predicted 3C in the lifetime of many alive today, we will lose all we cherish and value. Our treasured landscapes, the rule of law, education, healthcare, pensions – and yes the people we love. We will not be able to feed ourselves and those who rule us do not care. Look at Gaza, this is what they are prepared to let happen. Genocide is now acceptable.

In response, nonviolent civil resistance to a harmful state will continue, with coordinated, radical actions that reach out to new people and capture the attention of the world. Alongside this, a new political project will be set up. This will run local assemblies and will support and stand candidates to shape the electoral debate. A coordinating structure known as Umbrella, will support these projects and this will be the heart of our community of resistance. 

Just Stop Oil will continue to be the major focus until we win, but we have a new three part demand: No New Oil, Revoke Tory Licences and Just Stop Oil by 2030. In addition to disrupting high-profile cultural events and continuing our Stop Tory Oil campaign, focussing on MP’s and those in power, this summer Just Stop Oil will commence a campaign of high-level actions at sites of key importance to the fossil fuel industry – airports.

In addition to Just Stop Oil, young people and students will be taking action in a new campaign that will demand an end to genocide – both in Palestine, and globally, from the continued drilling and burning of oil and gas.  

Umbrella will launch Assemble, a democracy project that will mobilise hundreds of people by running local assemblies on issues of concern to communities across the country and giving them pathways to action. The goal is to create a “People’s House” to parallel the House of Commons as the first step towards having permanent legally binding citizens assemblies- a democratic revolution.

Umbrella will be the hub for fundraising, mobilisation and directing resources to a range of new campaigns and groups, including Robin Hood, a major new campaign based around a demand to properly fund our public services by taxing the richest in society. 

Each of these campaigns will share the values of nonviolence and accountability.  

The system is fucked. You know it, everyone knows it. Don’t just sit around and watch everything collapse. Build what comes next: a revolution in politics, economics – our entire way of life.

It’s time to unfuck the system.

We are going for it. Join us.

https://juststopoil.org/2024/03/03/we-need-a-revolution-whats-the-plan/

Continue ReadingWe need a Revolution. What’s the plan?

Just Two US Lawmakers Sign International Statement Demanding Arms Embargo on Israel

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Original article by JAKE JOHNSON republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) speaks alongside Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) at a press conference on December 7, 2023 in Washington, D.C.  (Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

“We will not be complicit in Israel’s grave violation of international law,” reads a statement backed by more than 200 legislators from 13 countries.

More than 200 lawmakers from 13 countries issued a joint statement Friday expressing opposition to their nations’ weapons exports to Israel and pledging to do everything in their power to halt the flow of arms that are being used to massacre Palestinians in Gaza.

“We, the undersigned parliamentarians, declare our commitment to end our nations’ arms sales to the state of Israel,” reads the statement, which was coordinated by Progressive International. “Our bombs and bullets must not be used to kill, maim, and dispossess Palestinians. But they are: We know that lethal weapons and their parts, made or shipped through our countries, currently aid the Israeli assault on Palestine that has claimed over 30,000 lives across Gaza and the West Bank.”

The statement’s signatories include legislators from Israel’s top allies and weapons suppliers, including the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Canada. Just two U.S. lawmakers—Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.)—backed the statement.

The statement includes six signatories from Germany, which is facing an International Court of Justice (ICJ) case alleging complicity in genocide against Palestinians.

The lawmakers argued that an arms embargo on Israel is both “a moral necessity” and “a legal requirement,” given the ICJ’s interim ruling in late January.

“We will not be complicit in Israel’s grave violation of international law,” the statement reads. “The ICJ ordered Israel not to kill, harm or ‘deliberately [inflict] on the [Palestinians] conditions of life calculated to bring about… physical destruction.’ They have refused. Instead, they press on with a planned assault on Rafah that the secretary-general of the United Nations has warned will ‘exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare.'”

“Today, we take a stand,” the statement continues. “We will take immediate and coordinated action in our respective legislatures to stop our countries from arming Israel.”

Niki Ashton, a member of Canada’s Parliament and a statement signatory, noted on social media that the Canadian government has approved $28 million worth of weapons exports to Israel since its latest assault on Gaza began in October.

“That is horrifying,” Ashton wrote. “Which is why I along with Jeremy Corbyn and 200+ parliamentarians across the world are backing [Progressive International’s] call for a ban on arms exports to Israel.”

“Make no mistake. These weapons are directly used to kill and maim starving Palestinians,” she added. “As Canadians, we can no longer claim to respect international law while sending arms to a country involved in genocidal acts. Enough is enough.”

The statement was released amid global outrage over what’s been dubbed the “flour massacre.” On early Thursday morning, Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd of Gazans that surrounded an aid convoy in the northern part of the territory, which has been largely cut off from humanitarian assistance.

Israel’s military claimed dozens were killed and injured in a stampede, but witness accounts and video footage show that Israeli forces fired on Gazans as they desperately tried to get their hands on sacks of flour. One Gaza doctor said that 80% of the patients treated at his hospital in the wake of the attack had gunshot wounds, an account corroborated by United Nations teams and rights groups on the ground.

“Witness testimonies obtained by our field researchers and videos shared on social media documenting the events, clearly and unequivocally demonstrate that the crowd was hit by bullets coming from Israeli tanks and snipers,” Palestinian human rights organizations said in a statement Thursday.

A day after the deadly attack, U.S. President Joe Biden announced plans to airdrop humanitarian aid into Gaza as ground deliveries plummet.

The U.S. president said he would “insist that Israel facilitate more trucks and more routes” for ground shipments, but he didn’t promise to impose consequences if the Israeli government continues obstructing humanitarian assistance.

“Unbelievable,” Agnes Callamard, secretary-general of Amnesty International, wrote following Biden’s announcement. “There is a serious risk of genocide and in response the U.S. is proposing to airdrop supplies, while continuing to arm the perpetrator.”

Late last month, dozens of U.N. experts called for an immediate arms embargo on Israel, warning that “any transfer of weapons or ammunition to Israel that would be used in Gaza is likely to violate international humanitarian law and must cease immediately.”

“State officials involved in arms exports may be individually criminally liable for aiding and abetting any war crimes, crimes against humanity, or acts of genocide,” the experts said.

Original article by JAKE JOHNSON republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

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Continue ReadingJust Two US Lawmakers Sign International Statement Demanding Arms Embargo on Israel