Beyond Complicity
The US executive and congressional march to moral incineration
Published: 2024-03-25
Proofing quality: good enough.
How could one characterize the support which the United States of America has provided for the State of Israel in its now rampant campaign of civilian killing and destruction against the Palestinian people in the Occupied Territories?
The Genocide
Let us limit ourselves to considering the part of the Israeli campaign which is covered in the Republic of South Africa's case submitted to the International Court of Justice which alleges that the State of Israel is committing a genocide. The ICJ has not only accepted 17-2 that a prime face case exists, but issued directives, which amount to international law, that Israel must immediately cease activities which are defined in the Genocide Convention. i.e "Israel, stop being genocidal".
Israel's response has been, "go pound sand" while it pounds the sands of Gaza with indiscriminate USA made bombs which continue to destroy civilian infrastructure and kill civilians. Israel committed it 13 000'th war crime recently, according to UNICEF. Sorry, I'm putting words in the mouth of UNICEF. UNICEF said that Israel has killed 13 000 CHILDREN in 161 days.
Israel is murdering, with weapons of war, on average, at least 80 children, every, single, day.
Nervous in the Service
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was referred by Australian lawyers to the Rome Statute court, the International Criminal Court, for complicity in genocide on 2024-02-02. In response to a non-binding, 204 for to 117 against resolution the Canadian government has ceased issuing new weapons export licenses to Israel. Canada's Foreign Minister, Mélanie Joly, announced this on or before 2024-03-19. Canada and Australia are long term, "staunch" even, allies of the USA. Other nations in the "orbit" of the US which have stopped military exports to Israel or a considering such include Belgium and The Netherlands. Notably missing from this list are Germany, France and the UK whose weapons industries continue to fulfill arms contracts with the rogue State of Israel.
The United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNWRA) is the mechanism which the world agreed was required to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Territories, and elsewhere in the region, due to Israel's displacement of them from their lands and other actions of repression and abuse.
On Saturday 2024-03-23 USA President Biden signed into law legislation which authorizes the delivery of the annual $3.8 billion (USD) of US made weaponry to Israel. That same legislation "bans the funding of UNWRA until 2025".
Repositioning Deck Chairs
The US' non-military aid to Palestinian refugees is cut by $50 million USD to $175 million and is now to be delivered via its U.S. Agency for International Development (US-AID). US-AID is known to be a public, political arm of the US' CIA. It fuels insurgency in nations which the US’ persistent administration (deep state) wants a change in government (a coup, military, political or otherwise). US-AID has no infrastructure in place, personnel or otherwise, in Gaza to effectively deliver aid to a population which the UN has declared are on the brink of starvation.
A recent example of US AID playing its role of destabilization was the positioning of aid trucks in Columbia supposedly on route to Venezuela after the US had declared an unknown figure, Juan Gauido, the (interim) President of Venezuela. He had never stood for the position of President in an election. Violence delivered on the aid convoy was shown to have been not performed by the Venezuelan government as claimed, but by other actors enmeshed in the aid convoy. Associated activity in the USA was the storming of the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington D.C. by employees of the US government, contravening the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
Exceeding Complicity
The signing into law on Saturday by USA President Biden of the US legislation directly furthers the program of genocide being committed by the State of Israel in Gaza by supplying weapons to the aggressor and minimizing the volume and potential effective delivery of food and other essential aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
The USA has moved beyond complicity in the genocide. It has defunded the most capable international organization to save the lives of the Palestinians, in which it is aiding Israel in killing them.
The USA Executive is Breaking its Own Domestic Laws
18 U.S.C. §2339A and §2339B define the US's federal law outlawing material support for terrorist actions and to terrorist organisations, respectively.
If the total destruction of three buildings in New York City on 2001-09-11 with the murder of approximately 3000 people is considered a terrorist action, how can one not consider the destruction of churches, mosques, hospitals, schools, universities, water treatment facilities, shops, police stations and the murder of 30 000 people including 13 000 children a terrorist program? The US government is "providing material support" to both people (the members of) and an organization (the Israeli "Defence" Force) which are committing acts of terror. The Israeli violence is directed at civilians and civilian infrastructure. The political objective is ridding the Gaza strip of Palestinians and the erradication of their political voice Hamas. Israel is not using a court. It is destroying a population with state violence.
“Six senior House Democrats” notified the US President on Saturday 2024-03-23 that Israel is prohibiting aid delivery to Gaza. This triggers:
Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act [which] says that no assistance shall be given “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.” Well done, congressional representatives.
Now Congress, invoke 2339A and be done with this sham.
Congress, do you not realize that, while you are shielded from the International Criminal Court (c.f. the “Hague Invastion Act”), you are collectively being judged internationally for your reprehensible behaviour. You are aiding a state in performing actions of terror, every, single, day.
Your executive branch is beyond complicity in this genocide.
You, US Congress, are walking a path to unforgettable, moral violence in the eyes and hearts of the world. As your president likes to say, when asking you to fund more war in Ukraine, the eyes of history are upon you.
They are.
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Sources
Government Funding Bill Signed By Biden Includes $3.8 Billion in Military Aid for Israel, Cuts Funding to UNRWA, Dave DeCamp, Antiwar, 2024-03-24
House Democrats Tell Biden To Enforce US Law and Suspend Military Aid to Israel, Dave DeCamp, Antiwar, 2024-03-24
Australian Law Firm Files Case Against PM for Complicity in Gaza Genocide, Paul Gregoire, Sydney Criminal Lawyers, 2024-02-02
Canada Pauses Arms Sales to Israel, Dave DeCamp, Antiwar, 2024-03-20
Explainer: The countries supplying weapons to Israel amid Hamas war in Gaza, Yusra Asif, Al Arabiya News, 2024-03-18
Who are Israel's biggest arms suppliers and who has halted exports?, Ismaeel Naar, The National, 2024-03-20
Terrorist Material Support: A Sketch of 18 U.S.C. §2339A and §2339B, [US] Congressional Research Service, 2016-12-08
U.S.: 'Hague Invasion Act' Becomes Law, Human Rights Watch, 2002-08-03
The ICJ Could Not Order A General Ceasefire. It Ordered Israel To Cease Fire, YesXorNo (again ripping a title from Moon Of Alabama), 2024-01-27
Burning Aid: An Interventionist Deception on Colombia-Venezuela Bridge?, Max Blumenthal, The Grayzone, 2019-02-24
The US ‘humanitarian aid’ ploy to Venezuela explained, Kei Pritsker, The Grayzone, 2019-03-05
US Aid Ploy to Venezuela Explained, Mintpress News / The Grayzone, 2019-03-04
Should Biden be tried for genocide crimes?, The Chris Hedges Report, 2024-03-22
Culture
Elton John - Rocket Man (Official Music Video), Elton John (released on 17 April 1972 in the US, as the lead single to John's album Honky Château), uploaded 2017-05-22
Copyleft: CC0
