What Will it Take for the USA to Stop Funding Israeli War Crimes?
Israel's latest attack on a displaced person's tent encampment in Rafah has killed 44 innocent Palestinians, 32 of them children
Do enough people yet notice how the pundits outraged over the fabricated story of 40 beheaded babies last October seem to have nothing to say about the horrifying reality of beheaded Palestinian babies in Rafah happening right now?
Three days ago the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to stop its invasion and bombardment of Rafah, ruling:
"Israel must immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate" which could bring about "the physical destruction" of the Palestinians - alluding to what constitutes genocide under international law.
Minutes after the ruling was issued, the Israeli military defied the ICJ and launched another round of deadly bombings on Rafah. Yesterday, that devastation reached new levels as Israeli drone strikes on already displaced persons camp in Rafah killed at least 44 innocent people, mostly women and children. As Amnesty International reports:
The International Criminal Court should investigate as war crimes three Israeli air strikes that killed 44 Palestinian civilians, including 32 children. The strikes are further evidence of a broader pattern of war crimes committed by the Israeli military in the occupied Gaza Strip in the last seven months.
Meanwhile, Palestinians continue to suffer famine. The UN has stopped sending aid due to incessant Israeli bombing, and the Department of Defense reports that zero of 569 metric tons of aid delivered to Gaza has reached starving Palestinians. Contrary to claims that Hamas is blocking the aid, U.S. officials confirm it is not being blocked by Hamas. Instead, multiple sources report that extremist Israeli settlers are blocking the aid, after being tipped off by the Israeli military itself.
Those blocking the vehicles say the aid they carry is being diverted by Hamas instead of being delivered to civilians in need, a claim relief agencies reject. US officials have also said that Israel has offered no evidence to support allegations that Hamas is diverting aid.
Recall that when Yemenis blocked ships to prevent genocide they were bombed. Now, as Israelis block aid to enable famine, they’re ignored. The hypocrisy and white supremacy in our foreign policy is deadly.
And this is part of a deadly pattern that has spanned the entirety of Israel’s bombing since October 7, at least. Five months ago in December, 2023, the New York Times reported:
Israel claims it protects civilians, but a New York Times investigation found that at least 200 times Israel dropped its most destructive bombs in areas it designated as safe for civilians in Gaza.
Another investigation by NBC reached the same conclusion. Let’s be clear, hundreds of bombings on those locations you designated as safe zones, and forced people to move to for their safety before bombing them is not an accident—it’s intentional policy. This is one reason why ICC prosecutor Karim Khan has charged Israeli leadership with war crimes.
Indeed, at this point the question is not whether Israel is committing war crimes—that’s already been well established by numerous independent organizations. The question is, how much longer will the United States allow itself to become isolated on the global stage to protect Israel from legal accountability for its ongoing war crimes?
Germany this week, who is one of America’s closest allies and staunchest defenders of Israel, finally capitulated and admitted Israel is committing indefensible war crimes. German Vice Chancellor Habeck condemns declared:
The famine, the suffering of the Palestinians, the attacks in the Gaza Strip are incompatible with international law. It is indeed the case that Israel has crossed a line there, and it must not do so.
Ireland, Norway, and Spain — three more close allies of the United States — have declared their recognition of Palestine as a sovereign, as has the majority of the UN member nations. Meanwhile, in bombing the displaced person’s refugee camp in Rafah, Israel bombed yet another location they’d previously declared a safe zone.
The United States can preach as much as they want about the need for international rules based order, decency, and humanity, but actions speak louder than words. The United States hasn’t merely stood by, they’ve actively funded Israeli bombing to the tune of tens of billions of dollars. Until the United States is willing to uphold justice and international law, willing to ensure Israel faces accountability for its war crimes, and stop funding Israeli bombing, its empty words ring hollow and represent glaring hypocrisy. As Americans, we must demand better of our elected officials because this status quo is intolerable.
Indeed, to drive the point home even more, how American politicians are treating Palestinian civilians, is how they may well treat us should they be given the opportunity
At least 32 innocent Palestinian children are dead due to Israeli bombs funded by US tax dollars. Today, nearly a million displaced Palestinians remain in Rafah, with nowhere else to go, knowing any given second could be their last. What will it take for Americans to stand up to our elected officials en masse and demand, Never Again?
Note: I encourage readers to join me in contributing to Humanity First UK, who has worked in Gaza for decades and currently has physicians and healthcare workers on the ground in and around Rafah.
All of this seems indisputable and yet the “leaders” of the West refuse to put an end to it, perhaps hoping that Israel will come to its senses and make intervention unnecessary, or perhaps hoping that the population of Arabs in the area will leave or be completely destroyed. This degree of devastation will eventually result in widespread disease that will affect the ME as well as the rest of the world. There is virtually no chance that the West will do the right thing, both for the ME and for the world as we know it. As China becomes more economically powerful and takes a greater interest in matters of global importance, there is a bit of hope for humanity. Otherwise, one morning the world population will wake up to a very different world, more chaotic and violent, that will bring about the death and destruction of humanity. We could very well find that we are headed to a second Middle Ages where population decline, intellectual stagnation, and scientific research devolution rule the globe. The transition will be quick and lasting.
Thank you for stating why we feel that Israel is committing war crimes and how severe they are. But what about the internal US political pressures and treaties that are behind our official support of them? What can be done to actually change US behavior when US political pressures make any change (in either direction!) into political suicide?