Tell Biden and Blinken: No More Military “Aid” to Israel!
CODEPINK
(May 10, 2021) — Another war is breaking out in Gaza and it isn’t a surprise. So far, 28 people, including ten children, have been killed in Gaza and three people have been killed in Israel. Israel launched an attack that leveled a 13-story apartment building in Gaza that housed 80 Palestinian families.
Preceding the last two days of bombs, rockets, and death, Israel was committed to ethnically cleansing the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of its indigenous Palestinian population. Israel also allowed far-right Jewish extremists to hold a “death to Arabs” march, put up barricades at Damascus gate, and invaded Al-Aqsa mosque, shooting tear gas and stun grenades at Muslim worshipers during the holiest night of Ramadan.
None of this should be carried out with US tax dollars!
On Monday, following the violence and oppression in Jerusalem, Hamas responded by firing rockets into Israel. Since then, it has only gotten worse and worse, with no end in sight. The $10 million in military “aid” Israel gets every day from the United States adds up to $3.8 billion dollars annually.
This aid has always been used in the oppression of Palestinians and right now it is enabling the bombing of Gaza, again.
Secretary Blinken loves talking about human rights, but while he has condemned the rockets coming out of Gaza, he has not demanded that Israel stop bombing Gaza.
What is happening in Palestine is heartbreaking and people around the world are taking to the streets demanding a just and lasting end to the root cause of the violence: Israeli apartheid.
This week marks 73 years since hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were violently displaced from their homes to make way for the Zionist project. We have the obligation to be loudly and proudly in solidarity with Palestine and Palestinians, so that not one more family will lose their homes or loved ones to Israeli attacks.
ACTION: US officials cannot claim to care about human rights while funding apartheid and massacres. Call on Biden and Blinken to extricate the US from this latest massacre in Gaza by ending US military aid to Israel. Tell the Biden Administration to stop giving $3.8 billion to Israel!
THE LETTER
Dear President Biden and Secretary Blinken,
The events transpiring in Gaza and Jerusalem make one thing clear: US taxpayer dollars that go to Israel in the form of $3.8 billion in military “aid” are being used to further harm and kill Palestinians. We, the undersigned, are demanding that the United States stops funding Israeli war crimes and human rights abuses.
Your administration insists that it cares deeply about human rights around the globe, yet you refuse to hold Israel accountable for its daily human rights abuses. The US has condemned the rockets coming out of Gaza, but must also tell Israel to stop bombing the densely populated strip where civilians have no place to hide.
The violence taking place in Gaza right now escalated from a series of Israeli court approved forced expulsions in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, attacks on Palestinian Muslim worshipers in the Al Aqsa compound during the holiest days of the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. Hundreds of Palestinians were injured while trying to pray during Ramadan and now the death tolls in Gaza and Israel are on the rise.
The slaughter and daily assault on Palestinian human rights being carried out by Israel is an unacceptable use of US taxpayer dollars.
US Members of Congress like Representatives Betty McCollum, Chuy Garcia, Marie Newman, Rashida Tlaib and several others have called for the conditioning of aid to Israel. The concept of revoking or halting aid is not new, and it is supported by many lawmakers and their constituents.
US taxpayers pay Israel over 10 million dollars a day, and Israel uses that money to inflict violence from East Jerusalem to Gaza. We call you to halt this “aid” and demand that Israel stop its assault on Gaza, its evictions in East Jerusalem, and its attacks on Al-Aqsa. We demand that not one more tax payer dollar gets sent to fund apartheid and anti-Palestinian violence. We look forward to seeing how you will carry out these demands.
Stand in Solidarity with Palestine!
In May of 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced from their homes, places they’ve resided for generations, into refugee camps, other countries, and other parts of Palestine. 73 years later, Palestinian families are still being torn from their homes in the middle of the night to make room for Jewish settlers in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem.
Palestinians protesting this ethnic cleansing, permitted by Israel’s highest court, are being subjected to violence from both settlers and the Israeli occupation forces.
It is imperative that peace activists around the world stand with Palestinians in Palestine and in the diaspora as they defend their homes and land. Israeli land theft is not new and every day Palestinians are arrested, hurt, or murdered.
ACTION: The Nakba is past and present, but it does not need to be the future if the world stands in solidarity with Palestine. Please look here to see if there is an event organized by Palestinian and allied groups in your area.
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
