ACTION ALERT: Tell Congress Secretary of State Blinken Must Resign

September 28th, 2024 - by CODEPINK

ACTION ALERT: Tell Congress:
Secretary of State Blinken Must Resign
When Blinken Lies, Palestinians Die
CODEPINK

(September 27, 2024) — By lying repeatedly about aid being let into Gaza, Blinken broke US law to conspire with Israel to kill Palestinians.

According to US law, if it is assessed that Israel is restricting aid into Gaza, it is legally required that arms sales are stopped. Despite multiple US agencies communicating to Blinken that Israel in fact had been blocking US aid, he told Congress, “We do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting” aid. Blinken lying is nothing new, but that does not change the fact that Blinken’s deliberate lie is a criminal act that killed Palestinians through starvation and prohibiting access to medical care. 

Humanitarian aid is crucial for sustaining life in Gaza. Before Israel’s current genocide campaign, around 500 aid trucks entered Gaza daily. In September of 2024, only 67 aid trucks entered Gaza — the lowest number since October 2023. By lying deliberately and repeatedly, Blinken broke US law, and conspired with Israel to kill Palestinians through starvation and prohibiting access to medical care. It’s simple: Blinken lies, Palestinians die.

Use the template below to send a letter to Congress to demand that they call on Blinken to resign! We refuse to have an untrustworthy murderer as the US Secretary of State!

ACTION: Click Here to Tell Congress: Blinken Must Resign!

THE LETTER

am writing to you as an appalled constituent to demand that you call for the resignation of Secretary of State Antony Blinken for his lies before Congress. The Biden Administration was aware that Israel was blocking aid from entering Gaza, but Secretary Blinken lied in front of Congress when pressed about the issue in order to ensure that U.S. weapons would continue going to Israel.

When confronted with the U.S. Agency for International Development’s assessment that Israel was blocking humanitarian aid — an act that should have immediately halted U.S. weapons shipments to Israel — Blinken and the Biden administration deliberately ignored the truth. On May 10, Blinken falsely assured Congress that Israel was not restricting U.S. humanitarian aid. This was after the State Department’s own Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) also determined the U.S. had a legal obligation to halt arms transfers. Blinken’s intentional deception before Congress ensured U.S. taxpayer money would continue to be sent to Israel, and people have died as a result.

Humanitarian aid is crucial for sustaining life in Gaza. Before October 7th, around 500 aid trucks entered Gaza daily. In September of 2024, only 67 aid trucks entered Gaza — the lowest number since October 2023. Before that, in April, Human Rights Watch reported the tragic deaths of 32 people, including 28 children, from malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza. That number has continued to grow. These deaths are preventable, but the Israeli government is deliberately pursuing a starvation policy. The Biden administration, instead of taking action to enforce an arms embargo as required by U.S. law, decided to perpetuate these atrocities by providing Israel with military support.

Secretary Blinken’s decision to lie to Congress, and thus the American people, is not just a betrayal of trust but a crime. To be clear, Secretary Blinken and other U.S. officials have continuously lied to the public to protect Israel – Secretary Blinken is not acting in the interest of the people and must resign. Please, call for his resignation.

Terrorizing Lebanon
(September 27, 2024) — Today, Netanyahu is addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York — the same place dozens of protesters for Palestine were arrested earlier this week. Many of us are left wondering: When will we live in a world where the war criminals responsible for genocide are arrested and held accountable instead of those who stand against it? 

This week, like many of you, I held my breath as I watched the number of martyrs in Lebanon rise as a result of Israel’s brutal attack. More than 700 Lebanese people — all universes of their own — were wiped out as if they meant nothing. But they mean something to me. In fact, they are everything to me. They are my family. They look like me, and their families share the same stories of oppression at the hands of Israel as mine does.

One of the young girls that was martyred, Fatima Ibrahim Qassem, looked almost exactly like my younger sister. I like to think the people of Lebanon are Palestinian, and vice versa, because we keep each other’s spirits alive through our struggle for liberation. I live for them and fight for them as if they are my own family, and I know thousands — if not millions — of people across the globe do the same.

Dahiya Doctrine
Israel’s brutality and escalation in Lebanon follows the “Dahiya Doctrine,” and represents its goal of a broader regional war. During Netanyahu’s speech at the UNGA in September of last year, he presented a map of “Greater Israel” which included the West Bank and Gaza — explicitly declaring his plans to expand the Israeli state at the expense of Palestinians.

However, no amount of land theft and murder can satiate a settler colonial state such as Israel. Netanyahu’s map, in the context of a year of genocide in Gaza, coupled with Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon, tells us that Israel will not stop until it has terrorized the entire Middle East.

Israel’s Escalation in Palestine
Israel did not slow down its attacks on Palestine as it bombarded Lebanon. In true democratic fashion the Israeli military raided the Al Jazeera office in the occupied West Bank and brought with them a court ruling that shut them down for 45 days, subject to extension. It is undeniable that the Israeli government is targeting Al Jazeera for providing around the clock coverage of Israel’s genocide campaign in Gaza. Israel has targeted and murdered 173 journalists since October 2023, including Al Jazeera staff.

While this news was breaking, ProPublica published findings that the Biden Administration knew that Israel was blocking humanitarian aid into Gaza, and Secretary of State Blinken still went in front of Congress and claimed otherwise. He did this to ensure American weapons would continue going to Israel – following the tradition of warmongers in the United States to constantly lie to the people so they can support wars. We are calling for his resignation, and you can too. 

If you feel like you are going crazy for recognizing the true scale and brutality of Israel’s violence and questioning why it’s backed by the US, know that this is a natural response when living in an imperialist society like the US, where war is normalized and incentivized. You’re not crazy; you’re seeing the hypocrisy clearly. Embrace this understanding as a badge of honor, and let it fuel your commitment to justice. Radical love and unwavering support for oppressed people, even in the face of repression, is a form of resistance that can never be squashed.

Rest in Power, Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams
I could not possibly write to you all without mentioning Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams, a man who was executed on September 24 after spending 24 years in Missouri prison, despite evidence of his innocence. Khaliifah was a father and imam, and, like many incarcerated people, he understood the connection between his own oppression and the oppression the people of Gaza face. Scroll down to read a poem Khaliifah wrote for the children of Gaza.

The Perplexing Smiles of the Children of Palestine 
—Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams

despite the actions of the few, 
and excessive retaliation, 
drones, 
planes, 
bombs, 
tanks, 
rubble, 
buildings demolished,
vanished houses and neighborhoods, 
hospitals targeted,
U.N. shelters disrespected, 
murder, 
death,
deliberate killing of noncombatants, 
babies buried alive, 
amputations,
hunger and political starvation, 
lack of or no water,
strategic sanitation, 
daily terror, 
and terrorized daily, 
military maneuvering, 
moving here and there,
to return back again to nowhere, 
trauma with all its manifestations, 
international parleys and hesitation,
defiance to the realization of two nations, 
global aid thwarted, 
global amnesia,
siblings and relatives gone forever, 
parental worries —
in the face of apex arrogance 
and ethnic cleansing by any definition… 
still your laughter can be heard 
and somehow you are able to smile 
O resilient Children of Palestine!

In case you missed it:

Until Liberation,
Nour and the entire CODEPINK team