by Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams, August 16 https://www.commondreams.org/news/arms-embargo-on-israel
Leading up to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next week, calls <https://www.commondreams.org/news/arms-embargo-israel-congress> for the U.S. government to stop arming Israel's devastating assault on the Gaza Strip—widely denounced around the world as genocide—continued to mount on Friday. . . . Pro-Palestine protests in Chicago are set to start Sunday, a day before the DNC officially begins. They will continue throughout the week, ... . . . The Uncommitted National Movement's Not Another Bomb <https://uscpr-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/2C08KjKsvG_bQuaeU6pVwbiLVceRNjeVq-lDfUjI8Wl97QcRbkQERW8-xDgbkHF1REAaDxkZu45ETGwhlQIC02V2RxgfC8iC1AZKrBONpFM6UR932QsSAlQn7NssHrDq7pb-Sn92cu3apt2BRm7R2QyMB9lN6toqqFU2I1Ea43V2z5VxGZj8> campaign is also planning a nationwide day of action for Sunday. The movement formed when Democratic President Joe Biden was still at the top of the ticket throughout the presidential primary process; hundreds of thousands of voters across the country selected "uncommitted" or took similar action, depending on the options for each state's ballot, to send the administration a message that they don't support giving Israel any more military aid. . . . "Consider the overwhelming sentiment among your constituents: 86% of Democrats support the proposed cease-fire deal in Gaza," the petition notes. "This is the mainstream view of our party's base, as evidenced by a recent poll that reveals that 52% of Americans and 62% of Biden/Harris voters agree with halting arms sales to Israel. In addition, 70% of Democratic voters support withdrawing U.S. military funding to Israel if Israel rejects the proposed cease-fire deal, as Israel has continuously done." . . . *Harris Can Change Biden’s Policy on Israel Just by Upholding the Law* by Peter Beinart, NYTimes Opinion, August 18 https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/18/opinion/biden-israel-policy-harris.html . . . The law in question has been on the books for more than a decade. It prohibits the United States from assisting any unit of a foreign security force that commits “gross violations” of human rights. Aid can be reinstated if the foreign country adequately punishes the perpetrators. Passed by Congress in 1997, it bears the name of former Senator Patrick Leahy — and it has been applied hundreds of times — including reportedly against U.S. allies like Colombia and Mexico. But it has never been applied <https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/05/20/israel-leahy-human-rights-aid/> to Israel, the country that over the past eight decades has received more U.S. aid, by far, than any other. That’s not because the Israel Defense Forces don’t commit serious abuses. “There are literally dozens of Israeli security force units that have committed gross violations of human rights” and should thus be ineligible for U.S. aid, a former State Department official, Charles Blaha, told <https://www.propublica.org/article/blinken-israel-military-aid-human-rights-violations-leahy-law> ProPublica in May. . . . Israel’s defenders often claim it is singled out for condemnation. But the beauty of the Leahy law is that it’s universal. When asked about Gaza, Kamala Harris doesn’t have to invent a new standard. She can just endorse the one enshrined in U.S. law. That won’t change U.S. policy overnight. But it will send a message, to officials such as Mr. Blinken and the officials Ms. Harris appoints if elected president, that the Israel exception to the Leahy law must end. . . . -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#31702): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/31702 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/107973242/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
