Accusations of United States complicity in Israeli war crimes in the Israel–Hamas war

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Pro-Palestinian protester in Columbus, Ohio, United States, 18 October 2023

Israel has been accused of committing genocide in the Gaza war and the Biden administration has been accused of complicity in the genocide. The complicity accusation has been made in court[specify], by federal staffers, Human rights organizations and academic figures around the world.[1]

Context

See also: Allegations of genocide in the 2023 Israeli attack on Gaza, Palestinian genocide accusation, and United States support for Israel in the Israel–Hamas war

While Israel has denied the accusation, international law experts have said that the bombing of Gaza and restrictions on the entry of water, food and other humanitarian supplies could amount to genocide.[a][4] The 1948 Genocide Convention, which the US ratified, states that "genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which [state parties] undertake to prevent and to punish". It also outlines that "complicity in genocide" is a punishable act.[4] Biden has said that there is "no red line" when it comes to US support for Israel.[1] The US State Department has said there is no need for a formal investigation into whether Israel has committed war crimes.[5]

Media coverage

See also: Media coverage of the Israel–Hamas war § United States

A report by The Intercept found that terms like "war crime" and "genocide" were not allowed to be used on-air in CNN's coverage of the war.[6] According to Rami George Khouri, a professor at the American University of Beirut, media organizations like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN and NBC "usually refer to blatant acts of ethnic cleansing and forced displacement in Gaza as 'evacuations', and claim Israel is 'defending itself' against 'terror'".[7] After Aaron Bushnell's self-immolation, the American media were criticized for not mentioning Bushnell's reason for self-immolation, which was to oppose what he called the "Gaza genocide".[8][9] Instead, they argued that allowing pro-Palestinian protests and statements on campuses promotes anti-Semitism. Some media even suggested that the acceleration of the ceasefire and the pro-Palestinian protests could be considered part of an attempt at genocide against American Jews.[10][better source needed] Prism, a US-based progressive news agency, writes "through journalistic sleight of hand – including the use of passive language, ever-shifting headlines, bothsidesism, and the myth of objectivity – reporters across the US are fuelling the genocide their newsrooms are refusing to acknowledge is taking place".[10] On November 10, protesters staged a sit-in at The New York Times, declaring that the newspaper was complicit in "laundering genocide" by reporting on rape and sexual violence in the October 7 Hamas attacks.[11]

Reactions

Pro-Palestinian protest in Los Angeles against the war in Gaza and Hollywood's role in dehumanizing Muslims, November 2023

American people

See also: Israel–Hamas war protests in the United States
A protestor in Columbus, Ohio, carrying a sign referring to Biden as "Genocide Joe."

Pro-Palestinian protestors criticized US military and diplomatic support to Israel and Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip and its war conduct, which some called a genocide.[12] On November 4, 2023, 100,000 to 300,000 people participated in the "National March on Washington: Free Palestine," marking the largest pro-Palestine protest in US history.[13] "Ceasefire carols" were organized by activists throughout the United States[14] and on 23 January 2024 in Manassas, Virginia chanted, "Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Genocide Joe."[15] Protesters also demonstrated outside Antony Blinken's home accusing him of participating in genocide.[16] A group of Jewish Voice for Peace protesters, including children of Holocaust survivors, were arrested outside Senator Chuck Schumer's home for protesting against the bombings in Gaza.[17] Anti-war protesters outside the Virginia home of Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin chanted "No more money for Israel’s crimes."[18]

On February 25, 2024, Aaron Bushnell self-immolated outside of the Embassy of Israel, Washington, D.C. On Twitch recorded as he walked up to the Israeli Embassy:[9]

"I am an active duty member of the United States Air Force. I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I’m about to engage in an extreme act of protest but, compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it's not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal."

— Aaron Bushnell’s final message

PEN America

Several authors have requested that their names be removed from PEN America referring to dissatisfaction with the organization's position regarding the Gaza war; among them were Camonghne Felix nominated by Jean Stein, Eugenia Leigh a poetry finalist and Ghassan Zeineddine nominated for a short story. In a letter signed by Naomi Klein, Lorrie Moore, Tony Kushner and dozens of others protested that PEN had not “launched any substantial coordinated support” for Palestinians.In an interview with Haaretz, Kushner said that Israel's invasion of Gaza "looks like ethnic cleansing to me." He added that the history of Jewish suffering should not be used "as an excuse for a project of dehumanizing or slaughtering other people."[19]

US authorities

In a speech on February 13, Senator Chris Van Hollen accused Israeli of committing war crimes in Gaza, stating, "Kids in Gaza are now dying from the deliberate withholding of food. That is a war crime. It is a textbook war crime. And that makes those who orchestrate it war criminals."[20] In a letter to The Guardian, Congressman Andre Carson accused Israel of a "war crime," citing the Israeli Defense Forces' alleged use of white phosphorus and the deadly bombing of the Jabalia refugee camp. "I am very concerned that our taxpayer dollars may be used for violations of human rights", Carson wrote.[21] Also, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez specifically cited the alleged use of white phosphorus, cited by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as a violation that bars Israel from receiving aid from the United States. "Deployment of white phosphorus near populated civilian areas is a war crime," she said.[21] On February 7, 2024, US Senator Chris Murphy stated that he supports an amendment that would require arms sold internationally to be used in accordance with US law, international humanitarian law and the laws of armed conflict.[22] A group of 40 White House interns have sent a letter to President Biden saying they will no longer remain silent about the genocide in Gaza.[23]

US Republican Congressman and former aide to Donald Trump, Max Miller, speaking at Fox News stated that Palestine is "about to get eviscerated... to turn that into a parking lot." He has previously called on the Biden administration "to get out of Israel's way and to let Israel do what it needs to do best". He said there should be "no rules of engagement" during Israel's bombardment of Gaza.[24] Miller also questioned the accuracy of the Gaza Health Ministry's claim that 10,000 people have been killed in Gaza, saying that he believes many of those killed have been "Hamas terrorists", not innocent civilians, and said the United States does not "trust an entity that puts munitions in mosques, and churches and in hospitals."[25]

Former Republican Representative Michele Bachmann appearing in December in The Charlie Kirk Show stated "So, it's time that Gaza ends. The two million people who live there – they are clever assassins. They need to be removed from that land. That land needs to be turned into a national park. And since they're the voluntary mercenaries for Iran, they need to be dropped on the doorstep of Iran. Let Iran deal with those people." She received a round of applause from the audience, while Kirk replied "I look at Israel and Israel says we never want another person into our country that doesn't share our values," Kirk said. "They said they don't want refugees. They don't want any of these people. I want American immigration policy to be like that."[26][27]

Republican Representative Brian Mast compared all Palestinians to Nazis in November on the House floor.[28] On January 31, 2024, Mast also said that Palestinian babies are not innocent civilians but "terrorists" who should be killed, that more infrastructure in Gaza needs to be destroyed, and that "It would be better if you kill all the terrorists and kill everyone who are supporters."[29]

In an interview with Fox News on March 5, 2024, the former president and presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump stated that Joe Biden "dumped Israel" due to being overly influenced by pro-Palestinian protests, that "The Democrats are very bad for Israel," that he supports Israel’s ongoing offensive on Gaza in which Israel has to "finish the problem", and that the Biden administration "got soft", which commentators has viewed as a call to continue and "double down" on genocidal acts. Trump's campaign also said that, if elected again, he would bar Gaza residents from entering the U.S. as part of an expanded travel ban.[30]

In a town hall meeting on March 25, 2024, the Republican US House representative Tim Walberg of Michigan stated that Palestinian civilians should have nuclear weapons used against them, "like Nagasaki and Hiroshima" (the Japanese cities where the US dropped atomic bombs at the end of World War Two, killing hundreds of thousands of people) in order to “Get it over quick.”[31][32][33]

A group of eight Democrat Senators led by Bernie Sanders, Jeff Merkley, and Chris Van Hollen issued an official letter to President Joe Biden, calling on him to "enforce federal law" by requiring Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "to stop restricting humanitarian aid access to Gaza or forfeit U.S. military aid to Israel" as "The severe humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza is nearly unprecedented in modern history" and "The United States should not provide military assistance to any country that interferes with U.S. humanitarian assistance." They cited the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act, which states that "no assistance" shall be provided under that law or the Arms Export Control Act to any country that restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance. "Stopping American humanitarian aid is in violation of the law. That should be clear. No more money to Netanyahu's war machine to kill Palestinian children," Sanders said.[34]

International right groups

Following the veto of another resolution in the United Nations Security Council, international human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch condemned the U.S. for providing military and diplomatic support that risks complicity in war crimes.[35][36] Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnès Callamard, responded to the United States' veto saying, "When the US could do the right thing: protect Palestinians against serious risks of genocide; respect international law and universality; prevent massive killings and sufferings – it chose the opposite path".[37] Doctors Without Borders said that united states veto "stands in sharp contrast to the values it professes to uphold," and that the US was providing "diplomatic cover for the ongoing atrocities in Gaza."[38] Human Rights Watch said that the veto and the military support "risks complicity in war crimes".[35] The international rights groups said in a statement: "By continuing to provide military and diplomatic support to Israel as it commits atrocities, including the collective punishment of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, the US is complicit in war crimes."[36] Human rights and legal experts have warned that forced displacement is a war crime under international law and could lead to ethnic cleansing.[39] Michael Fakhri, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, stated, "The United States is complicit in this starvation of the Palestinian people in Gaza."[40] Sarah Leah Whitson, director of Democracy for the Arab World Now, said that Biden himself has described Israel's bombing of Gaza as "indiscriminate", making it a war crime, and that Washington clearly recognizes that Israel is blocking aid to the territory.[41]

CCR

See also: Defense for Children International-Palestine et al v. Biden et al and War crimes in the Israel–Hamas war § CCR lawsuit against Joe Biden

In reaction to the alleged Israel's genocidal attack on Gaza, beginning in mid-October 2023, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a United States civil rights group, released its legal analysis of US complicity in "Israel’s unfolding genocide" against Palestinians in Gaza.[10] CCR said that some courts have identified "the providing of weapons and other materials to the perpetrators of genocide as a form of complicity. To be culpable, the provider need not share the recipients’ genocidal intent." CCR warned Biden, Blinken and Austin that they could be held responsible for not preventing and supporting Israeli atrocities in Gaza.[42] CCR filed a complaint on behalf of the Human Rights Organization, Defence for Children International - Palestine; al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights group based in the occupied West Bank; and eight Palestinians and American citizens with their relatives in Gaza.[43] Then on November 3, along with other Palestinian legal nonprofits and the National Bar Association, CCR took its case to Congress. It told delegates that if they voted for the aid package to Israel, they "could face criminal and civil liability for aiding and abetting genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity".[10] In a late December briefing to the court, 77 legal and civil society groups around the world supported the lawsuit.[44] In the lawsuit filed in federal court in California, several Gaza residents and two human rights NGOs say that the Biden administration has failed to meet its legal responsibilities to "prevent the unfolding genocide of Palestinian people."[2] The complaint lists a series of actions taken by Israel that, according to the CCR, constitute genocide against the Palestinian people. These include the scale of civilian deaths, systemic collective punishment and "deprivation of the most basic necessities of life".[3]

South Africa

In addition to South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, a group of South African lawyers have also announced their intention to file a civil action against the US and UK governments for their support of Israel's actions.[44]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The 1948 Genocide Convention defines genocide as acts committed "with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group," which can be accomplished by killing, causing serious physical or mental harm to a target group, or by "inflicting upon the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part."[2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b Mansoor, Sanya (21 Nov 2023). "From Lawsuits to Protests, Pro-Palestinian Americans Are Pushing Biden to Pivot". Time.
  2. ^ a b HANSON, NATALIE (13 Nov 2023). "Palestinians file lawsuit accusing Biden administration of violating Genocide Convention".
  3. ^ a b McGreal, Chris (13 Nov 2023). "US rights group sues Biden for alleged 'failure to prevent genocide' in Gaza". The Guardian.
  4. ^ a b "US judge urges Biden to examine support for 'plausible genocide' in Gaza". Al-Jazeera. 1 Feb 2024.
  5. ^ Wintour, Patrick (26 Dec 2023). "Why US double standards on Israel and Russia play into a dangerous game". The Guardian.
  6. ^ "Intercept report says CNN coverage of war 'under shadow of military censor'". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  7. ^ Khouri, Rami G. "Watching the Watchdogs: Israel's legacy of media deception stumbles". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  8. ^ "'Gentlest kid': Tributes pour in for US serviceman who self-immolated to protest Gaza war". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  9. ^ a b ""I Will No Longer Be Complicit in Genocide"". Muslim Public Affairs Council. 27 February 2024. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d Khouri, Rami G (15 Dec 2023). "Watching the watchdogs: Media, law and Gaza genocide". Al-Jazeera.
  11. ^ Offenhartz, Jake (10 November 2023). "Protesters stage sit-in at New York Times headquarters to call for cease-fire in Gaza". Associated Press.
  12. ^ Maltz, Judy (December 5, 2023). "More Than 1 Million Americans Participated in Protests Since Hamas-Israel War Began on Oct 7". MSN.
  13. ^ Arria, Michael (2023-11-05). "The largest Palestine protest in U.S. history shut down the streets of D.C." Mondoweiss. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
  14. ^ Moser, Riley (17 Dec 2023). "Carolers sing for ceasefire outside Sen. Amy Klobuchar's Minneapolis home". MSN.
  15. ^ "Gaza protesters gather outside Biden campaign event". Al Jazeera.
  16. ^ "Demonstrators outside Blinken's home accuse him of participating in 'genocide'". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 9 Dec 2023.
  17. ^ Dorman, John L. "Descendants of Holocaust survivors protesting Israel's 'genocide' of Palestinians among those arrested in front of Sen. Chuck Schumer's house in New York". Business Insider.
  18. ^ Najjar, Farah (25 Dec 2023). "Israel-Hamas war updates: 'We are not stopping,' vows PM Netanyahu". Al-Jazeera.
  19. ^ Italie, Hillel (12 April 2024). "Several writers decline recognition from PEN America in protest over its Israel-Hamas war stance". AP News.
  20. ^ "'Kids are dying': US senator accuses Israel of 'textbook war crimes'". Al Jazeera.
  21. ^ a b Tait, Robert (3 November 2023). "Leftist Democrats invoke human rights law in scrutiny of Israel military aid". The Guardian.
  22. ^ "US senator supports weapons amendment that could affect Israel". Al Jazeera.
  23. ^ Samuels, Brett (6 December 2023). "White House interns write to Biden to call for Gaza cease-fire". The Hill.
  24. ^ "US congressman: 'Palestine will be turned into a parking lot'". Middle East Monitor. 26 October 2023. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023.
  25. ^ Eaton, Sabrina (17 November 2023). "U.S. Rep. Max Miller defends Israel's conduct of Hamas war after visit to Tel Aviv". cleveland.com. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  26. ^ "Michele Bachmann Calls for Ethnic Cleansing in Gaza: 'They Need To Be Removed From That Land'". Mediaite. 18 December 2023. Archived from the original on 24 December 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  27. ^ Media Matters Staff (18 December 2023). "Michelle Bachmann to Charlie Kirk: "It's time that Gaza ends. The 2 million people who live there, they are clever assassins. They need to be removed from that land."". Media Matters for America. Archived from the original on 19 December 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  28. ^ Otten, Tori (1 November 2023). "Republican Representative Directly Compares All Palestinians to Nazis". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Archived from the original on 3 February 2024. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  29. ^ Otten, Tori (1 February 2024). "GOP Congressman Says Dead Palestinian Babies Aren't All That Innocent". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  30. ^
  31. ^ Vargas, Ramon Antonio (31 March 2024). "Congressman rebuked for call to bomb Gaza 'like Nagasaki and Hiroshima'". The Guardian.
  32. ^ Fossum, Sam (31 March 2024). "GOP congressman appears to suggest dropping bombs on Gaza to end conflict quickly, referring to 'Nagasaki and Hiroshima'". CNN.
  33. ^ Vigdor, Neil (31 March 2024). "Republican Congressman Says of Gaza: 'It Should Be Like Nagasaki and Hiroshima'". The New York Times.
  34. ^
  35. ^ a b Lederer, Edith M. (December 8, 2023). "US vetoes UN resolution backed by many nations demanding immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza". AP News.
  36. ^ a b Ratcliffe, Rebecca (9 December 2023). "US risks 'complicity in war crimes', says Human Rights Watch – as it happened". The Guardian.
  37. ^ "Amnesty director says US failed to do the right thing with ceasefire veto". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  38. ^ "'Double standards': World reacts to US veto on Gaza truce resolution at UN". Al Jazeera. December 9, 2023.
  39. ^ Kestler-D'Amours, Jillian. "Biden under pressure to act amid new fears of 'ethnic cleansing' in Gaza". Al-Jazeera.
  40. ^ "US 'complicit in starvation of Palestinians', says UN expert". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  41. ^ Harb, Ali (27 Mar 2024). "US overlooks Israeli abuses in Gaza to justify arms transfers: Advocates". Aljazeera.
  42. ^ Thakker, Prem (13 Nov 2023). "PALESTINIANS SUE BIDEN FOR FAILING TO PREVENT GENOCIDE IN GAZA". The Intercept.
  43. ^ "US court hears civil case accusing Biden of 'complicity' in Gaza 'genocide'". Al-Jazeera. 26 Jan 2024.
  44. ^ a b Speri, Alice (26 Jan 2024). "Palestinians Testify in Federal Court That Biden Is Complicit in Genocide". The Intercept.
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