U.S. Must Stop Arms Transfers to Israel Amid Growing Evidence of War Crimes in Gaza

US condemns shelling of UN school in Gaza but restocks Israeli ammunition

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Written by Paul Lewis in Washington and Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem Paul Lewis in Washington and Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem

Published: 31 July 2014 31 July 2014

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White House issues unusually strong rebuke after 16 deaths
But Pentagon confirms that US resupplied Israel with ammunition

theguardian.com, Wednesday 30 July 2014 19.19 EDT

The United States issued a firm condemnation of the shelling of a United Nations school in Gaza that killed at least 16 Palestinians on Wednesday, but also confirmed it restocked Israel’s dwindling supplies of ammunition.

The White House expressed concern that thousands of civilians who had sought protection from the UN were at risk after the shelling of the girls’ elementary school. Some 3,300 civilians were taking shelter there, after being told by Israel to leave their homes.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, which runs the school, said its initial assessment was that it has been struck by Israeli artillery.

“The United States condemns the shelling of a UNRWA school in Gaza, which reportedly killed and injured innocent Palestinians – including children – and UN humanitarian workers,” said Bernadette Meehan, a spokeswoman for the White House’s National Security Council.

“We are extremely concerned that thousands of internally displaced Palestinians who have been called on by the Israeli military to evacuate their homes are not safe in UN designated shelters in Gaza.”

Meehan and other US officials that condemned the attack did not specifically accuse Israel of responsibility for the shelling, saying there were conflicting reports about the circumstances of the incident that required further investigation. They did not specify the nature of those conflicting reports.

However Washington’s implied condemnation of Israel marked the strongest language used by the US since the conflict in Gaza began. The US also strongly criticised the hiding of weapons at UN facilities in Gaza, although officials acknowledged they did not know if rockets had been stored at the UNRWA school.

“All of these actions, and similar ones earlier in the conflict, are inconsistent with the UN’s neutrality,” Meehan said. “This violence underscores the need to achieve a ceasefire as soon as possible.”

At the same time however, there was little evidence of Washington using its leverage with Israel, including record levels of military aid, to apply pressure on Jerusalem to curtail its offensive.

The Pentagon confirmed a CNN report that the US had recently provided Israel with a shipment of ammunition. “The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to US national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability,” said Pentagon press secretary Rear Admiral Kirby. “This defense sale is consistent with  those objectives.”

The Israeli military requested the addition ammunition on 20 July . The US defense department approved the sale three days later, Kirby said.

Two of the requested munitions were sourced from a secret stockpile the US keeps in Israel for emergencies. White House approval was not required to release the weaponry War Reserve Stockpile Ammunition-Israel (WRSA-I), Kirby added. He did not say whether the White House was involved in the decision to supply the other ammunition apparently requested by the Israelis.

The provision of ammunition could prove controversial for Washington, which has expresssed growing concern about the deaths Palestinian civilians while maintaining support for its close ally.

In Congress, both Democrats and Republicans were working on a package of additional military support for Israel’s “iron dome” security system.

Israel’s decision to press ahead with its offensive in Gaza despite a chorus of international condemnation was reaffirmed on Wednesday, following a meeting of the Israeli cabinet.

UNRWA said it was the sixth time one of its schools had been struck. “Last night, children were killed as they slept next to their parents on the floor of a classroom in a UN-designated shelter in Gaza. Children killed in their sleep; this is an affront to all of us, a source of universal shame,” said Pierre Krahenbuhl, commissioner-general.

“We have visited the site and gathered evidence. We have analysed fragments, examined craters and other damage. Our initial assessment is that it was Israeli artillery that hit our school, in which 3,300 people had sought refuge. We believe there were at least three impacts.”

Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of using UN facilities as cover and UNRWA has discovered caches of rockets hidden at some of its schools.

A UN source said there was no evidence of militant activity inside the school attacked on Wednesday.

The state department withheld judgment on the UN’s assessment that Israel was behind the latest attack, saying there should be a more thorough investigation to establish culpability. While voicing mounting concern, US officials appeared reluctant to directly criticise its close ally after days of growing friction with Jerusalem that has occasionally surfaced in anonymous briefings in the press.

“We don’t know if there were rockets in the school,” said Marie Harf, a deputy spokeswoman at the state department, explaining Washington’s refusal to apportion explicit blame for the shelling. “We don’t know for certain who shelled the school.”

The UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon directly contradicted that position, saying the attack, which he described as “outrageous” and “unjustifiable”, had been perpetrated by Israel. Ban said that “all available evidence points to Israeli artillery
as the cause” of the pre-dawn attack, and he pointedly noted that Israeli military authorities had received the coordinates of the school from the United Nations 17 times, including on Tuesday night.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Sabeel Statement on Gaza: For the sake of the burning children of Gaza

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Written by Rev. Dr. Naim Ateek Rev. Dr. Naim Ateek

Published: 31 July 2014 31 July 2014

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For the sake of the burning children of Gaza

One of the most common refrains repeated by President Obama and other western leaders since the beginning of Israel’s massive military offensive against Gaza is, “Israel has the right to defend itself.”  This refrain is not new and has been declared so often, it has become a cliché.  Some leaders parrot it without even thinking.  Israel has used such clichés as a justification for its actions as well as an excuse to further its carnage.  As of July 29, the death toll in Gaza is over 1100 people, mostly civilians, and includes 243 children (http://www.ochaopt.org).  In addition, around 53 Israeli soldiers and 3 Israeli civilians have died.

Under these circumstances, is Israel able to justifiably claim this right to defend itself? 

First, we should consider that there is no clear “self” for Israel to defend.  Israel steadfastly refuses to define its borders.  Israel’s expansionist policies under the pretext of security have extended its “borders” deep into the Palestinian territories and the Syrian Golan Heights, in contravention of international law.  Furthermore, as a state that is occupying another state that includes Gaza for the last 47 years, Israel stands in violation of international law and humanitarian law.  In light of the fact that Israel has no defined borders and is occupying another state, it is not even possible to define the “self” that Israel has a right to defend.

Second, it is important to note that Israel does not have a moral or legal right to claim that it is “defending” itself so long as it is occupying another state. Let us take the Iraq-Kuwait war as an example.  Suppose after Iraq occupied Kuwait, some of the Kuwaitis started firing rockets at Iraqi cities as their way of forcing Iraq to end its illegal occupation.  In such a circumstance, would we consider Iraq as having a right to “defend” itself?  Or would we rather see Iraq as the instigator and aggressor?   

Morally speaking, so long as international law and the United Nations consider Israel as occupying Palestine, Israel is not defending itself, it is defending its occupation and its Zionist project.  When the occupation ends, Israel possesses the legal and moral right to defend itself, and with that we can all stand.  But so long as it is defending its occupation through collective punishment and disproportionate military might, which is illegal under international law, its claims appear deviously deceitful and hollow. Furthermore, Israel can get away with impunity.

Finally, are Obama’s words about Israel’s security and her right to “defend itself” credible in the presence of the burning children of Gaza?   Is the war Israel is conducting credible in light of these children, held captive and unable to leave Gaza, killed for the crime of being born on the wrong side of an arbitrary border, killed while hiding in their homes, playing soccer on the beach, and taking refuge in UN safe spots?  Nothing can legally or morally legitimize the indiscriminate killing of a captive civilian population. No statements, no claims, no actions, no matter how profound, can hold up in the presence of the burning and torn up little bodies of innocent children.   They are utterly meaningless, reprehensible and blasphemous. 

Therefore, it is important to emphasize the following points:

1.     The international community needs to empower the UN to resolve the conflict between Israel and Palestine.  We have been caught in a destructive cycle.  Every few years the situation reaches its boiling point, warfare begins, and thousands of Palestinians are killed and injured, mainly civilians – women, children, elderly, and disabled.  The international community has been lethargic, impotent, and unwilling to implement its own resolutions on Palestine.  The international community has the responsibility to resolve this seemingly intractable conflict.  The UN needs to be empowered to do its work.    

2.     International law unequivocally gives occupied people the right to shake off the yoke of the occupier through various means including the armed struggle. While this is true and needs to be remembered in considering this situation, Sabeel has always stood for the moral right of liberation through nonviolent means.       

3.     The Palestinian rockets from Gaza have an important message that Israel refuses to understand and the western powers, especially the United States, are unwilling to comprehend.  The message of the rockets addresses the core issues and the root causes of the problem – STOP THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION AND FREE PALESTINE.  If this does not happen, the war will occur again and again and again, and the casualties will be mainly women and children.  This conflict will continue to flare up, despite anyone’s best efforts to contain it, unless the systemic injustice of occupation is dismantled.  A recent statement from Israeli academics cuts straight to the point: “Israel must agree to an immediate cease-fire and start negotiating in good faith for the end of the occupation and settlements, through a just peace agreement”( http://haimbresheeth.com/gaza/an-open-letter-to-israel-academics-july-13th-2014/statement-by-israeli-academics-july-2014/).

4.     Our plea is to all people of conscience in Israel.  You need to become engaged.  The present political course is driving Israelis and Palestinians further apart and is leading us to an impending disaster worse than we are witnessing today.  We all must stop nurturing extremism.  Israelis and Palestinians have to live together in this land.  God has put us here, we need to share it.  The alternative is untenable.   

5.     A stable peace can only be realized when justice, in accordance with international law, is achieved for both Israel and Palestine.        

Let anyone with ears to hear, listen!

The Rev. Dr. Naim Ateek

Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, Jerusalem

July 30, 2014

ARAB FESTIVAL CANCELLED

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Written by Dr. Hadi Nouredine Dr. Hadi Nouredine

Published: 30 July 2014 30 July 2014

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