Biden’s phony calls for restraint: U.S. sends more arms to Israel
The “Genocide Joe” administration recently equipped the Zionist apartheid regime of Israel with more deadly military hardware, while at the same time crying crocodile tears for the besieged population of Gaza. Over 32,000 Gazans have been slaughtered and over 75,000 more wounded by the armaments provided by the U.S., Germany and other imperialist countries since Hamas carried out the heroic Operation Al-Aqsa Flood operation on October 7, 2023.
On April, 1, 2024, Palestine Action occupied the roof of Teledyne Defence and Space weapons factory for seven hours in Shipley, England, halting export of components for missiles and warplanes used by Israeli Occupation Forces. (Credit: Palestine Action)
According to a report on Resistance News Network: “The new transfer includes over 1,800 MK84 2,000-pound bombs and 500 MK82 500-pound bombs. This comes following revelations earlier this month that the U.S. conducted 100 such secret arms deals with the zionist entity, amidst an ammunition and vehicle shortage for the zionist occupation army. Such massive bombs can demolish entire blocks and are rarely, if ever, used by militaries because of the risk of civilian deaths.
“Yet, the zionist entity has used them extensively since October 7. The zionist entity has dropped 70,000 tons of explosives on Gaza since October 7, with weapons supplied mostly from the U.S. and Germany.
“Last week, the U.S. transferred 25 F-35A warplanes to the zionist entity, worth $2.5 billion, stating that the deal was approved 16 years ago so it did not require public notification, and stated the same for the new package of 2,300 bombs. The U.S. continues to be the main actor driving the genocide in Gaza. It feigns concern for Gaza and public disagreement with the zionist entity, as it builds a suspicious port and sends miniscule amounts of aid in deadly airdrops, while at the same time sending massive amounts of deadly bombs.” (March 29)
There may be some truth projected in the bourgeois media of growing tensions between the U.S. administration and Israeli war criminal Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the staggering numbers of civilian casualties in Gaza, but these amount to only tactical differences.
No one should be fooled into thinking for one second that U.S. imperialism and its bulldog in West Asia, Israel, do not share the same goals: to destroy Hamas, the democratically elected government in Gaza since 2006, along with the terrorist ethnic cleansing of Gaza’s population with airstrikes and mass starvation.
U.S politicians advocate genocide
Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Michigan) summed up in a horrific fashion how many U.S. politicians, Democratic and Republican, view the Palestinian people. He answered a question at a March 25 virtual town hall meeting by saying that the U.S. “shouldn’t be spending a dime on humanitarian aid” and “It [Gaza] should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick.” (Washington Post, March 30)
Of course, he was referring to the two U.S.-made atomic bombs dropped on these Japanese cities at the end of World War II in August 1945, killing an estimated 200,000 people. Michigan, the state that Walberg represents, has the highest percentage and number of Arab people of any U.S. state.
Andy Ogles (R-Tennessee) told a Palestinian protester that “we should kill them all” in reference to Palestinians. Michelle Salzman, Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives, made a similar statement on Nov. 10 during a debate in the state legislature. None of these racist white politicians have been censured for their public calls for genocide, but Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan), the only Palestinian representative in Congress, was criticized and censured for her call for a mere ceasefire. (Al Jazeera, Feb. 21)
Annelle Sheline, a U.S. State Department official, resigned from her post on March 27, in protest of Biden’s policy on Gaza. Josh Paul resigned from his State Department post in the middle of October for similar reasons.
Regarding her resignation, Sheline told the Guardian, “The fundamental reason was — I no longer wanted to be affiliated with this administration. I have a young daughter. She’s not yet two, but if some day in the future, she is learning about this and knows that I was at the state department and she asked me [about it] — I want to be able to tell her that I did what I could.” (March 27)
Sheline remarked on a Democracy Now! March 28 broadcast that the self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell on Feb. 25, in protest of the U.S. complicity in committing genocide, also had a profound impact on her decision.
Impact of resistance and global solidarity with Gaza
As the genocide of Gaza enters its sixth month, local, state and national political figures in the U.S. are being hounded by pro-Palestine protesters wherever they speak for their silence and support for Israel.
This was never more obvious than on March 29 when Presidents Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton appeared in a Democratic Party election fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. A handful of demonstrators disrupted the event inside with chants denouncing Biden for supporting genocide. Right outside the fundraiser were thousands of pro-Palestine protesters.
Elbit, Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, has admitted that it was forced to shut down operations of a subsidiary in the U.S. Its profits have decreased by 22% since October 7. Elbit closed factories in occupied Kiryat Shmona in 2013 and Sderot, which have been targeted by the Palestinian resistance.
This decline comes after some countries have banned supplying weapons to Israel. Exports to and sales in the U.S. and Canada declined during the last quarter of last year. Production has also declined due to the drafting of 2,000 Elbit employees into the Israeli Occupation Forces and the killing of five of its workers by the resistance.
Supply chain disruptions are attributed to maritime freight shipping issues, taking longer and becoming more expensive because of Yemen’s sea blockade against all pro-Israeli shipping and Palestine Action’s international direct action campaign. There have been effective protests carried out against Elbit subsidiaries in Cambridge, Massachusetts, England and elsewhere globally.
The crisis that Elbit is facing reflects the ever-growing isolation of Western imperialism in its support of the fascist state of Israel. Even Germany, the second largest supplier of weapons to Israel behind the U.S., is rethinking its policy of sending weapons to Israel due to mass pressure by thousands of pro-Palestine demonstrations in Berlin and other German cities — despite brutal repression by the police.
Germany announced its plans to resume partial funding of the besieged UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, that came under attack when, in February, Israel accused some UNRWA workers of supporting Hamas.
In Tel Aviv, thousands of protesters are demanding the resignation of Netanyahu, who continues to refuse the offer to exchange the remaining hostages held by Hamas since October 7 for the release of 7,000 Palestinian political prisoners. Hamas is also demanding the unimpeded flow of 1,500 trucks of life-and-death humanitarian aid to northern Gaza.
