Imperialism
Israel
Palestine
Fig. 1. The ruins of a terminal at the Gaza airport. Image by Said Khatib (Agence France-Presse) on September 9, 2018, via the Times of Israel,[1] fair use.
The United States has quietly approved and delivered more than 100 separate foreign military sales to Israel since the Gaza war began Oct. 7, amounting to thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms and other lethal aid, U.S. officials told members of Congress in a recent classified briefing.
The triple-digit figure, which has not been previously reported, is the latest indication of Washington’s extensive involvement in the polarizing five-month conflict even as top U.S. officials and lawmakers increasingly express deep reservations about Israel’s military tactics in a campaign that has killed more than 30,000 people, according to Gaza’s health authorities.[2]
So far, Joe Biden has not yielded to the pressure from the ‘uncommitted’ campaign.[3] He’s still sending vast quantities arms to genocidal maniacs, almost always by approving sales for amounts below the threshold that would require Congress to be notified.[4] “That’s an extraordinary number of sales over the course of a pretty short amount of time, which really strongly suggests that the Israeli campaign would not be sustainable without this level of U.S. support.”[5]
Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) said in an interview that the Biden administration should apply “existing standards” stipulating that the United States “shouldn’t transfer arms or equipment to places where it’s reasonably likely that those will be used to inflict civilian casualties, or to harm civilian infrastructure.” . . .
The lack of public information about arms deliveries has prompted some arms experts to push for changes. “The arms transfer process lacks transparency by design,” said Josh Paul, a former State Department official who resigned in protest over the Biden administration’s Gaza policy.
The vast number of transfers since Oct. 7, largely financed by the more than $3.3 billion in U.S. taxpayer funds Washington provides to Israel every year, “is something we deserve to know as citizens of a democracy,” he said.[6]
Gordon Lubold, Nancy A. Youssef, and Annie Linskey, “U.S. to Deliver Aid to Gaza Through Military Airdrops,” Wall Street Journal, March 1, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/u-s-expected-to-deliver-aid-to-gaza-through-military-air-drops-79814c51
Ishaan Tharoor, “Gaza’s spiraling, unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” Washington Post, March 1, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/03/01/gaza-humanitarian-catastrophe/
Tara Copp, “US military aircraft airdrop thousands of meals into Gaza in emergency humanitarian aid operation,” Associated Press, March 2, 2024, https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-gaza-airdrop-humanitarian-assistance-f8bc071193f89906abf21478bc70a084
Felicia Schwartz, “US begins Gaza aid airdrops after Joe Biden rebukes Israel,” Financial Times, March 2, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/c36c0386-8acb-48bc-a84b-8dfa636d00b4
Felicia Schwartz and Mehul Srivastava, “Israel has ‘basically signed on’ to a ceasefire, US official says,” Financial Times, March 2, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/b42490ae-8ea1-4744-8745-87123450c6c6
Neri Zilber and Felicia Schwartz, “Netanyahu allies lash out at Gantz over Washington trip,” Financial Times, March 3, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/1068b774-6ce2-4b41-8552-df64d12c7be1
Michelle Nichols, “UN team says rape, gang rape likely occurred during Hamas attack on Israel,” Reuters, March 4, 2024, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/un-team-says-rape-gang-rape-likely-occurred-during-hamas-attack-israel-2024-03-04/
Ishaan Tharoor, “Biden’s rift with Netanyahu grows wider,” Washington Post, March 5, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/03/05/biden-netanyahu-gantz/
John Hudson, “U.S. floods arms into Israel despite mounting alarm over war’s conduct,” Washington Post, March 6, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/06/us-weapons-israel-gaza/
Ron Kampeas, “‘Uncommitted’ campaign opposing Biden’s support for Israel makes a mark in 5 more states,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, March 6, 2024, https://www.jta.org/2024/03/06/politics/uncommitted-campaign-opposing-bidens-support-for-israel-makes-a-mark-in-5-more-states
Illiberalism
Gilead
Donald Trump
Coup attempt
Fig. 1. Cartoon by Ben Jennings, January 24, 2024, via the Guardian,[7] fair use.
It isn’t just George Conway.[8] Across the political spectrum, lawyers are unhappy with the Supreme Court’s reversal of Colorado’s ruling that Donald Trump should be disqualified.[9]
Ann E. Marimow, “Supreme Court keeps Trump on ballot, rejects Colorado voter challenge,” Washington Post, March 4, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/04/supreme-court-trump-ballot-decision/
George T. Conway, III, “The Court’s Colorado Decision Wasn’t About the Law,” Atlantic, March 5, 2024, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/supreme-court-colorado-opinion-trump-disqualify/677646/
Jennifer Rubin, “The Supreme Court did Trump no favors. He’ll be facing a fall trial,” Washington Post, March 5, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/03/05/supreme-court-timing-trump-trial/
Matt Ford, “Everybody Hates the Supreme Court’s Disqualification Ruling,” New Republic, March 6, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/article/179576/supreme-court-disqualification-ruling-criticism
- [1]Agence France-Presse and Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” Times of Israel, September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/↩
- [2]John Hudson, “U.S. floods arms into Israel despite mounting alarm over war’s conduct,” Washington Post, March 6, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/06/us-weapons-israel-gaza/↩
- [3]John Cassidy, “Michigan’s “Uncommitted” Democrats Send a Message to Biden,” New Yorker, February 28, 2024, https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/michigans-uncommitted-democrats-send-a-message-to-biden; Tony Diver, “Michigan primary results: Joe Biden wins but young and Arab Democrats rebel over Israel,” Telegraph, February 28, 2024, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2024/02/28/michigan-primary-results-polls-vote-republicans-trump-haley/; Caleb Ecarma, “Why Michigan’s Protest Vote Could Change Joe Biden’s Calculus: ‘There Will Be Political Consequences,’” Vanity Fair, February 28, 2024, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/michigan-vote-change-joe-biden-calculus; Lauren Fedor and James Politi, “Joe Biden faces dissent over Gaza as he wins Michigan Democratic primary,” Financial Times, February 28, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/4dbd9253-5147-4bbd-9e09-276e48e3f799; Ron Kampeas, “‘Uncommitted’ campaign protesting Biden’s Israel support nets 100,000+ votes in Michigan primary,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, February 28, 2024, https://www.jta.org/2024/02/27/politics/campaign-protesting-bidens-support-for-israel-celebrates-as-tens-of-thousands-vote-uncommitted-in-michigan-primary; Ron Kampeas, “‘Uncommitted’ campaign opposing Biden’s support for Israel makes a mark in 5 more states,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, March 6, 2024, https://www.jta.org/2024/03/06/politics/uncommitted-campaign-opposing-bidens-support-for-israel-makes-a-mark-in-5-more-states↩
- [4]John Hudson, “U.S. floods arms into Israel despite mounting alarm over war’s conduct,” Washington Post, March 6, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/06/us-weapons-israel-gaza/↩
- [5]Jeremy Konyndyk, quoted in John Hudson, “U.S. floods arms into Israel despite mounting alarm over war’s conduct,” Washington Post, March 6, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/06/us-weapons-israel-gaza/↩
- [6]John Hudson, “U.S. floods arms into Israel despite mounting alarm over war’s conduct,” Washington Post, March 6, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/06/us-weapons-israel-gaza/↩
- [7]Ben Jennings, “Ben Jennings on Donald Trump’s progress along the Republican nomination trail – cartoon,” Guardian, January 24, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2024/jan/24/ben-jennings-on-donald-trumps-progress-along-the-republican-nomination-trail-cartoon↩
- [8]George T. Conway, III, “The Court’s Colorado Decision Wasn’t About the Law,” Atlantic, March 5, 2024, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/supreme-court-colorado-opinion-trump-disqualify/677646/↩
- [9]Matt Ford, “Everybody Hates the Supreme Court’s Disqualification Ruling,” New Republic, March 6, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/article/179576/supreme-court-disqualification-ruling-criticism↩