Biden Violates US Law With Weapons To Israel | Palestine Policy Roundup 4.26.2024
Welcome to the Palestine Policy Roundup, a weekly publication of the IMEU Policy Project.
👀 ICYMI: MEMBERS OF CONGRESS SPEAK OUT
Rep. Ayanna Pressley: “It is unconscionable that Congress would consider sending more offensive weapons and funding to the Israeli military, which for months has operated with callous disregard for human life in Gaza and perpetrated significant human rights violations … I voted NO on H.R. 8034 and continue to call for the United States to facilitate a lasting, bilateral ceasefire to save lives.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders: “What is going on now is the destruction of the very fabric of Palestinian life. It is impossible to look at these facts and not conclude that the Israeli government’s policy has been, quite deliberately, to make Gaza uninhabitable for Palestinians … that is why we must end our complicity in this terrible war.”
Rep. Becca Balint: “We cannot allow U.S. foreign aid and training to go to military units that may have committed human rights abuses. It would be a violation of the Leahy Law.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar: “On Thursday, Columbia arrested and suspended its students who were peacefully protesting and have now ignited a nationwide Gaza Solidarity movement. This is more than the students hoped for and I am glad to see this type of solidarity. But to be clear, this about the genocide in Gaza and the attention has to remain on that.”
Rep. Greg Casar: “Freedom of speech and peaceful assembly are basic constitutional rights. Student protesters — whether you agree with them or not — have a right to safety & fairness. Responding to peaceful demonstrations with weapons and riot gear escalates tension and makes everyone less safe.”
Rep. Summer Lee: “While Netanyahu compares students on campuses like Pitt—including Jewish students— protesting peacefully against genocide to Nazis & attempts to define the limits of our free speech & assembly, it’s worth noting that there are no universities left in Gaza from Israeli & US bombs.”
DC DEVELOPMENTS
BIDEN SIGNS OFF ON $14.1 BILLION IN WEAPONS TO ISRAEL, BAN ON UNRWA FUNDING
President Joe Biden signed the supplemental bill passed by Congress this week, sending $14.1 billion in weapons to Israel as it continues its brutal assault on Palestinians in Gaza, violating multiple US laws and administration policies governing weapons transfers. $8.9 billion of this appropriation would go toward the types of weapons which Israel is using in violation of US law and policy in its ongoing attacks against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
🔑 KEY TAKEAWAY: In addition to giving more weapons to Israel, this spending package also bans US funding to UNRWA and imposes a whole new set of conditions, certifications, and reporting requirements on humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, all of which makes it extremely unlikely that any of this appropriation will benefit Palestinians even if US humanitarian aid was allowed in by Israel.
📖 MUST READ: Read IMEU Policy Project’s policy memo to learn more about how this weapons package violates US law and policies and how it will only intensify Israel’s campaign of mass death and destruction in Gaza.
SENATE REFUSES TO CONSIDER AMENDMENTS TO LIMIT WEAPONS TO ISRAEL, REMOVE UNRWA FUNDING BAN
The Senate refused to consider amendments offered by Sen. Bernie Sanders during its Tuesday vote to approve weapons to Israel. These amendments would have struck $8.9 billion of the $14.1 billion in weapons designated for Israel from the package and would have removed the ban on funding UNRWA. In response to the Senate refusal to vote on this measure, Sanders highlighted that a majority of Americans want to end support for Israel’s war against the Palestinian people.
IN THE NEWS
UN REPORT FINDS ISRAEL FAILED TO SUPPORT ALLEGATIONS AGAINST UNRWA STAFF
The report of an independent panel commissioned by the UN, which was released earlier this week, made clear that “Israel has yet to provide supporting evidence” for claims that it made that a small number of UNRWA employees participated in the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023. The panel also concluded that UNRWA’s standards for ensuring the neutrality of its employees exceeds those of all other UN organizations, and that UNRWA promotes human rights, conflict resolution, and tolerance in its educational curriculum.
🔑 KEY TAKEAWAY: The Biden administration and Congress took precipitate steps to cut off funding to UNRWA, a humanitarian organization that has provided social services to Palestinian refugees since 1949, based on these unsubstantiated Israeli allegations. The Biden administration and Congress should take immediate action to restore funding to UNRWA based on the findings of this UN panel
📖 MUST READ: Learn more about this report and how Congress should respond in a new policy memo published by the IMEU Policy Project. The US and the international community have an obligation to continue providing social services to Palestinian refugees for as long as Israel continues to deny them the right that all refugees have to return home.
GERMANY TO RESUME FUNDING FOR UNRWA FOLLOWING UN REPORT
In response to recommendations made in the UN report referenced above, Germany announced that it would unfreeze its funding and resume cooperation with UNRWA. Following the allegations made by Israel, 16 donor states froze $450 million in funding to UNRWA. As 1.1 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are facing imminent starvation due to Israel’s illegal blockade of food, the US must restore badly needed funding to UNRWA.
🏫 CAMPUS PROTESTS AGAINST WAR ON GAZA ERUPT ACROSS THE COUNTRY
Students are staging protests and encampments at universities across the United States in response to the arrest and suspension of Columbia University student activists who began a protest last week calling on Columbia to divest from companies that “profit from Israeli apartheid.” Hundreds of students and protesters have been arrested and been met with police brutality around the country, including at the University of Southern California, the University of Texas at Austin, and Emerson College.
📷 PHOTOS: View photos of campus protests and police responses from CNN
☑️ REP. SUMMER LEE WINS PRIMARY ELECTION
Congresswoman Summer Lee won the Democratic primary election for Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District on Tuesday, defeating her opponent by a margin of more than 20,000 votes. Rep. Summer Lee was one of the first members of Congress to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, and her victory is more proof that voters reject supplying Israel with more weapons to be used on Palestinians.
PALESTINE/ISRAEL DEVELOPMENTS
🏥 UN CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION INTO MASS GRAVES FOUND AT GAZA HOSPITALS
The United Nations has called for an independent investigation into the mass graves found at the Nasser and Al Shifa hospitals in Gaza. More than 300 bodies were discovered at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis this week. Col. Yamen Abu Suleiman, Director of Civil Defense in Khan Younis, told CNN that bodies were found with hands and feet tied, and that “there were signs of field executions. We do not know if they were buried alive or executed.” Palestinian Civil Defense officials have claimed that some bodies bear signs of being buried alive and others show signs of mutilation and torture.
📷 PHOTOS: 34,000 KILLED DURING 200 DAYS OF GENOCIDE IN GAZA
The Israeli assault on Gaza reached its 200th day on Tuesday. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 34,183 people have been killed. According to reporting from Al Jazeera, 380,000 housing units, 412 schools and universities, 556 mosques, three churches, and 206 archeological and heritage sites have been damaged or destroyed, and Israel has dropped more than 75,000 tons of explosives in Gaza. View photos of the carnage and destruction from Al Jazeera.