In Boston- Protest Monday, August 11

5:30pm Rally at City Hall Plaza and JFK Federal Building, then march to Hewlett-Packard Convention at the Westin Hotel

 

Say “NO” to

Our Government Underwriting the Massacre in Gaza

 

Say “SHAME” to

US Corporations like Hewlett-Packard (HP) which enable the Israeli Occupation

 

 

Lift the Siege of Gaza that collectively punishes 1.8 million people Stop US military, diplomatic and financial aid to Israel Boycott and Divest from companies which profit from Israeli crimes End the Illegal Occupation and Settlement of Palestinian Lands

 

On HP’s role in maintaining the Israeli occupation and supporting its armed forces, see here. 

In the US, HP is one of the government’s top military contractors.

 

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US is the Accomplice and Enabler of Israeli War Crimes in Gaza

 

 

Each time Israel attacks Gaza and massacres its trapped civilian population – at the end of 2008, in the fall of 2012, and now again this past month – the same process repeats itself in both U.S. media and government circles: the U.S. government feeds Israel the weapons it uses and steadfastly defends its aggression both publicly and at the U.N.; the U.S. Congress unanimously enacts one resolution after the next to support and enable Israel; and then American media figures pretend that the Israeli attack has nothing to do with their country, that it’s just some sort of unfortunately intractable, distant conflict between two equally intransigent foreign parties in response to which all decent Americans helplessly throw up their hands as though they bear no responsibility… Israeli aggression would be impossible without the constant, lavish support and protection of the U.S. government, which is anything but a neutral, peace-brokering party in these attacks.   More

 

Faith groups join call for an arms embargo on Israel

Israeli aggression against Palestine, both in the past two weeks, and over the past several decades, has been largely enabled by American military aid and international military sales.  The US government gives Israel $3.1 billion a year to purchase the most advanced weaponry in the world.  European Union countries, as well as Brazil, India, and Chile have also sold advanced weapons to the Israeli military.

We support efforts to prevent the distribution of weapons to Gaza.

We likewise call for a blockade of weapons to Israel.

We are therefore joining the six Nobel Peace Laureates and thousands of others in endorsing the Palestinian call for an arms embargo on Israel.  More

 

US, UK ‘appalled’ by shelling of UNRWA school

US State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki delivered an unusually strong condemnation of an Israeli strike near a Gaza school being used as a shelter in Rafah, saying that the US was “appalled” by the “disgraceful shelling outside an UNRWA school.”    The shelling, which left 10 people dead according to Palestinian reports, drew harsh condemnations worldwide, including from the United Nations, London and elsewhere, amid growing international criticism of the 27-day-long operation.   More

 

Read the full US statement here

In case you missed it. . .

BLOOD ON AMERICAN'S HANDS:  

US Provides Israel Weapons Used on Gaza

The United States exported to Israel a substantial amount of the same types of weapons Israel is using to kill Gazans, a new analysis of US Census Bureau export data reveals. For example, in 2013, the United States sent Israel at least $196 million in parts for military airplanes and helicopters, a category that includes F-16 fighter jets and Apache helicopters, both of which Israel is currently using to attack Gazan homes, offices and farmland… The billions of dollars in US military aid to Israel have bought a stunning array of US weapons and military hardware for the IDF, including 226 F-16 fighter jets, more than 700 M-60 tanks, 6,000 armored personnel carriers, scores of transport planes, attack helicopters and utility and training aircraft, not to mention innumerable bombs and tactical missiles of all kinds.    More

 

For examples of the US/Israeli “defensive” weapons used for the industrialized slaughter in Gaza, see here

 

Congress Passes $225 Million in Extra Military Aid to Israel. Which 8 Had the Courage to Vote No?

…the Senate took time off its debate about the refugee crisis to pass $225 million in supplementary military aid for Israel to repair the Iron Dome missile defense system.   Israel has a GDP of over $300 billion and, at the end of last year, experienced its highest ever GDP per capita. It is a developed country with a booming tech sector. It has the ability to pay for its defense system itself.  It is mid-boggling to think that the US pays for 23-25% of Israel's military budget each year… Anyway, the bill, of course, passed the Senate by unanimous consent. The House, however, took a vote on it. It passed easily but not unanimously: 395 to 8.  Only 4 Democrats and 4 Republicans voted against it.  More

 

"Gaza War Strains Relations Between U.S. and Israel"

Even as the White House harshly criticized the Israeli strike on the school, the Pentagon confirmed that last Friday it had resupplied the Israeli military with ammunition under a longstanding military aid agreement. Mr. Obama swiftly signed a bill Monday giving Israel $225 million in emergency aid for its Iron Dome antimissile system… In a world of bitter enmities, the Israeli-American dispute is more akin to a family quarrel… American officials said that after the previous cease-fire fell apart on Friday, Mr. Netanyahu scolded the American ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, saying the United States should not “ever second-guess him again” on how to deal with Hamas.

 

U.S. won’t use arms transfers to press Israel for cease-fire

The Obama administration will not leverage arms transfers to Israel to bring about a cease-fire, the top Pentagon spokesman said. The arms and ammunition provided to Israel is “through a longstanding foreign military sales program,” Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters on Saturday. “Israel is a staunch ally in that part of the world. And that program has existed for many years, and we’re supplying that material through that program.” Kirby stressed that the United States has made it clear that it would like to see a cease-fire and an end to violence in Gaza. More

 

More on the Gaza crisis below.

 

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