{"id":30830,"date":"2023-12-30T13:32:10","date_gmt":"2023-12-30T21:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=30830"},"modified":"2023-12-30T13:32:12","modified_gmt":"2023-12-30T21:32:12","slug":"once-again-biden-bypasses-congress-to-approve-arms-sale-to-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/12\/30\/once-again-biden-bypasses-congress-to-approve-arms-sale-to-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"Once Again, Biden Bypasses Congress to Approve Arms Sale to Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"An<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An IDF soldier readies a 155mm artillery shell for loading in a howitzer. An Israeli soldier carries a 155mm artillery shell near a self-propelled howitzer deployed at a position near the border with Lebanon in the upper Galilee region of northern Israel on October 18, 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Photo: Jalaa Marey\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/em>“When Israel runs out of rockets to murder children with they simply hold their hand out to daddy for more,” said one critic.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

BRETT WILKINS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dec 29, 2023 (CommonDreams.org)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citing “the urgency of Israel’s defensive needs,” the Biden administration on Friday said it would bypass Congress for the second time this month to approve an immediate arms sale to the key Middle East ally as it continues to wage a genocidal war against Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Associated Press<\/em>reported<\/a> that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken notified lawmakers of the new emergency determination involving the sale of $147.5 million in equipment including fuses, charges, and primers for 155mm artillery shells that Israel has already purchased from the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unguided explosive rounds\u2014which Israel is using in heavily populated urban areas\u2014have a “kill radius” of about 50 meters, with shrapnel able to inflict lethal wounds on people hundreds of meters away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to ensure Israel is able to defend itself against the threats it faces,” the State Department explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/lilleyjuice\/status\/1740847948513341840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1740847948513341840%7Ctwgr%5E53821a180f1f80fcd8a68ba2fff5cd7b22d99b01%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fu-s-aid-to-israel-2666833315<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move follows a similar State Department determination<\/a> on December 9, which expedited 13,000 rounds of tank ammunition to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), whose troops have killed and maimed more than 80,000 Palestinians\u2014mostly women, children, and elders\u2014during 84 days of near-relentless attacks on Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the deadliest Israeli attacks of the war have been carried out with U.S. weapons, including an October 31 airstrike<\/a> with 2,000-pound bombs on the densely populated Jabalia refugee camp. More than 120 civilians were killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The State Department also said that “we continue to strongly emphasize to the government of Israel that they must not only comply with international humanitarian law, but also take every feasible step to prevent harm to civilians.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The U.S. administration wholeheartedly supports the mass slaughter of Palestinians.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critics pushed back against that language, with Ibrahim Zabad, a professor of international relations at St. Bonaventure University in upstate New York, asserting<\/a> on social media that the State Department’s move to bypass Congress “shows the U.S. administration wholeheartedly supports the mass slaughter of Palestinians, their ethnic cleansing, and the demolition of Gaza.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

British journalist Andy Worthington, known for his work chronicling the cases of Guant\u00e1namo Bay detainees, asked<\/a>: “Do they think not enough Palestinian children are being orphaned or killed in Gaza?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eli Clifton, a senior researcher at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, noted<\/a> Blinken’s lamentation<\/a> Thursday that 2023 “has been an extraordinarily dangerous year for press around the world.” Blinken’s statement did not mention the scores of journalists killed\u2014sometimes allegedly on purpose<\/a>\u2014by Israeli troops during the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Antony Blinken yesterday: Let\u2019s commemorate the journalists who have lost their lives in wars this year.

Antony Blinken today: Let\u2019s fast track artillery to Israel so they can continue the bombardment of Gaza that\u2019s killed 105+ journalists and 20k+ civilians. pic.twitter.com\/R7Tnbn8e7x<\/a><\/p>— Eli Clifton (@EliClifton) December 29, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>