Weapons to Israel
Dear Editor: For the first time in U.S. history, there will be a vote in Congress to block weapons to Israel. Senators Bernie Sanders, Peter Welch, and Jeff Merkley have introduced Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRD) to stop a $20 billion weapons shipment approved by the Biden administration. A JRD is a legislative tool Congress can leverage under the Arms Export Control Act to block major arms sales.
Countless human rights and humanitarian organizations and experts from around the world have provided clear evidence that Israeli forces are using U.S. weapons in violation of not only international law, but also U.S. law and policy (e.g., see Amnesty International’s research briefing documenting an overall pattern of unlawful attacks by Israeli forces with U.S.-made weapons: https://tinyurl.com/y3w5k4de)
This week, Paul O’Brien, executive director of Amnesty International USA, wrote: “For 11 months, the Administration has repeatedly turned a blind eye to these grave violations by Israeli authorities, it is time for Congress to act and block these major arms sales or risk the U.S. being complicit.”
Israeli forces have already killed over 42,000 Palestinians in Gaza and have now begun carrying out massacres and mass forced displacement in Lebanon, with the full backing and funding of the U.S. The Israeli government is bringing the entire region to the precipice of a full-blown war.
The only way to stop this is for the U.S. to stop sending Israel weapons.
I urge you to contact Senators Murkowski and Sullivan and urge them to co-sponsor and vote in support of the JRD’s to block these lethal weapons sales, reach a ceasefire, and save lives.
Closer to home, attend the weekly Voices for Peace vigil, Saturdays, noon to 1 p.m., at the roundabout.
Cindy Litman, Sitka
