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4/15 Petition to Biden & U.S. Congress
On 1/31/24, a U.S. federal court judge found that Israel is plausibly committing a genocide in the Defense for Children International – Palestine v. Biden, Blinken, & Austin case. This came only days after when on 1/26/24 the International Court of Justice also found that Israel is plausibly committing a genocide. On 10/17/24, Josh Paul, the former Director of the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs at the State Department resigned due to concerns that the U.S. arms transfers to Israel would be used to commit gross human rights abuses, lead to significant civilian casualties, and the policies in place to prevent these circumstances from occurring were not being followed for Israel. His declaration of support filed in the Defense for Children International – Palestine v. Biden case describes multiple incidents he witnessed of Leahy vetting policy being ignored in prior, credible allegations of Israel committing gross human rights violations.
Josh Paul knows when policy isn’t being followed – he had a significant role in policymaking for U.S. arms transfers and drafted the Conventional Arms Transfer (CAT) Policy. He was also detailed on a part-time basis in the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Office of Security and Human Rights as a Special Advisor on U.S. arms transfers where he assessed existing processes for human rights reviews for arms transfers and made recommendations to improve the Department of State’s processes.
On 3/27/24, Annelle Sheline, a foreign affairs officer at the Office of Near Eastern Affairs in the Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor resigned due to our government enabling Israel’s actions after the ICJ’s ruling that Israel is plausibly committing a genocide. She was deeply and understandably perturbed that when she raised concerns about the intentional murder, attacks, and abduction of Palestinian journalists by Israel, the highest number of journalists who have been murdered in any single conflict since the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) began recording data in 1992, she was ignored. She decided to resign publicly when her colleagues begged her to speak out publicly, saying “Please speak for us.”
U.S. law is not being followed and you are letting this administration literally get away with murder, and participating by your lack of meaningful action. I know you don’t care about Palestinian lives, but how can you flagrantly disregard the rule of law of our nation?
I demand that you:
– Hold Israel accountable for a permanent, immediate ceasefire, their violations of the Genocide Convention, and gross human rights violations by any means necessary
– Permanently end all monetary, diplomatic, and military aid given to Israel and enforce Leahy Law
– Reallocate all funds given to Israel and commit additional resources for ongoing humanitarian relief for Palestinians starting with immediately resuming funding of UNRWA
SOURCES
CNN “Opinion: Why I’m resigning from the State Department“
Foundation for Middle East Peace “RESIGNED: The Former Biden Admin Officials Who Left Their Jobs Over Gaza“
The New Yorker “Why a State Department Official Lost Hope in Israel“
New York Post “Another State Department official resigns over Biden’s ‘horrific’ support for Israel’s war against Hamas“
NPR “A top U.N. court says Gaza genocide is ‘plausible’ but does not order cease-fire“
ABC “Former State Department official explains resignation over US support of Israel“
United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Attorney for Plaintiffs DEFENSE FOR CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL – PALESTINE, et al. “DECLARATION OF JOSH PAUL IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION”
Center for Constitutional Rights “Defense for Children International – Palestine v. Biden“
Leahy Law, WRSA-I & Israel’s Gross Human Rights Violations*
U.S. Department of State “About the Leahy Law – FACT SHEET“
U.S. Department of State “PP410 INTRODUCTION TO LEAHY VETTING POLICY”
U.S. Department of State “2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Israel, West Bank and Gaza“
U.S. Congressional Research Report “Global Human Rights: Security Forces Vetting (“Leahy Laws”)“
U.S. Congressional Research Report “Defense Primer: Department of Defense Pre-Positioned Materiel“
U.S. Congressional Research Report “Israel and Hamas 2023 Conflict In Brief: Overview, U.S. Policy, and Options for Congress“
U.S. Congressional Research Report “Israel and Hamas October 2023 Conflict: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)“
U.S. Congressional Research Report “Israel: Major Issues and U.S. Relations“
Save The Children’s 2023 report “Injustice: Palestinian children’s experience of the Israeli military detention system“
Statement Submitted to the Human Rights Council by Organization for Defending Victims of Violence and Khiam Rehabilitation Center (A/HRC/51/NGO/132): “Gross Violations of the Human Rights Law and Humanitarian Law by Israel in Palestinian Territories“
Human Rights Watch’s 2021 report “A Threshold Crossed – Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution“
U.N. Human Rights Council Special Report 2022 “Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories: Israel has imposed upon Palestine an apartheid reality in a post-apartheid world“
Amnesty International “Defending the rule of law, enforcing apartheid – the double life of Israel’s judiciary“
Haaretz “Communications Minister Threatens Haaretz, Suggests Penalizing Its Gaza War Coverage“
Human Rights Watch “Israeli Authorities’ Cutting of Water Leading to Public Health Crisis in Gaza”
AA “Israeli airstrike hits Gaza water reservoir supplying Rafah neighborhoods”
World Health Organization “WHO appeals for protection of the health system from further attacks and degradation of its capacity“
World Food Programme “Statement by WFP Deputy Executive Director after visit to Gaza”
Public Committee Against Torture in Israel “War Crimes in the Interrogation Chamber: The Israeli Systematic Policy of Torture, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment, Unlawful Deportation, and Denial of Fair Trial of Palestinian Detainees“
Public Committee Against Torture in Israel “KILLING AT UMM AL-HIRAN“
Journal of Ethics, Medicine and Public Health Volume 18, September 2021 “Police violence in Israel towards people with mental disabilities“
B’Tselem The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories “Home Demolition as Collective Punishment“
B’Tselem The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories “Settler Violence = State Violence“
B’Tselem The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories “Torture and Abuse in Interrogation“
B’Tselem The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories “Water Crisis“
B’Tselem The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories “B’Tselem calls for ceasefire in Gaza Strip“
B’Tselem The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories “Israeli organizations to President Biden: stop the humanitarian catastrophe“
B’Tselem The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories “The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is not a side effect. It is the policy“
The Guardian “‘The Gospel’: how Israel uses AI to select bombing targets in Gaza“
972 Magazine “‘A mass assassination factory’: Inside Israel’s calculated bombing of Gaza“
CI Rights ”Human Rights Datasets“
CI Rights ”Global Human Rights Grades 2023“
Reuters “White House ‘concerned’ at reports Israel used white phosphorus in Lebanon attack”
Amnesty International “Lebanon: Evidence of Israel’s unlawful use of white phosphorus in southern Lebanon as cross-border hostilities escalate”
Washington Post “Israel appears to use white phosphorus in Gaza, video shows”
Human Rights Watch “Israel: White Phosphorus Used in Gaza, Lebanon”
Human Rights Watch (2009) “Rain of Fire – Israel’s Unlawful Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza”
The Guardian “US admits using white phosphorus in Falluja“
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health “Birth Defects in Gaza: Prevalence, Types, Familiarity and Correlation with Environmental Factors”
The Lancet “Structural birth defects in the Gaza Strip, occupied Palestinian territory: a cohort study“
Al Jazeera “Did the US cause Fallujah’s birth defects?“
Al Jazeera “Fallujah babies: Under a new kind of siege“
The Independent “Toxic munitions ‘may be cause’ of baby deaths and deformities in Fallujah“
Conflict and Health “Birth defects in Iraq and the plausibility of environmental exposure: A review“
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health “Long Term Risks to Neonatal Health from Exposure to War—9 Years Long Survey of Reproductive Health and Contamination by Weapon-Delivered Heavy Metals in Gaza, Palestine“
The Guardian “Research links rise in Falluja birth defects and cancers to US assault“
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry “Effects of White Phosphorus on Mallard Reproduction”
*This is not a comprehensive list of gross human rights violations committed by Israel ever, nor all since 10/7. This list will be updated as more credible information is compiled. I am using a synced pattern in WordPress to copy & save these sources for future use, so it’s possible if you are viewing this after the date of this post there could be sources included that are dated after.
U.S. Congressional Resolutions & Bills (both passed and proposed)*
U.S. House “H.Res.888 – Reaffirming the State of Israel’s right to exist.“
U.S. House “H.R.6113 – Israel Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2023”
U.S. House “H.R.6126 – Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024”
U.S. House & Senate “H.Con.Res.57 – Expressing the sense of Congress supporting the State of Israel.”
U.S. House & Senate “S.510 – Expediting Israeli Aerial Refueling Act of 2023”
U.S. Senate “S.Res.417 – A resolution standing with Israel against terrorism.”
*This is not meant to be an exhaustive list. In future petitions referring to legislation both proposed and passed, I will continue to update with more important resolutions and/or bills I find. This list will be updated as more credible information is compiled. I am using a synced pattern in WordPress to copy & save these sources for future use, so it’s possible if you are viewing this after the date of this post there could be sources included that are dated after.