October, 11 2023, 11:10pm EDT
Jewish Voice for Peace calls on all people of conscience to stop imminent genocide
We can and we must stop this. Never again means never again — for anyone.
The Israeli government has declared a genocidal war on the people of Gaza. As an organization that works for a future where Palestinians and Israelis and all people live in equality and freedom, we call on all people of conscience to stop imminent genocide of Palestinians.
Jewish Voice for Peace mourns deeply for the over 1200 Israelis killed, the families destroyed, including many of our own, and fears for the lives of Israelis taken hostage. Many are still counting the dead, looking for missing loved ones, devastated by the losses.
We wholeheartedly agree with leading Palestinian rights groups: the massacres committed by Hamas against Israeli civilians are horrific war crimes. There is no justification in international law for the indiscriminate killing of civilians or the holding of civilian hostages.
And now, horrifyingly, the Israeli and American governments are weaponizing these deaths to fuel a genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza, pledging to “open the gates of hell.” This war is a continuation of the Nakba, when in 1948, tens of thousands of Palestinians fleeing violence sought refuge in Gaza. It’s a continuation of 75 years of Israeli occupation and apartheid.
Already this week, over 1000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed. The Israeli government has wrought complete and total devastation on Palestinians across Gaza, attacking hospitals, schools, mosques, marketplaces, and apartment buildings.
As we write, the Israeli government has shut off all electricity to Gaza. Hospitals cannot save lives, the internet will collapse, people will have no phones to communicate with the outside world, and drinking water for two million people will run out. Gaza will be plunged into darkness as Israel turns its neighborhoods to rubble. Still worse, Israel has openly stated an intention to commit mass atrocities and even genocide, with Prime Minister Netanyahu saying the Israeli response will “reverberate for generations.”
And right now, the U.S. government is enabling the Israeli government’s atrocities, sending weapons, moving U.S. warships into proximity and sending U.S.-made munitions, and pledging blanket support and international cover for any actions taken by the Israeli government. Furthermore, the U.S. government officials are spreading racist, hateful, and incendiary rhetoric that will fuel mass atrocities and genocide.
The loss of Israeli lives is being used by our government to justify the rush to genocide, to provide moral cover for the immoral push for more weapons and more death. Palestinians are being dehumanized by our own government, by the media, by far too many U.S. Jewish institutions. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel is “fighting human animals” and should “act accordingly,” As Jews, we know what happens when people are called animals.
We can and we must stop this. Never again means never again — for anyone.
We call on all people of conscience to stop the imminent genocide of Palestinians. We demand our government work towards de-escalation, that it immediately stop sending weapons to the Israeli military. A future of peace and safety for all, grounded in justice, freedom and equality for all, is still the only option.
Jewish Voice for Peace is a national, grassroots organization inspired by Jewish tradition to work for a just and lasting peace according to principles of human rights, equality, and international law for all the people of Israel and Palestine. JVP has over 200,000 online supporters, over 70 chapters, a youth wing, a Rabbinic Council, an Artist Council, an Academic Advisory Council, and an Advisory Board made up of leading U.S. intellectuals and artists.
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Biden Rebuked Over 'Ever-Shifting Red Lines' as Israel Expands Rafah Attack
"It is time for the Biden administration to admit the obvious, fully cut off the flow of weapons to the Israeli government, demand an immediate cease-fire, and hold Israeli officials to account for their crimes against humanity," said one critic.
May 14, 2024
Looking on as the number of people forced to flee Rafah neared half a million and Israel began expanding its assault on the southern Gaza city, human rights advocates on Tuesday demanded that U.S. President Joe Biden enforce the so-called "red line" he set months ago and end his support for Israel's war on Palestinian civilians.
Just over a week after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) seized control of the Rafah crossing, cutting off aid as the United Nations warned of "full-blown famine" in parts of Gaza, the U.N. said about 450,000 people have now fled the southern city.
NBC Newsreported Tuesday that the IDF had begun sending tanks into residential areas of eastern Rafah including the neighborhood of Al-Jneina. Two U.S. officials told the outlet that the troop movement indicated potential expanded operations in Rafah.
Biden said in March that an invasion of Rafah, where more than 1 million people have been displaced since October as Israel decimated other Gaza cities and ordered civilians to move south, would be a "red line" and would push him to cut off military aid to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. The White House paused a shipment of weapons last week and reiterated that the IDF was "not going to get our support" if it went through with a full-scale Rafah attack.
With at least 450,000 people once again forced to flee and Israel continuing to block humanitarian aid, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) executive director Nihad Awad was among those who said Biden must follow through on his threat to Israel.
"The Israeli government continues to flout all of the Biden administration's ever-shifting red lines on Rafah, as well as U.S. law that forbids aid recipients from blocking humanitarian deliveries," said Awad, referring to the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act, Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. "Just like in other cities across Gaza, we are witnessing the ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their land and the slaughter of countless civilians. It is time for the Biden administration to admit the obvious, fully cut off the flow of weapons to the Israeli government, demand an immediate cease-fire, and hold Israeli officials to account for their crimes against humanity."
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, announced Tuesday that Israel's incursion had forced it to shut down Rafah Indonesian Field Hospital and send 22 remaining patients to other facilities as the group could "no longer guarantee their safety."
"We have had to leave 12 different health structures and have endured 26 violent incidents, which include airstrikes damaging hospitals, tanks being fired at agreed deconflicted shelters, ground offensives into medical centers, and convoys fired upon," said Michel-Olivier Lacharité, head of emergency operations for MSF.
Israel's evacuation orders in Rafah over the past week have garnered international outrage, with one official at the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) refuting Israel's suggestion that it was carrying out an "orderly evacuation" and calling it a "grave breach of humanitarian law."
Former Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth said Israel's evacuation orders show its incursion is not the "limited operation" Netanyahu has claimed to be undertaking.
Israel has repeatedly ordered civilians in Gaza to flee to so-called "safe zones," only to then bomb the areas as officials claim to be targeting Hamas.
Al Jazeera reported Tuesday that eight family members who obeyed Israel's orders to leave Rafah in recent days were among those killed in a bombing at Nuseirat refugee camp.
"This shows that there is no safe space in the Gaza strip, even if the Israeli forces warn Palestinians to evacuate from a place to another, this does not get a guarantee that you are evacuating to a safe place," said reporter Hind Khoudary.
At The Hill on Tuesday, former State Department Middle East policy expert Wa'el Alzayat noted that as Israel is intensifying its assault on Rafah, "the Biden administration has continued to send offensive and defensive weapons to Israel" following its pause on one shipment.
"The president must enforce his own policy and suspend weapons deliveries to Israel," said Alzayat. "Failure to do so would only embolden Israeli [Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu to ignore U.S. warnings and move forward against Rafah with disastrous consequences for the people of Gaza and the region."
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Israel's Deadly Bombing of World Central Kitchen Convoy Was No Anomaly: Report
A new analysis from Human Right Watch argues that numerous attacks on humanitarian relief operations by Israeli forces prove the April 1 bombing that killed 7 people was "far from being an isolated 'mistake.'"
May 14, 2024
A deadly attack on a convoy of World Central Kitchen aid workers which killed 7 people last month was not a one-off occurrence, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday, but rather representative of a documented pattern in which Israel military forces have targeted relief personnel and infrastructure despite being informed of the exact locations of those operations.
"Even though aid groups had provided their coordinates to the Israeli authorities to ensure their protection," an analysis by HRW found that eight such attacks on such operations, including the April 1 bombing of the WCK in Deir al-Balah, have been carried out by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) over the last seven months.
According to the group's report, "Israeli authorities did not issue advance warnings to any of the aid organizations before the strikes, which killed or injured at least 31 aid workers and those with them."
"Israel's allies need to recognize that these attacks that have killed aid workers have happened over and over again, and they need to stop." —Belkis Willi, HRW
Details of the various attacks, said HRW, show that the WCK bombing was "far from being an isolated 'mistake,'" as the Israeli government has claimed.
Citing figures from the United Nations, HRW notes that over 250 aid workers have been killed in Gaza by Israel since the Hamas-led attack on October 7 of last year.
"Israel's killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers was shocking and should never have happened under international law," said Belkis Wille, associate crisis, conflict, and arms director at Human Rights Watch. "Israel's allies need to recognize that these attacks that have killed aid workers have happened over and over again, and they need to stop."
The other seven attacks documented in the report are:
- Attack on a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF or Doctors without Borders) convoy, November 18, 2023
- Attack on a guest house of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), December 9, 2023
- Attack on an MSF shelter, January 8, 2024
- Attack on an International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) guest house, January 18, 2024
- Attack on an UNRWA convoy, February 5, 2024
- Attack on an MSF guest house, February 20, 2024
- Attack on a home sheltering an American Near East Refugee Aid Organization (Anera) employee, March 8, 2024
Human Rights Watch sent a letter to Israeli authorities requesting more information about these documented incidents, but said it received no response.
"Israel should make public the findings of investigations into attacks that have killed and injured aid workers, and into all other attacks that caused civilian casualties," the group said on Tuesday. "The Israeli military's long track record of failing to credibly investigate alleged war crimes underscores the importance of the International Criminal Court's (ICC) inquiry into serious crimes committed by all parties to the conflict."
In addition to military targeting of relief operations, the Israeli military has been accused of various crimes, including indiscriminate bombing of civilian populations, forced displacement, and the targeting of medical facilities.
Also on Tuesday, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF/Doctors Without Borders) released a report documenting Israel's pattern of attacking its facilities, including hospitals, clinics, and ambulance services in Gaza during the current campaign.
"In view of this extensive timeline of reprehensible actions, MSF once again calls on all parties to respect and protect healthcare facilities, healthcare workers and patients in Gaza and the West Bank," the group said Tuesday. "An immediate and sustained ceasefire must be implemented in Gaza now to put an end to the suffering of people and the destruction of Gaza. We demand an immediate and unfettered flow of aid into the entirety of the Gaza Strip. We demand accountability for our colleagues and their family members who have been killed and wounded, and for patients."
In early May, following a month pause of Gaza operations following the deadly attack, WCK announced it was resuming its relief efforts in the area. It has also started construction on a new kitchen facility to elevate and support its mission to feed the people of Gaza as Israel's assault not only continues but intensifies.
"We have spent the past few weeks honoring the lives of Saif, Zomi, Damian, Jacob, James, John, and Jim. We are restarting our operation with the same energy, dignity, and focus on feeding people as these seven heroes brought to their work every single day," the groups said on May 5. "As our work in Gaza resumes, our demand for an impartial and international investigation into the April 1 attack remains."
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Green Groups Call US Electric Transmission Rules 'Major Leap Forward'
Experts celebrated the "critical step to ensuring our electric grid has the capacity and durability necessary to keep up with our clean energy ambition, meet climate goals, and guarantee affordable and equitable energy access for all."
May 13, 2024
Green groups on Monday praised U.S. regulators for finalizing rules that supporters say "will help accelerate the transition to a clean and equitable electric system by working to build more transmission capacity."
The two Democrats on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved new transmission planning requirements. They and the sole GOP commissioner also advanced an order empowering FERC to greenlight permits for projects rejected or ignored by states.
"The new rules require utilities and regional grid operators to adopt 20-year plans that consider trends in technology and fuel costs, changes to resource mix and demand, more opportunities for state and utility collaboration, and extreme weather events, among other variables calculated by the 'best available data,'" the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) explained. The assessments must be revised every five years.
Sam Gomberg, the manager of transmission policy and a senior energy analyst at UCS, called the rules "a critical step to ensuring our electric grid has the capacity and durability necessary to keep up with our clean energy ambition, meet climate goals, and guarantee affordable and equitable energy access for all."
"I am pleased that FERC will require transmission planners to account for seven broadly recognized benefits of expanding transmission when determining whether to make investments," he said. "This, combined with FERC's inclusion of state-approved plans for utilities' changes in generation, moves the country to more just and reasonable planning standards."
Gomberg was far from alone in cheering the policy changes. Christine Powell, deputy managing attorney at Earthjustice and former commission adviser, said that "we applaud FERC for meeting the moment" and "look forward to engaging with FERC to center equity and environmental justice in transmission planning."
Cullen Howe, senior advocate with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Sustainable FERC Project, stressed that "we urgently need every grid operator to determine where and what transmission lines to build. This rule brings everyone to the starting line for scaling up the clean energy transition."
"With climate-fueled disasters posing ever-greater challenges to the grid, this rule will help shape a power grid that optimizes the capabilities of clean energy while prioritizing reliability and affordability," Howe said. "In addition, FERC's backstop siting rule will help ensure that no one state can veto transmission lines that are in the general interest of the nation."
Quentin Scott, federal director for Chesapeake Climate Action Network, declared that "this announcement is a major leap forward to ease the bottlenecks that have slowed the clean energy revolution. These new federal rules will unleash the nearly 2000 gigawatts of clean energy in the transmission queue, putting us back on the pathway for 100% clean energy by 2035."
"When I talk with clean energy developers, their biggest challenge is certainty. The certainty of where they can build their projects, the certainty of how much their project will cost, and the certainty of their ability to connect to the grid. These latest FERC rules will provide that certainty," Scott added. He also urged Congress to "provide the financial incentives to expand transmission capacity."
"This rule will help shape a power grid that optimizes the capabilities of clean energy while prioritizing reliability and affordability."
Congress has already taken some action, as Sierra Club executive director Ben Jealous highlighted, pointing to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) signed by President Joe Biden in 2022. He said as that law "continues to usher in the clean energy future through deployment of solar, wind, and battery storage, this transmission standard will allow utilities to deliver Americans clean, affordable electricity, even in the face of rising demand and extreme weather caused by climate change."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other top Democrats joined advocacy organizations in lauding the rules, enacted as global temperatures continue to soar, underscoring the need to transition away from planet-heating fossil fuels.
"The clean energy incentives included in the Inflation Reduction Act have been a huge success but much of that success would be lost without the ability to bring power from places that generate renewable energy to communities all across the country," said Schumer. "A new historic advancement in our transmission policies is desperately needed, and the rules released by FERC today will go a long way to solving that problem."
"Last year, I pushed FERC to deliver a historic advancement in transmission policies that will lower costs and improve reliability by getting clean energy from where it is produced to where people live," he continued. "This is exactly what we need to see the clean energy revolution we catalyzed with the Inflation Reduction Act come to fruition. FERC's actions will help to fundamentally improve our power grid in the wake of the IRA."
The Senate leader and green groups welcomed the rules, but "the commission's sole Republican member, former Virginia regulator Mark Christie, was not so effusive," notedHeatmap's Matthew Zeitlin. "He issued a harsh dissent to his colleagues' decision, likely previewing a judicial challenge from Republican-governed states."
"While the commission's chair, former District of Columbia Public Service Commissioner Willie Phillips, and its other member, NRDC alum Allison Clements, both Democrats, largely spoke about the rule in terms of reliability and reforming the planning process," Zeitlin reported, "Christie made it seem like a climate change policy in disguise that would function as a 'transfer of wealth' to wind, solar, and transmission developers."
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