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Rights Group Says Netanyahu Visit Puts US Complicity in Spotlight
"U.S. officials are well aware of the mounting evidence that Israeli forces have committed war crimes in Gaza," said Human Rights Watch.
Jul 23, 2024
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington, D.C. ahead of his planned speech to a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress, a leading human rights organization said Tuesday that the visit by Israel's deeply unpopular leader shines a spotlight on the American government's complicity in atrocities committed in the Gaza Strip.
"U.S. officials are well aware of the mounting evidence that Israeli forces have committed war crimes in Gaza, including most likely with U.S. weapons," Human Rights Watch (HRW) executive director Tirana Hassan said in a statement. "U.S. lawmakers should be seriously concerned about the liability risks of continuing to provide arms and intelligence based on Israel's flimsy assurances that it's abiding by the laws of war."
The U.S. is Israel's leading ally, supplying the country with more weaponry than any other nation and frequently providing diplomatic cover on the world stage despite Israeli forces' frequent human rights violations in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories.
On Monday, as Netanyahu traveled to the U.S. capital, Israeli forces killed dozens of Palestinians in a massive attack in southern Gaza.
"It is like doomsday," one Gaza resident toldReuters.
"The invitation lends legitimacy to his deadly siege and bombardment—at a time when his governing coalition continues to bombard Gaza."
A U.S. State Department report published in May said it is "reasonable to assess" that Israeli forces have used American weaponry in ways "inconsistent" with international law, but the Biden administration has continued to approve arms sales to the country—including a previously delayed shipment of 500-pound bombs—despite mounting calls for a weapons embargo.
Legal experts have warned since the start of Israel's nearly 10-month assault on Gaza that U.S. officials risk being deemed complicit in genocide if they continue arming the Israeli government. A number of U.S. officials have resigned in protest of the Biden administration's support for Israel's war on Gaza.
HRW said Tuesday that the United States and other nations "should suspend military assistance and arms sales to Israel" and use their "leverage with Israel to save lives."
"Israeli forces have unlawfully attacked residential buildings, medical facilities, and aid workers, restricted medical evacuations, and used starvation as a weapon of war in the Gaza Strip, where nearly 500,000 people are experiencing a 'catastrophic' lack of food in famine-like conditions," the group said. "A staggering more than 38,600 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry."
The organization's statement came as Netanyahu arrived in the U.S. capital at the invitation of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who have helped approve billions of dollars in military aid for Israel.
A number of lawmakers are expected to boycott the Israeli leader's speech, and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris—who is expected to become the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee—will not be in attendance for Netanyahu's address due to a previously scheduled campaign event. U.S. President Joe Biden, who dropped out of the presidential race over the weekend, is expected to meet with Netanyahu at the White House on Thursday.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) announced late Monday that he will boycott Netanyahu's speech, writing in a social media post that the Israeli prime minister's "war strategy killed 12,000+ women and children, inflicted widespread starvation, and prioritized his political survival over the release of hostages."
"He should not have a platform before Congress," Merkley added.
Oxfam America president and CEO Abby Maxman echoed that message, saying in a statement Tuesday that "it is wildly inappropriate for Congress to have extended an invitation for Prime Minister Netanyahu to speak."
"The invitation lends legitimacy to his deadly siege and bombardment—at a time when his governing coalition continues to bombard Gaza, international condemnation is growing, Israelis are demanding that hostages be brought home, and, under his leadership, the Israeli military is bombing aid workers, schools and hospitals," said Maxman.
"Instead of granting Prime Minister Netanyahu the platform to advance his government's deadly policies before Congress," she added, "U.S. leaders must cut off the supply of bombs that are being used to kill civilians, destroy infrastructure, and undermine any hope for peace."
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UN Tax Convention Presents Historic 'Opportunity to Create Well-Being for All'
"At the U.N., low- and middle-income countries are in the majority, and they want a fair system where their voices are heard."
Apr 30, 2024
Tax justice advocates this week are expressing hope that delegates at a United Nations summit aimed at drafting an international tax convention will take the "once-in-a-century opportunity," as one campaigner and researcher said, to place the common good at the center of the global tax system instead of individual and corporate greed.
Representatives of U.N. member states are meeting for the Ad Hoc Committee to Draft Terms of Reference for a United Nations Framework on International Tax Cooperation, following decades of campaigning by countries in the Global South.
"It's happening," said Rebecca Riddell, policy lead for Oxfam America. "The start of historic negotiations for a fairer global tax system. We're here because of the leadership of African countries. Because of the 125 states that voted yes. And because of tireless civil society efforts."
The U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution last November calling for the meeting, with the committee required to submit "terms of reference to the General Assembly by August and a final vote on a tax convention framework expected by the end of 2025.
At the Tax Justice Network (TJN), Sergio Chaparro-Hernandez wrote last week that the negotiations are taking place with an "unprecedented level of transparency," with civil society groups able to account for the positions adopted by each state.
Another "noteworthy development" as the meeting gets underway, said Chaparro-Hernandez, is that "several of the 48 countries that had voted against Resolution 78/230 last year are now actively participating in the process."
"The European Union, for example, which voted as a bloc against the resolution last year, accepted the path set out by the resolution by stating in its initial statement at the organizational session that, 'the UN framework convention on tax cooperation can and should serve to further promote tax transparency and fair taxation,'" he added.
Along with TJN, other civil society groups including the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR), Eurodad, and Greenpeace are participating in the committee meeting and lobbying for a far-reaching convention framework that will "redefine the pillars of the international tax system and to make it fully inclusive, just, and effective."
"At the U.N., low- and middle-income countries are in the majority, and they want a fair system where their voices are heard," said Maria Ron Balsera, a researcher at CESR.
Under current global tax rules, the wealthiest individuals and corporations pocket $480 billion each year through the use of tax havens and other forms of tax evasion, said Greenpeace on Tuesday, "most countries just can't cover people's basic needs, nor meet their climate and biodiversity targets and commitments."
"The U.N. Tax Convention is a historical opportunity to create well-being for all, by moving decision-making power from a few rich [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development] countries to the U.N. where every country has a vote," said the group.
Chenai Mukumba, executive director of Tax Justice Network Africa, spoke to attendees of the committee meeting about prioritizing mechanisms to crack down on tax evasion.
"While we flag the importance of this work to developing countries, we cannot overemphasize that inclusive and effective tax cooperation is important that has benefits for our global community," said Mukumba. "The international community as a whole is better off when we have more countries that have resources and capacity to provide their citizens with essential services."
On Monday, Greenpeace Africa's pan-African political strategist Fred Njehu wrote to Ramy Mohamed Youssef, chair of the U.N. Tax Convention Committee, and addressed him not only as an advocate but as "a dad, a concerned citizen, and a taxpayer."
Changing global tax rules and ensuring the wealthy pay their fair share, said Njehu would unlock "the money for everyone’s basic needs and the recovery of climate and nature."
"We both know that this is mostly because multinational corporations have been exploiting the majority of the world for way too long, and governments in some rich countries have facilitated it," said Njehu. "They're making billions on the destruction of the world and our suffering. And then, they hide their profits in tax havens. A downward spiral where wealth and power have become so concentrated as to threaten democracy, civilization, and the living world we're part of."
"Mr. Youssef, you have a big responsibility and a unique opportunity to turn things around this year," he added. "Civil society, academics, and countries that represent 80% of the world’s population are backing you and your colleagues at the U.N. Tax Convention Committee to change the global tax rules, which are critical for how the global economy works... Now we need equality, transparency and accountability. Polluters must pay and the wealthy must be taxed fairly."
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Ahead of Biden State of the Union, Oxfam Says No More 'Platitudes' on Gaza
"The crisis in Gaza has become a defining issue for President Biden, and he has an obligation to act," said the head of Oxfam America.
Mar 07, 2024
With conditions in Gaza growing more catastrophic by the hour, U.S. President Joe Biden is facing pressure to use his State of the Union address Thursday night to announce substantive action to stop Israel's relentless bombing campaign and guarantee that food, medicine, fuel, and other aid reaches the Palestinian territory's famine-stricken population.
"The Biden administration can and must do more to save lives and prevent famine in Gaza now," Abby Maxman, president and CEO of Oxfam America, said in a statement Wednesday. "Many Americans are watching the State of the Union expecting commitments and actions from President Biden to respect its own laws, value human life, and use its leverage to put a stop to the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza."
"There is no more time for platitudes," said Maxman. "The United States must use all of its power and act: call for a cease-fire, the release of all hostages, full access for humanitarian aid, and an embargo of lethal arms to Israel and Palestinian armed groups. The United States has a moral and legal responsibility to prevent a famine—and it is not doing everything in its power to do so. The crisis in Gaza has become a defining issue for President Biden, and he has an obligation to act."
Israel and Hamas are currently negotiating the terms of a potential temporary cease-fire, which Biden had hoped would be in place before his address on Thursday.
Biden has criticized the U.S.-armed Israeli military's "indiscriminate bombing" of the Gaza Strip and the Netanyahu government's obstruction of humanitarian assistance as children starve to death, but he has refused to take steps long supported by human rights groups and progressive lawmakers—such as attaching conditions to weapons sales that have fueled the five-month war.
The administration's persistent refusal to take substantive action—and continued reliance on private meetings with Israeli officials and mild public chiding in the face of one of the worst humanitarian emergencies in modern history—has frustrated even Biden's most stalwart allies in Congress.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), described by The Associated Press as Biden's "closest confidant in Congress," is among those adding new layers of pressure on the president. Following Israel's deadly attack on Palestinians seeking food aid last week, Coons said that U.S. military support for the Netanyahu government "becomes untenable when Israel demonstrates they are unwilling to listen to us."
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) toldThe New York Times ahead of Biden's address to a joint session of Congress that he wants "the president to use his leverage to get a cease-fire and to get the desperately needed humanitarian aid in."
"We have more leverage here than we're using," said McGovern.
"We are more than statistics in the toll of this genocide; we have names, families, and aspirations that persist despite the turmoil surrounding us."
Hours before Biden's speech, hundreds are expected to rally outside the White House to demand an immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza and an arms embargo on Israel, which has used U.S.-made weapons to commit atrocities against civilians in the Palestinian enclave.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, toldSlate on Thursday that what she has "tried to explain to the White House over and over again is that this is an issue of deep moral consequence, because people really believe at the core that it is untenable for the United States to be complicit in this war."
"We are the largest funder of military aid to Israel," said Jayapal. "Eighty-three percent of the bombs that have been dropped in Gaza are U.S. bombs. And yet we're airdropping 38,000 meals into Gaza when there's 500,000 people starving because Israel won't allow humanitarian aid to go through the border. So, we could lose this election over Democrats' and the president's position on what is happening in Gaza."
"There needs to be a dramatic policy shift," Jayapal added.
Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) echoed that message in a statement Wednesday announcing her guest at the State of the Union address— Dr. Intimaa Salama, a dentist and master's student at St. Louis University who was born and raised in Gaza.
Dozens of Salama's family members have been killed in Israel's assault, including her grandmother and two of her brothers.
"We are more than statistics in the toll of this genocide; we have names, families, and aspirations that persist despite the turmoil surrounding us," said Salama. "My call is for a cease-fire and for a future where our children's joy and laughter overshadow the echoes of wars, ensuring that we are all treated with the dignity and respect that every human being deserves."
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