[News] US Provides Israel Weapons Used on Gaza
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Fri Aug 1 11:38:21 EDT 2014
Weekend Edition August 1-3, 2014
*http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/08/01/us-provides-israel-weapons-used-on-gaza/*
Blood on American's Hands
US Provides Israel Weapons Used on Gaza
by KEN KLIPPENSTEIN & PAUL GOTTINGER
The United States exported to Israel a substantial amount of the same
types of weapons Israel is using to kill Gazans, a new analysis of US
Census Bureau export data reveals. For example, in 2013, the United
States sent Israel at least $196 million in parts for military airplanes
and helicopters, a category that includes F-16 fighter jets and Apache
helicopters, both of which Israel is currently using
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/17/world/middleeast/gaza-strip-beach-explosion-kills-children.html?_r=0> to
attack Gazan homes, offices and farmland. Between January and May 2014,
the United States had already exported $92 million in parts for military
airplanes and helicopters.
The military airplanes and helicopters that the United States sent
comprise the largest category, in dollar terms, of all weapons exports
to Israel that are publicly available via the US Census Bureau (see charts).
2014.7.22.Israel.Graph.2
2014.7.22.Israel.Graph.1
The United States also sent Israel parts for armored fighting vehicles
and ammunition cartridges. For example, between January and May 2014,
the United States exported $39 million in parts of armored fighting
vehicles, a category that includes M109 Doher Howitzers, which Israel
has used
<http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1553380/israel-launches-first-ground-assault-defiance-un-call-ceasefire> against
targets in Gaza. As for the ammunition cartridges, the United States
shipped well over $9 million of these during the same time period.
Even as the US government claims to want to broker a ceasefire, it
continues facilitating weapons exports to Israel. On July 14, the same
day President Obama vowed
<http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2014/07/14/us-welcomes-egypts-cease-fire-plan-for-israel> that
"We're going to continue to do everything we can to facilitate a return
to the 2012 ceasefire," the State Department approved
<http://www.dsca.mil/major-arms-sales/israel-aim-9x-sidewinder-missiles> a
possible $544 million sale of AIM-9x sidewinder missiles and associated
support services to Israel. These missiles can be used by F-16s to hit
ground targets.
Official US military aid to Israel
<http://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33222.pdf> stands at about $3 billion
per year due to a 10-year, $30 billion military aid package originally
signed by former President George W. Bush and upheld under President
Obama. This figure doesn't, however, include the $504 million in funding
dedicated to missile defense.
Truthout asked Andrew Feinstein, former Member of Parliament in South
Africa and currently an Open Society Institute fellow, to elaborate on
the accuracy of official aid estimates. He replied:
In reality, published military aid figures tend to be significant
understatements. "Official" military aid figures tend to be the
obvious direct aid given for military purchases, which usually have
to be purchased from the donor country. They tend to exclude various
other forms of aid that are linked to defense, such as training;
maintenance, repairs and spare parts funding; research and
development support; weaponry for special actions; black ops
payments (as used, for example, to arm the mujahedeen in Afghanistan
for many years); internal security funding; and a range of
unspecified funding from a variety of departments.
Israel is the only country allowed to use its US military aid to
build its domestic military industry, a privilege that includes
developing indigenous weapons systems based on US designs and using
US grants to purchase materials, as well as research and
development, from Israeli firms. Additional US funds are spent on
joint military research and production. Israel also enjoys
"fast-track" status for weapons sales, meaning it can make deals
directly with manufacturers in the US without having to go through
the Pentagon.
The billions of dollars in US military aid to Israel have bought a
stunning array of US weapons and military hardware for the IDF,
including 226 F-16 fighter jets, more than 700 M-60 tanks, 6,000
armored personnel carriers, scores of transport planes, attack
helicopters and utility and training aircraft, not to mention
innumerable bombs and tactical missiles of all kinds.
Israel has come under criticism for bombing medical facilities
<http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/21/gaza-crisis-unsc-and-obama-call-for-immediate-ceasefire-live-updates> and
news media buildings
<https://www.cpj.org/2014/07/at-least-three-journalists-injured-by-israeli-airs.php>,
and also for its failure to prevent civilian casualties. Truthout asked
Richard Falk, former UN special rapporteur on Palestinian human rights,
what he thought an appropriate response from the international community
might be. He replied:
[Israel] shows no sign of respecting the wishes of the international
community at this time for an immediate ceasefire. So I think that
the only way the world can show that it's at all serious about
protecting vulnerable peoples -- in this case the Palestinians --
would be to impose an arms embargo.
Falk also pointed out that the US weapons exports to Israel violate the
Arms Control Act of 1976. "There's no legal, political or moral argument
that would uphold the claim that Israel is acting in legitimate
self-defense," Falk said. "Gaza, from an international law point of
view, is not a foreign state, but an occupied territory. It's not clear
that you can exercise self-defense in relation to a territory that you
are responsible for administering in accordance with international
humanitarian law."
The United States also provides
<http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/23826-us-continues-to-surreptitiously-supply-arms-to-unelected-regime-in-egypt> substantial
weapons aid to Egypt's new military regime, led by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi,
who has exacerbated the crisis
<http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/03/gaza-egypt-tunnel-closures-add-economic-crisis-2014330144848664175.html> in
Gaza. Sisi, who rose to power after a military coup in July 2013,
quickly oversaw the destruction of approximately 80 percent
<http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/ar/originals/2013/08/egypt-envoy-palestine-hamas-incitement.html> of
tunnels running between Gaza and Egypt. These tunnels are an economic
lifeline for Gazans, who rely on them for medicine
<http://csis.org/files/publication/120215_Malka_GazaHealthSector_Web.pdf>,
fuel
<http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/19/palestinians-gaza-city-smuggling-tunnels>,
food
<http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/07/hamas-financial-crisis-gaza-egypt-morsi.html> and
other necessities; furthermore, an estimated 40 percent
<http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/07/hamas-financial-crisis-gaza-egypt-morsi.html> of
the Gazan government's revenue flows through these tunnels. The
destruction of the tunnels is thought to be contributing to serious
shortages
<http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/07/gaza-hospitals-struggle-treat-wounded-20147813225247559.html> of
medical supplies and crucial medicines, since Israel's bombing of Gaza
began on July 8. During Israel's 2012 offensive the tunnels served as an
important way for medical supplies to be brought into Gaza.
"The Sisi government is determined to destroy the Muslim Brotherhood and
they view Hamas as an extension of the Brotherhood," Falk said. "So [the
Sisi government is] in a certain way on the same side as Israel on this
particular confrontation."
/Copyright, Truthout. Reprinted with permission
<mailto:editor at truthout.org>./
/*Paul Gottinger* is a journalist based in Madison, Wisconsin, USA,
whose work focuses on the Middle East. He can be reached via Twitter
@paulgottinger <https://twitter.com/PaulGottinger> or email:
paul.gottinger at gmail.com <mailto:paul.gottinger at gmail.com>/
/*Ken Klippenstein* is a freelance journalist based in Madison,
Wisconsin, USA, whose work focuses on US foreign policy. He can be
reached via Twitter @kenklippenstein
<https://twitter.com/KenKlippenstein> or email:
kenneth.klippenstein at gmail.com/
--
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
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