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Weekend Edition August 1-3, 2014<br>
<b><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/08/01/us-provides-israel-weapons-used-on-gaza/">http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/08/01/us-provides-israel-weapons-used-on-gaza/</a></small></small></b><br>
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<div class="subheadlinestyle">Blood on American's Hands</div>
<h1 class="article-title">US Provides Israel Weapons Used on Gaza</h1>
<div class="mainauthorstyle">by KEN KLIPPENSTEIN & PAUL
GOTTINGER</div>
<div class="main-text">
<p>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 <a
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/17/world/middleeast/gaza-strip-beach-explosion-kills-children.html?_r=0"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.nytimes.com']);"
target="_blank">using</a> 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.</p>
<p>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).</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter"
alt="2014.7.22.Israel.Graph.2"
src="cid:part2.06030708.07050409@freedomarchives.org"
height="483" width="479"></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter"
alt="2014.7.22.Israel.Graph.1"
src="cid:part3.04070708.04090002@freedomarchives.org"
height="483" width="482"></p>
<p>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 <a
href="http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1553380/israel-launches-first-ground-assault-defiance-un-call-ceasefire"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.scmp.com']);"
target="_blank">used</a> against targets in Gaza. As for the
ammunition cartridges, the United States shipped well over $9
million of these during the same time period.</p>
<p>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 <a
href="http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2014/07/14/us-welcomes-egypts-cease-fire-plan-for-israel"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.usnews.com']);"
target="_blank">vowed</a> that “We’re going to continue to
do everything we can to facilitate a return to the 2012
ceasefire,” the State Department <a
href="http://www.dsca.mil/major-arms-sales/israel-aim-9x-sidewinder-missiles"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.dsca.mil']);"
target="_blank">approved</a> 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.</p>
<p>Official US military <a
href="http://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33222.pdf"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','download','http://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33222.pdf']);"
target="_blank">aid to Israel</a> 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.</p>
<p>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:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Israel has come under criticism for bombing <a
href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/21/gaza-crisis-unsc-and-obama-call-for-immediate-ceasefire-live-updates"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.theguardian.com']);"
target="_blank">medical facilities</a> and <a
href="https://www.cpj.org/2014/07/at-least-three-journalists-injured-by-israeli-airs.php"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.cpj.org']);"
target="_blank">news media buildings</a>, 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:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[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.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>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.”</p>
<p>The United States also <a
href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/23826-us-continues-to-surreptitiously-supply-arms-to-unelected-regime-in-egypt"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.truth-out.org']);"
target="_blank">provides</a> substantial weapons aid to
Egypt’s new military regime, led by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who
has exacerbated the <a
href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/03/gaza-egypt-tunnel-closures-add-economic-crisis-2014330144848664175.html"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.aljazeera.com']);"
target="_blank">crisis</a> in Gaza. Sisi, who rose to power
after a military coup in July 2013, quickly oversaw the
destruction of approximately <a
href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/ar/originals/2013/08/egypt-envoy-palestine-hamas-incitement.html"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.al-monitor.com']);"
target="_blank">80 percent</a> of tunnels running between
Gaza and Egypt. These tunnels are an economic lifeline for
Gazans, who rely on them for <a
href="http://csis.org/files/publication/120215_Malka_GazaHealthSector_Web.pdf"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','download','http://csis.org/files/publication/120215_Malka_GazaHealthSector_Web.pdf']);"
target="_blank">medicine</a>, <a
href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/19/palestinians-gaza-city-smuggling-tunnels"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.theguardian.com']);"
target="_blank">fuel</a>, <a
href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/07/hamas-financial-crisis-gaza-egypt-morsi.html"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.al-monitor.com']);"
target="_blank">food</a> and other necessities; furthermore,
an estimated <a
href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/07/hamas-financial-crisis-gaza-egypt-morsi.html"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.al-monitor.com']);"
target="_blank">40 percent</a> of the Gazan government’s
revenue flows through these tunnels. The destruction of the
tunnels is thought to be contributing to serious <a
href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/07/gaza-hospitals-struggle-treat-wounded-20147813225247559.html"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.aljazeera.com']);"
target="_blank">shortages</a> 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.</p>
<p>“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.”</p>
<p><em>Copyright, Truthout. Reprinted with <a
href="mailto:editor@truthout.org">permission</a>.</em></p>
<p><em><b>Paul Gottinger</b> is a journalist based in Madison,
Wisconsin, USA, whose work focuses on the Middle East. He
can be reached via Twitter <a
href="https://twitter.com/PaulGottinger"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://twitter.com']);">@paulgottinger</a>
or email: <a href="mailto:paul.gottinger@gmail.com">paul.gottinger@gmail.com</a></em></p>
<p><em><b>Ken Klippenstein</b> is a freelance journalist based
in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, whose work focuses on US foreign
policy. He can be reached via Twitter <a
href="https://twitter.com/KenKlippenstein"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://twitter.com']);">@kenklippenstein</a>
or email: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:kenneth.klippenstein@gmail.com">kenneth.klippenstein@gmail.com</a></em></p>
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