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Members of the Executive Branch of the United States are burning the midnight oil to ensure that Israel can continue actions in Gaza that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) believes to be the beginnings of a genocide.
Meanwhile in the People’s House, it’s clear that bills to furnish billions for Israeli bombs to kill Palestinians are not being passed by representatives voting along party lines, or trying to ensure they don’t upset the Israel lobby; there are real believers in the Zionist cause.
Take comments made on Tuesday by Rep. Andy Ogles (R – TN) that seemed to indicate he was in favor of killing all Palestinian children in Gaza, because that’s exactly what he was asked about.
The situation wasn’t exactly ideal for use as cold hard evidence, since Ogles was confronted by peace protestors in Washington.
“I’ve seen the footage of shredded children’s bodies. That’s my taxpayer dollars that are going to bomb those kids,” an activist said to Ogles with a recording device close to his head.
“I think we should kill ’em all, if that makes you feel better,” Ogles replied, before adding “everybody in Hamas”. Ogles’ office insisted he was specifically talking about Hamas, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that the Congressman replied to a comment about children being killed by Israel with US support with “kill ’em all,” after deliberately thinking about it for a moment.
Ogles isn’t alone in sharing the genocidal rhetoric of the Israeli Knesset. Rep. Brian Mast (R – FL), a former member of the Israeli Defense Forces, made similar deliberate comments during a similar confrontation with Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the activist journalism outfit Code Pink, and other activists, who asked Mast if he had seen “the pictures of all the babies being killed” in Gaza.
“These are not innocent Palestinian civilians across the world,” Mast replied, referring to the Palestinian diaspora. “I think it would be better if we killed the terrorists and killed all of their supporters,” he told another activist.
Evidence presented to the International Criminal Court to show Israel intends to commit genocide included a slew of statements from Israeli cabinet members and members of the Israeli infantry repeating variations on the phrase “there are no innocents in Gaza” with their argument being that they voted Hamas as their leadership. Examples are here, here, here, and here.
“They’ve destroyed more infrastructure in Gaza than they did in Dresden,” during World War II, another activist said.
“And there’s more infrastructure that needs to be destroyed,” Mast replied.
In the White House
On Wednesday, the US used its veto for the third time in the UN Security Council against a resolution on an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Her lockstep ally, the UK, abstained, but France voted in favor. US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield stood alone in ensuring Israel’s genocide was uninterrupted.
While the provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice were grounded in South Africa’s presentation of evidence that the war thus far is simply the first of many acts that very well could become a genocide, the court has no power to enforce its judgments.
Amb. Thomas-Greenfield argued that negotiations with Hamas via Qatar over hostage negotiations would be jeopardized, without explaining how, if a ceasefire were implemented, and for that the US had to veto a third time.
“Proceeding with a vote today was wishful and irresponsible, and so while we cannot support a resolution that would put sensitive negotiations in jeopardy, we look forward to engaging on a text that we believe will address so many of the concerns we all share,” Amb. Thomas-Greenfield said after the vote.
The evidence suggests a ceasefire would aid in negotiations; since the slaughter in Gaza has already led to the deaths of around one-third of the hostages that were taken on October 7th, many in Israeli friendly-fire incidents.
In mid-January, the mother of one Israeli hostage said her son was killed in circumstances akin to “Auschwitz and the showers,” after the IDF deployed poison gas into one of the Hamas tunnels. The IDF stated that the service said “it cannot be denied nor confirmed,” that he died from gas. His mother said his body was found with crushed fingers and fingernails from his attempts to escape the tunnel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already rejected the hostage deal before the latest UN Sec. Council resolution had been voted on, and Qatar officials had also already said that the outlook of any progress was “not very promising”.
Still, the severity of the genocide and the ruling of the ICJ has the US using the words “ceasefire” for the first time since the slaughter began. Antiwar reports that the US is drafting its own resolution that calls for a “temporary ceasefire,” if Hamas releases the hostages, which is essentially Israel’s position. The US resolution leaves open the possibility of Israel restarting military operations after the truce. WaL
PICTURED ABOVE: (left) Rep. Andy Ogles from Tennessee’s 5th District, and Rep. Brian Mast, from Florida’s 21st District, have both repeated Israel’s genocidal rhetoric against the Palestinians.
