THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION IS COMPLICIT IN ISRAEL’S WAR CRIMES AND MUST WITHDRAW SUPPORT NOW
Press Releases / February
14, 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Adina Marx | media@jvp.org | 929-290-0317
“Statements of ‘deep concern’ are meaningless in
the face of the Israeli government’s rapidly escalating state violence against
Palestinians living under occupation and siege.”
Washington, D.C., February 14, 2023 –
Following another night of deadly Israeli military raids on Palestinian
communities, Jewish Voice for Peace Action calls on the Biden administration to
take concrete actions to hold the Israeli government accountable for violations
of human rights and international law and withdraw U.S. support now.
During its first 1.5 months in office, Benjamin
Netanyahu’s far-right coalition government is behaving exactly as promised:
accelerating its violent attacks on Palestinians and committing grave violations
of human rights and international law. Meanwhile, the Biden administration
wrings its hands, makes hollow statements, and takes no meaningful action.
Israel’s far-right government has launched an
escalated phase of state violence against Palestinians, which is the root cause
of every senseless and tragic death. In the first six weeks of 2023, Israeli
forces and settlers killed 50 Palestinians, including 11 children. Last
year was already the deadliest for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since
2004, and 2023 is now set to out-pace it. Attacks carried out by Palestinians
in illegal settlements in Jerusalem, gunfire from Jewish-Israeli citizens
carrying weapons during these attacks, and shooting at attackers, have resulted
in the killing of 11 Jewish Israelis.
The Israeli government’s domination and oppression of
Palestinians is the root cause of each of these deaths. Netanyahu and the other
extremist leaders in his coalition government are using this moment to justify
the rapid expansion of the settler project – demolishing more Palestinian
homes, building more settlements and outposts, and increasing mass arrests and
displacement of Palestinian communities. This week’s announcement to approve
thousands more illegal settler units and nine outposts makes the intentions of
the government even more explicit.
The United States is fully complicit in the violence
of Israel’s current and past governments. In addition to the $3.8 billion
dollars in unconditional annual military funding sent from the U.S., the Biden
administration has actively sought to silence Palestinians seeking
accountability at home and in the international arena. Netanyahu’s coalition
government is exposing the State of Israel as the violent apartheid regime it
has always been and removing the fake mask of democracy. It is long past time
for the Biden administration to respond.
The Biden administration’s finger-wagging over the
Israeli government’s actions is inadequate and will not lead to any meaningful
change. The U.S. should immediately take steps to withdraw support now and to
hold the Israeli government accountable for its gross violations of human
rights and war crimes against Palestinians, including ending U.S. military
funding and diplomatic support for Israel’s apartheid regime.
“The Biden administration currently appears more
concerned with wanting Israel to maintain its facade of democracy, than with
the lives and rights of Palestinians living under Israeli apartheid. Statements
of ‘deep concern’ are meaningless in the face of the Israeli government’s
rapidly escalating state violence against Palestinians living under occupation
and siege. It is long past time to finally end U.S. complicity in Israeli
apartheid.”
— Beth Miller, Political Director of
Jewish Voice for Peace Action
Beth Miller is available to speak with the media
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