{PBJFlorida} Suspend U.S. Arms to Israel

 

	How many more children must die before we suspend all U.S. arms to Israel?
	Too much to bear Two relatives of the four boys from the Bakr family killed in the shelling (MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images). They were playing on the beach when it happened. Four boys from the same family, all killed by Israeli navy shells as they played on Gaza City beach. This was not a one-off, freak accident. Of the hundreds of Palestinians killed since Israeli air strikes began on July 8th, the vast majority have been civilians – many of them children. Indiscriminate targeting of civilian areas is against international law. And yet the U.S. and other countries are supplying weapons to Israel, knowing that they risk fuelling the current crisis. This has to stop. Dear Alicia, Late last week, tanks rolled into parts of Gaza as Israel stepped up Operation 'Protective Edge'. Since the current military offensive began, at least 375 Palestinians have been killed, 83 of them children*. Thousands of homes have been destroyed and families have been displaced. More than half the population of Gaza is without water, compounding the misery of civilians already suffering due to the ongoing blockade. With the ground invasion, the number of civilian casualties and the destruction of Gaza's already crippled infrastructure has increased. It is time to act. Call on the U.S. Government to stop giving arms to Israel. The Israeli army has been deliberately targeting civilian homes it claims belong to families of Hamas operatives. In several cases, however, no evidence has emerged that 'Hamas operatives' were in the houses at the time, or that the homes were being used for military purposes. Meanwhile, two Israelis have been killed and scores injured amid indiscriminate rocket fire by Palestinian armed groups. Indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks against civilians are prohibited under international law. Yet there's a risk arms from the U.S. are facilitating such war crimes. The U.S. is by far the largest exporter of military, security and policing equipment to Israel. The U.S. gives over $3 billion in annual "Foreign Military Financing" to Israel alone. As long as there is a substantial risk these arms will be used to commit the violations we're seeing now, all arms supplies to Israel must stop. The same is true for those supplying Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups. Call on the U.S. to stop all arms supplies to Israel - don't facilitate war crimes. In solidarity, Sunjeev Bery Advocacy Director, Middle East North Africa Amnesty International USA P.S. Our action to the U.S. Government is part of a coordinated campaign by Amnesty activists around the world to halt arms supplies to Israel, Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups and call for a comprehensive UN arms embargo. *Statistics from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in OPT, as of 20 July 2014. Actual figures are likely to be much higher given ever increasing death and injury toll.