After silently watching Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza for the past one year, the leaders of the Arab and Muslim countries have once more met in Riyadh to discuss the escalating conflict.
The so-called international alliance conceived by Saudi Arabia, with its aim of pressing for the establishment of a Palestinian state, failed to formulate a concrete plan of action to stop the Israeli invasion that has been extended to Lebanon.
18- To start working to mobilize international support to suspend Israel‘s participation in the United Nations General Assembly and all its affiliated entities, in preparation for submitting a joint draft resolution to the General Assembly – the tenth special session (Uniting for Peace), on the basis of its violations of the United Nations Charter, its threat to international peace and security, and its failure to fulfill its membership in the United Nations and based on the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice on July 19, 2024.
19- To call on all countries to ban the export or transfer of weapons and ammunition to Israel; urging countries to join the initiative proposed by the Republic of Turkey and the core group consisting of (18) countries, which was signed by (52) countries, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States, and to send a joint letter to the UN Security Council, the President of the UN General Assembly and the UN Secretary-General to halt the provision of arms to Israel, and to invite all countries to sign it.
Central to the statement was a call on the United Nations Security Council to enact (..)
Arab and Islamic leaders also demanded a global embargo on arms exports and transfers to Israel, (…)
Highlighting Saudi Arabia’s leadership role in uniting Arab and Muslim voices, the statement also called for broader international protection and support for the Palestinian people and the State of Palestine.
He stated that these actions, alongside what he views as continuous aggression, warrant Israel‘s expulsion from the UN.
Gharibabadi concluded his remarks by calling for the reactivation of the UN‘s apartheid committee to address Israel’s systemic violations of international law and its expansion of conflicts across the region, including Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen.
The letter, led by Türkiye‘s initiative, was signed by 52 countries and two international organizations, and submitted to the UN on Nov. 1, calling for a cessation of arms supplies to Israel.
“We must reiterate at every opportunity that selling weapons to Israel amounts to complicity in genocide,” Fidan said at a news conference in Djibouti, where he attended the third Ministerial Review Conference of Türkiye-Africa Partnership.
Israel’s Justice Minister Yariv Levin has announced Thursday, October 31, he’s pushing a bill to impose 20-year prison sentences on Israelis who advocate for sanctions against the country or its leaders. In other words: 20-year prison sentence for exercising freedom of speech in Israel.
The far-right government craziness in Israel is intensifying after a “Call for International Pressure,” initiated by Academy for Equality activists, was wide-world published last week and signed by over three thousands petitioners, including a group of leading Israeli academics, among them: Anat Matar, Smadar Ben-Natan, Moshé Behar, Tamir Sorek, Rafi Greenberg, Shira Klein, Lior Sternfeld, Ophira Gamliel, Hilla Dayan, Regev Nathansohn, Uri Hadar, Snait Gissis, Amalia Saar, Avishai Ehrlich, Efraim Davidi, Maya Rosenfeld, Avraham Oz, Ronnen Ben-Arie, Yael Berda, Anat Biletzki, Sivan Rajuan Shtang, Hannan Hever, Orly Lubin, Raz Chen-Morris, Hannah Safran, Revital Madar, Ilana Hairston, Amos Goldberg, Tamar Hager and Miriam Eliav-Feldon.
The petition stated, “We, Israeli citizens, living in Israel and abroad, are calling on the international community – the United Nations and its institutions, the United States, the European Union, the Arab League and all the countries of the world – to intervene immediately and apply every possible sanction… put real pressure on Israel for an immediate ceasefire.”
For a year now, since the war began, the international community has shown utter impotence to stop the indiscriminate attack on civilians in the Gaza Strip. Now, when it is clearer than ever that Israel intends to forcibly displace northern Gaza’s residents by committing some of the gravest crimes under the laws of war, the world’s nations must take action.
Without immediate, decisive action from the international community, without using every tool available – political, legal, economic – the mass killings in the northern Gaza Strip will continue and the suffering of its besieged civilians will grow. All international bodies and institutions must act now to compel Israel to stop the war and end the carnage.
A group of approximately 50 Black Muslim leaders have signed a statement urging Black and Muslim American voters to shun Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in her bid for the White House and instead back candidates who support a ceasefire in Gaza and an arms embargo on Israel.
The new statement, first reported by Middle East Eye, is the latest effort from Muslim community leaders – from imams to scholars, to activists to politicians – telling voters not to choose Vice President Harris in the upcoming November election over her unwillingness to commit to policy changes that would hold Israel accountable for its ongoing war on Gaza and now Lebanon, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and Lebanese people.
The ‘Gaza Effect’ may be much larger than anyone expects. Unless they change course, the Democrats are much likelier to lose in November than most people seem to realize.
It should be self-evident that genocide is bad because it’s genocide, but apparently it isn’t—at least, not to everyone.
“After the start of [Israeli military] operations in Gaza, the government immediately suspended all new export licenses, and all agreements signed after October 7th were not implemented,” the Italian leader stated during a debate at Italy’s Senate ahead of Thursday’s European Council summit.
Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Sir Keir Starmer MP,
Dear Prime Minister,
We, the undersigned, are writing to you as Muslim Labour Councillors representing communities all across Britain to call for an immediate and complete suspension of arms sales to Israel.
The tragic human toll we have seen over the past year has been unimaginable.
The letter by the Muslim councillors adds to pressure mounting on the British government from within the Labour Party to take stronger action against Israel.
Last week, 51 British MPs from seven political parties backed a parliamentary motion calling for the Labour government to take measures against Israel.
(October 15, 2024)
US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Monday criticized the Biden administration over the “horrors” seen in Gaza due to the actions of an „unrestrained“ Israel.
„The horrors unfolding in northern Gaza are the result of a completely unrestrained Netanyahu gov, fully armed by the Biden admin while food aid is blocked and patients are bombed in hospitals. This is a genocide of Palestinians,” she wrote on X.
„The US must stop enabling it. Arms embargo now,” added Ocasio-Cortez, a high-profile progressive lawmaker.
(October 16, 2024)
The president told the Arab League chief that Israel is trying to spread the flames of conflict across the region as it aims to occupy Palestinian lands to leave them without a homeland.
He continued by saying that Türkiye continues its initiatives to hold Israel accountable for its crimes, as he highlighted the importance of an extensive arms embargo to increase pressure on Tel Aviv.
In other campaign news, the Democratic National Committee has released an ad attacking Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein, claiming a vote for Stein is a vote for Trump. Democrats are planning to run the ad in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan. In August, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, CAIR, published a survey that showed Stein is leading Harris among Muslim voters in Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin. Stein has criticized Harris for refusing to cut off arms sales to Israel.
Jordan has called on the UN Security Council to impose a total arms embargo on Israel, citing its attacks on Palestinian and Lebanese civilians, UN peacekeepers, journalists, humanitarian workers, and Lebanese soldiers.
„Countries that truly want an end to the dangerous regional escalation and seek peace and security in the Middle East must immediately stop supplying Israel with the weapons it is using in its aggressions,“ Jordan‘s foreign minister Ayman Safadi wrote on X.
Macron reiterated his concern over the conflict in Gaza that is continuing despite repeated calls for a ceasefire. „I think we are not being heard,“ he said. „I think it is a mistake, including for the security of Israel,“ he said, adding that the conflict was leading to „hatred.“ Macron also said avoiding an escalation in Lebanon was a „priority.“ „Lebanon cannot become a new Gaza,“ he added.
The Senate will vote on these resolutions when it reconvenes in November. Let me explain why these arms sales must not proceed.
Israel clearly had the right to respond to Hamas’ horrific terrorist attack on October 7th, which killed 1,200 innocent Israelis and took hundreds of hostages. But Prime Minister Netanyahu’s extremist government has not simply waged war against Hamas. It has waged all-out war against the Palestinian people, killing more than 41,000 Palestinians and injuring more than 95,000 – 60 percent of whom are women, children, or elderly people. Netanyahu has bombed hospitals and schools, starved children, destroyed infrastructure and housing stock, and made life unlivable in Gaza. The United States must end its complicity in this atrocity.
Sending more weapons is not only immoral, it is also illegal. The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Arms Export Control Act lay out clear requirements for the use of American weaponry – Israel has egregiously violated those rules.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and a pair of his Senate colleagues on Wednesday formally introduced resolutions aimed at blocking a series of proposed arms sales to the Israeli government as it bombards Gaza and Lebanon, deepening humanitarian crises there and pushing the region to the brink of all-out war.
The six Joint Resolutions of Disapproval, five of which were backed by Sens. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), would together prevent the sale of $20 billion of U.S. weaponry to Israel. The Biden administration approved the massive sale of Joint Direct Attack Munitions, tank ammunition, F-15 fighter jets, and other military equipment last month.
(September 21, 2024)
Recent polls show Stein ahead of Harris among Muslim voters in several battleground states, including Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin, giving her Green Party a potentially pivotal role in swinging the election away from Harris in favor of former President Donald Trump.
„We‘re grateful for the strong support of Muslim voters who share with us the determination to end genocide in Gaza, and the injustice faced by our Muslim friends,“ Stein told Newsweek in a statement. „We urge all people of conscience to resist the propaganda telling you to hold your nose and vote for genocide.
Our message for the American Muslim community
Disagree respectfully: we understand that voting is a personal choice, and our perspectives and personal analysis can lead us all in different directions. Thus, there may not be a definitively right or wrong answer to the question of how American Muslims should vote in 2024. We expect disagreements to occur.
Although healthy debate is valuable, our community members should not disparage each other or assume the worst of each other’s intentions—especially of leaders and groups that have a history of doing good work and acting in good faith.
We must also reject those voices on either side of the 2024 debate who attempt to turn political and strategic disagreement about how to vote into a racial or religious conflict that divides our community.
(…)
American Muslim 2024 Election Task Force
Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action)
Council on American-Islamic Relations Action (CAIR Action)
The Civil Rights Alliance for America
Muslim American Society Action (MAS Action)
Muslim Civic Coalition-Activate
US Council of Muslim Organizations Civic Action Network (USCMO CAN)
Justice America
American Arab & Muslim Political Action Committee (AMPAC)
Voices of Muslims
(September 20, 2024)
A coalition of Muslim-American groups announced Friday that it will not endorse Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the November presidential election.
Instead, the coalition encouraged Muslim voters to support pro-Palestine candidates such as Green Party nominee Jill Stein, Justice for All nominee Cornel West, or others who back a ceasefire in Gaza and an arms embargo on Israel.
(September 20, 2024)
„After extensive consultation, discussion, and deliberation, the American Muslim 2024 Election Task Force has decided to encourage American Muslims to vote for any presidential candidate of their choosing who supports a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and a US arms embargo on the Israeli government, such as candidates Dr Jill Stein, Dr Cornel West or Chase Oliver,“ read the statement, obtained by Middle East Eye.
The statement was written by the American Muslim 2024 Election Task Force, an umbrella group formed this year that consists of a number of prominent Muslim organisations including the political arms of Americans for Justice in Palestine (AJP), Cair, and the US Council of Muslim Organizations.
“There are many tools that are available to the United States, not simply harsh talk, which seems to have gotten us nowhere. But is America ready to do that?”
“I’m not too optimistic,” he said, answering his own question.
On Britain, Prince Turki said the country had “a special responsibility for what is happening in Palestine” due to its role in the “ill-begotten Balfour Declaration in 1917”.
Announcing the move on Monday, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the decision to suspend 30 of 350 licenses did not amount to a blanket ban or an arms embargo, but only involved items with concerns over their use during the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Corbyn told Middle East Eye on Monday: „We were elected to Parliament to represent our communities – and today‘s announcement is about making sure their demands are properly represented.
„A collective voice is a stronger voice. We will ensure the government knows the true scale of public disgust over its continued, shameful refusal to end arms sales to Israel.
The suspension, announced by Foreign Secretary David Lammy in parliament on Monday, is understood to cover components for military aircraft, including fighter aircraft, helicopters and drones.
“Facing a conflict such as this, it is this government’s legal duty to review export licences,“ Lammy told MPs.
During the DNC in Chicago, we made our demand for an arms embargo on Israel clear. Time and time again, we heard politicians — including Sen. Tammy Duckworth who told us back in October that she would continue sending weapons to Israel — posing as advocates for women and reproductive rights while arming Israel. They can’t hide from one undeniable fact: Genocide is not feminist.
Send a letter to the women of the Senate below and tell them: We Need an Arms Embargo on Israel NOW!
In a resolution (A/HRC/55/L.30) on the Human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and the obligation to ensure accountability and justice, adopted by a vote of 28 in favour, 6 against and 13 abstentions (as orally revised), the Council demands that Israel, the occupying power, end its occupation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem; also demands that Israel immediately lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip and all other forms of collective punishment; calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, for immediate emergency humanitarian access and assistance, and for the urgent restoration of basic necessities to the Palestinian population in Gaza; calls upon all States to take immediate action to prevent the continued forcible transfer of Palestinians within or from Gaza; calls upon all States to cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel; urges all States to continue to provide emergency assistance to the Palestinian people and calls upon all States to ensure that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East receives predictable sustained and sufficient funding to fulfil its mandate; invites the General Assembly to recommend that the Government of Switzerland promptly convene the Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Convention on measures to enforce the Convention in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem; requests the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel to report on both the direct and indirect transfer or sale of arms, munitions, parts, components and dual use items to Israel, the occupying power, and to analyse the legal consequences of these transfers, and to present its report to the Council at its fifty-ninth session; requests the Secretary-General to ensure the availability of all additional resources, including through voluntary resources, necessary to enable the Commission of Inquiry to carry out its mandate; requests the Office of the High Commissioner to deploy the additional necessary personnel, expertise and logistics to the occupied Palestinian territory country office to document and pursue accountability for violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law committed in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem; and requests the High Commissioner for Human Rights to report on the implementation of the present resolution to the Council at its fifty-eighth session, to be followed by an interactive dialogue; and decides to remain seized of the matter.
The results of the vote are as follows:
In favour (28): Algeria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Burundi, Chile, China, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Eritrea, Finland, Gambia, Ghana, Honduras, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Morocco, Qatar, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, and Viet Nam.
Against(6): Argentina, Bulgaria, Germany, Malawi, Paraguay and United States.
Abstentions (13): Albania, Benin, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, France, Georgia, India, Japan, Lithuania, Montenegro, Netherlands, and Romania.
(05.04.2024)
The UN’s top human rights body adopted a resolution on Friday condemning the alleged “use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in Gaza”, while also calling for an arms embargo on Israel.
(04.04.2024)
The Biden administration has continued to provide weapons at a rapid pace despite the overwhelming evidence that war crimes are being committed by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians in the occupied Gaza Strip using U.S.-made munitions. While Palestinians in Gaza remain at risk of genocide and an imminent Israeli government-engineered famine, President Biden last week authorized the transfer of 1,800 MK84 2000-pound bombs that one senior administration official said, “can destroy entire blocks.” opens in a new tab According to news reports, the President is also getting close to greenlighting a sale of $18 billion for American-made F-15 fighter jets. opens in a new tab
– Israeli forces unlawfully attacked a residential building in Gaza on October 31, 2023, absent any apparent military target, killing at least 106 civilians, including 54 children.
– Scores of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza since October 7 have caused thousands of civilian casualties, underscoring the greater risk of unlawful attacks from explosive weapons in populated areas.
– Governments should suspend arms transfers to Israel, support the International Criminal Court investigation in Palestine, and impose targeted sanctions on officials responsible for laws-of-war violations.
(04.04.2024)
The inquiry was based on testimonies from 16 people the group spoke to between January and March, satellite images, dozens of photographs and videos from the site, as well as those shared on social media, the international rights group said on Thursday as it released the findings of its investigation.
It called on governments to suspend weapons transfers to Israel and support the International Criminal Court’s (ICC’s) investigation in Palestine, saying the attack was among the “deadliest single incidents for civilians” since Israel’s war on Gaza started in October.
(01.03.2024)
We, the undersigned parliamentarians, declare our commitment to end our nations’ arms sales to the State of Israel.
Our bombs and bullets must not be used to kill, maim, and dispossess Palestinians. But they are: we know that lethal weapons and their parts, made or shipped through our countries, currently aid the Israeli assault on Palestine that has claimed over 30,000 lives across Gaza and the West Bank.
We cannot wait. Following the interim ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Genocide Convention case against the State of Israel, an arms embargo has moved beyond a moral necessity to become a legal requirement.
We will not be complicit in Israel’s grave violation of international law. The ICJ ordered Israel not to kill, harm or “deliberately [inflict] on the [Palestinians] conditions of life calculated to bring about… physical destruction.” They have refused. Instead, they press on with a planned assault on Rafah that the Secretary General of the United Nations has warned will „exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare.“
Today, we take a stand. We will take immediate and coordinated action in our respective legislatures to stop our countries from arming Israel.
Signatories:
(02.03.2024)
The statement‘s signatories include legislators from Israel‘s top allies and weapons suppliers, including the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Canada. Just two U.S. lawmakers—Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.)—backed the statement.
The statement includes six signatories from Germany, which is facing an International Court of Justice (ICJ) case alleging complicity in genocide against Palestinians.
The lawmakers argued that an arms embargo on Israel is both „a moral necessity“ and „a legal requirement,“ given the ICJ‘s interim ruling in late January.
(04.03.2024)
Amid the deadly war in Gaza, over 200 legislators from 11 countries unite to oppose their countries’ arms exports to Israel. In a declaration published by the Progressive International parliamentarians declared “our commitment to end our nations’ arms sales to the State of Israel.”
“Our bombs and bullets must not be used to kill, maim, and dispossess Palestinians. But they are: we know that lethal weapons and their parts, made or shipped through our countries, currently aid the Israeli assault on Palestine that has claimed over 30,000 lives across Gaza and the West Bank. We cannot wait. Following the interim ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Genocide Convention case against the State of Israel, an arms embargo has moved beyond a moral necessity to become a legal requirement.
(23.02.2024)
“The need for an arms embargo on Israel is heightened by the International Court of Justice’s ruling on 26 January 2024 that there is a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza and the continuing serious harm to civilians since then”, the experts said. The Genocide Convention of 1948 requires States parties to employ all means reasonably available to them to prevent genocide in another state as far as possible. “This necessitates halting arms exports in the present circumstances”, the experts said.
The experts welcomed the suspension of arms transfers to Israel by Belgium, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and the Japanese company Itochu Corporation. The European Union also recently discouraged arms exports to Israel.
The experts urged other States to immediately halt arms transfers to Israel, including export licenses and military aid. The United States and Germany are by far the largest arms exporters and shipments have increased since 7 October 2023.
Under these circumstances, this Declaration calls not only for the denunciation of Israel’s genocidal assault but also for taking effective action to permanently prevent its repetition. We come together due to the urgency of the moment, which obliges global intellectuals to stand against the ongoing horrific ordeal of the Palestinian people and, most of all, to implore action by those who have the power, and hence the responsibility, to do so. Israel’s continuing rejection of a permanent ceasefire intensifies our concerns.
Many weeks of cruel devastation caused by Israel’s grossly disproportionate response to the October 7 attack, continues to exhibit Israel’s vengeful fury. That fury can in no way be excused by the horrendous violence of Hamas against civilians in Israel or inapplicable claims of self-defense against an occupied population.
(…)
In addition, Israel has been greenlighting settler-led violence and escalating ethnic cleansing efforts in the West Bank. Given these developments we urge national governments to embargo and halt all shipments of weapons to Israel, especially the United States and the United Kingdom, which should also withdraw their provocative naval presences from the Eastern Mediterranean; we urge the UN Security Council and General Assembly to so decree without delay.