According to US media, Washington has approved $20 billion+ in weapon sales to Israel. The modern weaponry includes up to 50 F-15 fighter jets, up to 30 modern medium-range air-to-air missiles, tactical vehicles and a large number of tank and mortar shells. By giving Israel another carte blanche to continue the genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, the current Joe Biden administration has made it clear to the world that the US is also a direct participant in the massacre of Palestinians.
USA’s weapon for murdering Palestinians
It is clear that the delivery of fighter jets can take years; however, other weapons may soon arrive in Israel, including tank and mortar shells. The State Department announced that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has approved the weapons sale. “The United States is committed to Israel’s security, and it is vital for US national interests to help Israel develop and maintain a strong self-defence capability. The proposed sale meets these goals”, the official press release states. The statement stresses that the weapons are aimed at increasing Israel’s ‘ability to defend itself’.
The Israeli military, using US weapons, has already killed almost 40,000 Palestinian civilians, including more than 16,400 children, since declaring war on Gaza on October 7. Even babies are not spared. The Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram has just reported on another crime by the Israeli military. Mohammed Abu al-Qumsan had just collected the birth certificate of his three-day-old twins when he received the news that the babies and their mother had been bombed in his apartment in Gaza. Footage of a distraught Abu al-Qumsan crying and falling, still holding the birth certificates, has been widely shared on social media, becoming the latest evidence of crimes committed by Israel and the US as a result of the war in the Palestinian territory.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, at least 115 babies born after the Israeli war in Gaza have been killed so far. The announcement came amid Israeli media reports that the Israeli army is using children as human shields in Gaza to enter tunnels and buildings to make sure there are no explosives or traps before Israeli troops enter.
Nevertheless, in the eyes of US politicians, the mass murder of Palestinian civilians is tantamount to self-defence. In other words, Washington condones the mass killings that Israel continues to commit against the Palestinian people. Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, the United States has provided Israel with a huge number of weapons, despite growing calls to stop supplying weapons to Tel Aviv. This is in addition to $3.8 billion in annual military aid to Israel under a 10-year agreement.
US participation in genocide
A US-based human rights group advocating for Palestinians has mapped more than 70,000 bombs that Israel has dropped on the Gaza Strip since the start of the Gaza offensive. According to Jewish Voice for Peace, the Israeli army had shelled almost every inch of Gaza with US-made bombs. “With the assistance of the United States, the Israeli military is carrying out the goal of Zionism: the complete ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their land”, representatives of the group said, according to Al Jazeera. It added: “The United States does not just allow the Israeli government to commit genocide, they actively help it. It is high time to impose an arms embargo. We demand a complete cessation of financing, arming and support by the State of Israel for the oppression of Palestinians by the United States”.
The US has already turned a blind eye to similar calls to stop supplying weapons to Israel. The approval of the $20 billion arms package is the second major gift to Israel for its carnage in Gaza in less than a month. Speaking at a joint session of the US Congress in Washington on July 24, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was applauded 79 times, 58 of which were standing ovations. It was a great reward for Netanyahu, whose regime does not hesitate to kill defenceless Palestinian civilians. Congress’ applause to Netanyahu, who orders the killing of Palestinians, and the US military support for the Israeli regime’s genocidal war in Gaza will undoubtedly go down in world history as a horrific tragedy.
Israel is waging a massive propaganda war not only against Palestinians, but also against the fundamental principles of what it means to be a real American. Unfortunately, many Americans are so blinded by Israeli propaganda and their politicians are so loaded with Israeli money that they cannot or do not want to see it. The basis of Israel’s propaganda war is that it is wrong to kill Israelis, but not to kill non-Israelis. Hamas killing Israelis and Israelis killing Palestinians are opposites and must be interpreted differently.
One way to achieve this is to introduce ‘US patriotism’ into Israeli propaganda. The Israelis are doing this by claiming that many Israelis killed in the violence are «Americans». This statement is based on the US and Israeli policy of «dual citizenship», which contradicts the fundamental laws of each country on patriotism and loyalty. But it works.
When a rocket hit a Druze school in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the US attributed everything to Hezbollah, immediately protested and accused the Palestinians of «inhumanity». The media spread these stories across front pages and are broadcasting videos showing murdered children and women. They quoted Israeli officials in detail condemning the inhumanity of the Palestinians and going so far as to describe anyone who criticizes Israel, such as student protesters, as an ‘anti-Semite’ and a «Hamas supporter».
In stark contrast, when the Israeli military killed dozens of civilians, women and children who were in a safe zone near Rafah, the place where the Israeli military ordered them to go, most Americans ignored the scant media reports about the consequences of the war. When the IDF bombed the school building where refugees were staying, killing more than 90 civilians, the US and Israeli press blamed the Palestinians for all this, as the Hamas command was allegedly there. At the same time, no reliable facts were given.
‘Dual citizenship’ criminally serving Israel
The more Israel can claim that Arabs hate Americans, the easier it is to sell lies and propaganda to the American public and force the US media to act as a defender of Israel. That’s where dual citizenship comes in to play. Dual citizenship allows a person who has sworn his loyalty to the US to also swear loyalty to a foreign state, for example, Israel. When Israeli-American dual citizens exploit lands and property stolen by Israel from the Palestinians, they are Israelis. When these dual citizens are killed while serving in the Israeli armed forces, they are called Americans.
Many of the hostages held by Hamas have dual citizenship, both Israeli and US. But dual citizenship allows Israel, the media and politicians, who receive millions of campaign donations from the Israeli political lobby, to blame Hamas and the Palestinians for everything.
What is «dual citizenship»? How can a person claim loyalty to two foreign countries? This contradicts the term ‘loyalty’ because a person cannot be loyal to two countries that have different governments, foreign policies and citizenship laws. Every country requires an oath of allegiance. Those born in the United States automatically become citizens, and the oath of allegiance is self-evident. Immigrants who want to obtain US citizenship must also take an oath.
But the fact is that «dual citizenship», when a person takes the oath of allegiance to a foreign state, contradicts what it means to be an American. It is illegal. But, as has widely been noted, Israelis are engaged in much more serious illegal activities such as war crimes, land theft and genocide, so the illegality of dual citizenship is far down the list of US morality.
Viktor Mikhin, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”
