Feb 28, 2025
With the ceasefire in Gaza on the edge of collapse, Sanders once again introduced resolutions to block certain weapons sales to Israel.
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With the ceasefire in Gaza on the edge of collapse, Sanders once again introduced resolutions to block certain weapons sales to Israel.
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By LAZAR BERMAN
According to NBC, citing 3 US officials, the Biden Administration is weighing using weapons sales as leverage to pressure Israel to reduce the intensity of its operations in the Gaza Strip. Although no decisions have been made, the White House asked the Defense Department to review which weapons could be used as leverage on Israel, says the report, pointing at 155 mm artillery shells and JDAM kits to turn missiles into precision munitions. NBC says defensive systems are not under consideration. “The administration is focused on offensive military equipment in its review of what it could possibly withhold or delay,” the report says. It also notes, however, that officials “have also discussed offering the Israeli government more of the weapons it has requested” — to encourage Israel “to take some steps the administration has requested. One of Washington’s goals is to convince Israel to open humanitarian corridors to allow more aid to reach Gazans. The US has also reportedly urged Israel to do more to reduce civilian casualties. “There’s a lot more that needs to be done and that they need to be more careful about,” says an administration official.
The question was never if Biden and the US would weaken in their support of Israel, but when.
President Biden announced he would completely bypass Congressional approval and unilaterally sell weapons to Israel TWICE.
Photo source
Just for a bit of perspective:
🇺🇲💵 US Weapons Exports in 2022 totalled $205.6 Billion, up 49% over the same one-year period from 2021.
This makes Weapons Exports the third largest export category for the United States when commercial and government arms sales are tallied; with the largest export category being Mineral Fuels, Oils, and distillation products and the second largest export category being Machinery, Nuclear Reactors and Boilers.
These were the top five largest US Exports by category:
Mineral Fuels, Oils, Distillation products- $378.56 Billion
Machinery, Nuclear Reactors, Boilers- $229.59 Billion
Weapons Exports- $205.6 Billion
Electrical, Electronic Equipment- $197.75 Billion
Vehicles, other than railway/tramway- $134.89 Billion
US Government Arms exports alone were valued at $51.9 Billion in 2022, accounting for 40% of global government arms sales.
By comparison, Russian arms exports for 2022 are estimated at the equivalent of $10.8 Billion, while Chinese arms exports accounted for roughly 5% of global arms sales or roughly $6.5 Billion. Though admittedly, using US dollars as a comparison point can be limited in its ability to accurately represent the actual number and quality of weapons being sold.
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**The US no longer produces and exports the goods and services you would expect of a nation of its size, population and GDP. The US, which as recently as the 1970's led the world in global production, now only produces and exports overpriced weapons of war and a cultural hegemony that eats insidiously away at the bonds that hold communities together; for a divided nation is easier to conquer and a divided people are easier to rule.
Mere days after accusing Qatar of funding terrorism, President Trump signed off on a $12 billion arms deal with it
While President Trump berates Qatar for sponsoring terrorism at the highest levels, he is simultaneously authorizing the country to purchase over $21 billion of U.S. weapons.
One part of the deal was inked on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., when Qatar's Defense Minister met with U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis.
"We are pleased to announce today the signing of the letter of offer and acceptance for the purchase of the F-15QA fighter jets, with an initial cost of $12 billion dollars," read the Qatari Defense Minister's statement on Wednesday afternoon. "We believe that this agreement will propel Qatar's ability to provide for its own security while also reducing the burden placed upon the United States military in conducting operations against violent extremism."
Continue Reading.
Not even Joe Biden was willing to sell this weapons package to Qatar—yet now, the Trump administration appears to be rewarding those who sup
Why does the US sell weapons to Qatar, leading sponsor of state terrorism?
Not even Joe Biden was willing to sell this weapons package to Qatar—yet now, the Trump administration appears to be rewarding those who sup
‘A Real & Rare Thing’ – Canada To Halt Arms Sales To “War Criminal Illegal Regime of Isra-hell”
The Move Comes After Lawmakers Voted 204 – 117 in Favor of a Non-Binding Motion to Stop the Weapons Sales after a Lengthy Debate on Monday.
— March 20, 2024 | The Palestine Chronicle
Mélanie Joly, The Minister of Foreign Affairs, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, on 1 March 2024. Photograph: Canadian Press/Rex/Shutterstock
Canada will cease all future arms exports to Israel, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly has said.
The move comes after lawmakers voted 204 – 117 in favor of a non-binding motion to stop the weapons sales after a lengthy debate on Monday, the Anadolu news agency reported.
“It is a real thing,” Joly told the Toronto Star newspaper on Tuesday.
The original motion was for a weapons sales suspension but that was changed to an outright ban.
Also included in the motion was a clause that called for support of the eventual “establishment of the State of Palestine” in concert with Canada’s international partners, Anadolu reported.
Canada had earlier placed a temporary suspension on export permits for millions of dollars worth of military goods and technology, over possible human rights violations.
Existing Contracts
But there was some confusion previously as Global Affairs Canada continued to receive applications on arms exports to Israel and they were reviewed on a case-to-case basis, the Star reported.
Joly, however, reportedly insisted that after the Monday vote calling for the weapons ban, the Canadian government decided to honor the pledge.
Canada’s Defense Minister Bill Blair said Joly will decide how the ban is enforced.
“There are a number of existing contracts that are already in place, but this was a going-forward basis, I think that’s how the minister’s looking at it,” Blair reportedly told the Star.
“There has been a lot of concern expressed with respect to … lethal military sales to Israel during the conflict,” he was quoted as saying.
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East called the amended motion “watered-down” in a statement, but that it was “nonetheless a small step forward for ending Canadian complicity in Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.”
“While the final motion adopted by Parliament no longer called for the total suspension of all trade in military goods and technology with Israel, it called on Canada to cease the further authorization and transfer of arms exports to Israel to ensure compliance with Canada’s arms export regime,” the group said in a statement.
“This policy is critically urgent in light of evidence that Canada exported a record-breaking $28.5 Million in military goods to Israel in the first three months after October 7,” the statement added.
Lawsuit
Earlier this month, a coalition of Palestinian Canadians and human rights lawyers filed a lawsuit against the federal government seeking to stop it from permitting the export of military goods and technology to Israel.
The coalition sought “to hold the Canadian government to its legal obligations, both under international and domestic law, to ensure Canadian arms are not used to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity”, said Henry Off, a member of Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights in a statement.
UNRWA Funding
Last week Canada announced that it is resuming support to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) after a decision to pause funding because of Israeli allegations against the agency.
Canada’s Minister of International Development, Ahmed Hussen, said the decision came as a result of a desire to protect civilians.
“Canada is resuming its funding to UNRWA so more can be done to respond to the urgent needs of Palestinian civilians,” he said.
A statement by the Global Affairs of Canada said it “commends the independent review of UNRWA currently underway, led by Catherine Colonna, and anticipates reviewing the report assessing UNRWA’s neutrality mechanisms.”
Staggering Death Toll
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 31,923 Palestinians have been killed, and 74,096 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire.’
— (PC, Anadolu)