On August 12, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, issued a press statement commemorating the anniversary of the adoption of the Geneva Conventions.
He said: “The 75th anniversary of the adoption of the 1949 Geneva Conventions is a fitting occasion to reaffirm our commitment to respecting international humanitarian law… We call on others to do the same.”
Except Israel.
Blinken added: “Faced with the horrible reality of war, parties to armed conflict must comply with international humanitarian law to mitigate many of war’s worst humanitarian consequences, support pathways to peace, and advance the protection of civilians and other victims.”
Except Israel.
Of course, Blinken did not add the words “except Israel” but he should have, considering what had happened just two days earlier.
On August 10, Israel dropped bombs on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians, killing over 100 and injuring hundreds more.
The New York Times reported that one witness “said he found a scene of carnage unlike any he had seen in the past 10 months of war: A prayer hall strewed with bodies and body parts over two floors.” Another witness said “the dead were all in pieces.”
CNN said there was “no advance warning of the attack” and reported that the director for ambulance and emergency services said, “All of these people who were targeted were civilians, unarmed children, the elderly, men and women.”
NBC News described the event as “one of the deadliest attacks in the 10-month war” and said the strikes hit the school “during dawn prayers.” The network reported, “The White House said it was deeply concerned.” Two days earlier, Secretary Blinken announced that the US was sending billions more to Israel in a new weapons package.
The Financial Times quoted a surgeon as saying, “This was a very bloody day,” and that he had performed several amputations including on at least four children.
War deaths in Gaza have now passed 40,000 with thousands more still buried under the rubble. At least two-thirds were women and children. Over 95 percent of the people in Palestine were not members of Hamas.
Jeffrey Sachs is a world-renowned economist and foreign policy expert and holds the highest rank awarded by Columbia University. He is a Jew and a fierce critic of this war.
He said during Judge Napolitano’s August 13th podcast that Israel is now a “completely lawless country.” He said Israel is “doing whatever it can to provoke” war in the Middle East and “this is not what the American people want.”
He added that “Netanyahu and his party want no Palestinian state and this means no peace.” He said this is what the Israel Lobby wants.
Netanyahu received 50 standing ovations when he spoke to the Congress on July 24. None of these members would have applauded the killing of thousands of children in any other country. In fact, they would have been rushing to condemn it.
Professor Sachs has said in many interviews that the US is “complicit in the genocide” that is still going on in Gaza. He says this war would not last one more day without US support.
I believe God will punish the members of Hamas who did horrible things to Jewish people last October 7. But I also believe that God loves the innocent people of Palestine, too, especially the little children.
Psalm 147 says: “The Lord builds up Jerusalem, He gathers together the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” There are certainly no more outcast people in Israel today than those living at the brink of starvation in Gaza.
The Bible also instructs us, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, to “seek peace and pursue it.”
A few weeks ago the US supported a UN resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire. Netanyahu has ignored this because he either wants to kill all the Palestinian people or at least ethnically cleanse them out of Israel.
We are $35 trillion in debt. We are spending money we do not have to support this war. Almost every member of Congress is scared to death that the Israel Lobby will spend millions against them if they speak out against Netanyahu. I guess, unfortunately, that this war will continue.
Reprinted with author’s permission from The Knoxville Focus.
John James Duncan Jr. is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Tennessee’s 2nd congressional district from 1988 to 2019. A lawyer, former judge, and former long serving member of the Army National Guard, he is a member of the Republican Party.
