As first reported by
Jewish Currents, Ocasio-Cortezâs resolution would block the sale of Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs, which make up the bulk of the planned sale, and small diameter bombs. Both weapons are âsmartâ bombs that have tracking technology, and
The Washington Post previously described JDAMs as âprecision-guided missiles.â
Israel has used both types of bombs during the latest attacks on Gaza, during which Israel has killed over 200 Palestinians over the past two weeks. The bombs are manufactured by Boeing.
âThe United States should not be rubber-stamping weapons sales to the Israeli government as they deploy our resources to target international media outlets, schools, hospitals, humanitarian missions and civilian sites for bombing,â tweeted Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday. âWe have a responsibility to protect human rights.â
Congressional Democrats urge US administration to help Lebanon The lawmakers criticized Hezbollah and asked for greater French involvement in a letter to the US secretary of state. Chairman Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY) listens as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken testifies before the House Committee On Foreign Affairs March 10, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. - Ken Cedeno/Getty Images
May 19, 2021
Several Democrats in Congress wrote a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday urging him to address Lebanon’s worsening crisis.
The letter, led by House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), was spurred by the plummeting of Lebanon’s currency and rising unemployment and food prices.
With time running out to act, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday introduced a resolution aimed at blocking the Biden administration s proposed sale of $735 million in advanced weaponry to the Israeli government as it continues its deadly assault on the occupied Gaza Strip.
The new resolution (pdf) which Ocasio-Cortez introduced alongside Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) came just ahead of the May 20 deadline for congressional action on a weapons deal that would send Boeing-made Joint Direct Attack Munitions and Small Diameter Bombs to the government of right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. For decades, the U.S. has sold billions of dollars in weaponry to Israel without ever requiring them to respect basic Palestinian rights, Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement. In so doing, we have directly contributed to the death, displacement, and disenfranchisement of millions.
Top Republican Senators Blame Middle East Fighting on Biden
Top GOP senators on Wednesday laid blame for the fighting in the Middle East at the feet of President Joe Biden, pointing to his administration’s dismissal of the peace accords struck between Israel and several countries under the former president and Biden’s intention to re-enter the Iran nuclear deal.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) recalled being present when the Abraham Accordswere signed at the White House. The agreements were hammered out between the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and Israel, with help from then-President Donald Trump.
“I spoke with the ambassadors and foreign ministers from the UAE and from Bahrain. Both said virtually the identical thing; both said ‘it is now clear to us that America stands unequivocally with Israel. We want to be friends with America. Therefore we will be friends with Israel.’ That clarity that strength produces peace,” Cruz told a briefing in Washington.
May 19, 2021
WASHINGTON (AP) Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his envoy reached out to Palestinian and regional Arab leaders Tuesday on a ninth day of Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rockets, while some House Democrats split on whether to step up pressure for a cease-fire and for more forceful U.S. diplomacy to end the fighting.
Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee weighed but on Tuesday shelved writing President Joe Biden to demand that he delay a pending $735 million sale of precision-guided missiles to Israel. Dozens of progressive and mainstream Democratic lawmakers have called for a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza s Hamas militants, and some Democrats are demanding Biden push harder for an end to fighting.