Above photo: Fencing Completely Around the US Capitol with Supreme Court in Background. Ann Wright.
Unbelievably, the U.S. Congress invited the war criminal Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress on July 24, thereby solidifying the complicity of the Executive and Legislative branches of the U.S. government in the genocide of Gaza.
More Security for Netanyahu Than for 32 Head of State at NATO events
Incredibly, the security arrangements for one person, Benjamin Netanyahu, surpass those implemented for 32 heads of state during the recent NATO anniversary in Washington, D.C.
While the NATO meetings involved high fences around the Washington Convention Center, the security for Netanyahu’s visit includes fencing off the entire U.S. Capitol complex, placing barricades in front of the House of Representatives and Senate buildings and around the Watergate complex where he stayed.
Additionally, the Capitol buildings will be closed to the public all day on July 24, an occurrence even rarer than the security measures taken for the annual Presidential State of the Union address to a Joint Session of Congress.
This increased security underscores the outrage of millions of U.S. citizens that he has been invited to speak at the U.S. Congress. But, the outrage has not turned violent, unlike the January 6 riot on the Capitol by Trump supporters.
Arrest Warrant Soon for Netanyahu for the 186,000 Palestinians killed in 9 months?
The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court has requested an arrest warrant for Netanyahu for his role in the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Over 39,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023 with tens of thousands still buried under the rubble of their homes.
The recent Lancet report states that over 186,000 have been killed by Israeli military action in the past 9 months.
Virtually all medical clinics and hospitals, schools and universities and residential buildings have been destroyed by the brutal Israel attacks on Gaza. Even the United Nations headquarters building in Gaza has been targeted and destroyed by Israeli forces using U.S. aircraft and weapons. The UNRWA schools and clinics have been destroyed in the Israeli plan to leave Gaza uninhabitable to force Palestinians to leave Gaza for Israeli settlers to take over Gaza. In the past two days 89 Palestinians have been killed in Khan Younis.
Adding further to the crimes of Netanyahu and the Israeli government, the July 19, 2024, most recent pronouncement of the International Court of Justice, Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, held that:
- Israel’s continued presence in the OPT is unlawful; and Israel is under an obligation to end its unlawful occupation “as rapidly as possible.”
- Israel is under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities, and to evacuate all settlers from OPT; and Israel has an obligation to make reparations for the damage caused to all natural or legal persons concerned in the OPT.
- all States have the obligation not to recognize as legal Israel’s presence in the OPT and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by the continued presence of Israel in the OPT; and international organizations, including the United Nations, and particularly the General Assembly and the Security Council, should consider the precise modalities and act toward bringing an end “as rapidly as possible” to the unlawful presence of Israel in the OPT.
Ann Wright served 29 years in the US Army/Army Reserves and retired as a Colonel. She was a US diplomat for 16 years and resigned in March 2003 in opposition to the US war on Iraq. She is the co-author of “Dissent: Voices of Conscience.”