On 23 March, US President Biden signed off on a spending Bill that will provide $3.8 billion in funding to the Israeli military. The passing of the Bill, with no conditions, was celebrated by the Israel lobby, AIPAC, which also welcomed the State Department‘s decision that the Israeli Government‘s assault on the people of Gaza was in compliance with international law.
In confirmation of the US/Israel alliance’s contempt for human rights and the international community, the US Bill continues its ban on funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), until March next year.
On 26 March, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights violations, Francesca Albanese, condemned the past six months of “unrelenting Israeli assault on occupied Gaza” as “the worst of what humanity is capable of . . .” Global security now urgently requires state-liability for criminal violations of human rights law to be enforceable under international law. To that end, the world community needs to demand an end to the separation of voting rights at the UN Security Council from those at the UN General Assembly.
