this post was submitted on 28 Apr 2024

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Some US officials say in internal memo Israel may be violating international law in Gaza (www.reuters.com)

submitted 5 months ago by tardigrada@beehaw.org to c/news@beehaw.org

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Some senior U.S. officials have advised Secretary of State Antony Blinken that they do not find "credible or reliable" Israel's assurances that it is using U.S.-supplied weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law, according to an internal State Department memo.

Other officials upheld support for Israel's representation.

Under a National Security Memorandum (NSM) issued by President Joe Biden in February, Blinken must report to Congress by May 8 whether he finds credible Israel's assurances that its use of U.S. weapons does not violate U.S. or international law.

By March 24, at least seven State Department bureaus had sent in their contributions to an initial "options memo" to Blinken. Parts of the memo, which has not been previously reported, were classified.

The submissions to the memo provide the most extensive picture to date of the divisions inside the State Department over whether Israel might be violating international humanitarian law in Gaza.

"Some components in the department favored accepting Israel's assurances, some favored rejecting them and some took no position," a U.S. official said.

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[–] hedge@beehaw.org 18 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (3 children)

Didn't read yet (but will) . . . "may" be violating international law?! Bold statement indeed.

EDIT: Biden has basically forced me to not vote for him over this; I'll be leaving the box blank next to his name.

EDIT EDIT: This does not mean I'll be voting for Trump!

[–] Empricorn@feddit.nl 28 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Obviously you can do what you want. But are you aware of Trump's position on Palestine? Not voting for Biden in the US's 2-Party system is a vote for a worse situation for Palestinians...

[–] derbis@beehaw.org 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

If you don't live in a swing state, your vote doesn't matter.

[–] Empricorn@feddit.nl 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Do you vote in non-election years...? You do know there's other issues on your ballot than POTUS, right?

[–] derbis@beehaw.org 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Don't be deliberately dense. We're talking about electing the president, and you asked about a comparison between Biden and Trump.

[–] Empricorn@feddit.nl 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Lol, are you serious!? I replied with one question, you evaded, brought up a completely different issue, then failed to defend it...

[–] derbis@beehaw.org 5 points 5 months ago

Yeah, no. You said not voting for Biden is voting for a worse situation for Palestine, which is only true in swing states. Which, I suspect, you know. I didn't change the topic; you brought up non-election years and other ballot issues.

But if you need it spelled out (we both know you don't:) if you don't live in a swing state, your vote for president doesn't matter.

[–] TexMexBazooka@lemm.ee 27 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Yes that’s a very good idea and will definitely help the situation

[–] hedge@beehaw.org 10 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I can get away with it because I'm fortunate enough to live in a very blue state; if Biden can't win my home state, then he's got bigger problems than the hedgemeister not voting for him. I'm all ears if you have a better suggestion.

[–] TexMexBazooka@lemm.ee 12 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Blegh, I don’t have a better suggestion because we only have bad options. I share your reservations about voting for Joe, but unfortunately I am not in a blue state 😞

[–] hedge@beehaw.org 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Ah, well then there is a definite dilemma there.

[–] Bipta@kbin.social 23 points 5 months ago

There's no dilemma. You vote for survival unless you don't want to survive.

[–] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

The better idea is to vote against Biden in the primaries and then vote for him in the actual elections.

[–] hedge@beehaw.org 5 points 5 months ago

We did this by voting "no preference" in the primaries.👍

[–] mozz@mbin.grits.dev 24 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

I would recommend instead to specifically voice your concerns to Biden or to your congresspeople. It won't do all that much, but it will do infinitely more than just silently voting and nothing else.

Finding an organized group that is trying (through activism or voting or both) to influence policy is probably an even better way. Ralph Nader wrote a great article about this and he has a significant history of achieving wins like the creation of OSHA and FOIA -- basically in short summary, he recommended forming a coalition which will only vote for a particular leader if that leader will commit to some concession to humanity that you're trying to achieve. Then, communicating that to the leader in a credible fashion to put pressure on them. It takes a ton more effort and it's not guaranteed to work, and you have to get out of your house and find other people who feel the same way. But it does actually produce tangible results. Just leaving the box blank will either do nothing or produce a catastrophically worse result; there is no possible way that it can help in any capacity.

[–] hedge@beehaw.org 7 points 5 months ago

I would recommend instead to specifically voice your concerns to Biden or to your congresspeople. It won’t do all that much, but it will do infinitely more than just silently voting and nothing else.

Done and done 👍. The next bit is a bit trickier tho ...