U.S. Tax Dollars Funds Genocide In Gaza

The Palestine Solidarity Working Group organized a protest in front of Senator Jon Ossoff’s office, 271-17th Street at Atlantic Station, against the United States funding of genocide in Gaza. 

Security told everyone that the sidewalk and street were private property and that they should go to the 17th Street Bridge to hold their demonstration. A Veteran for Peace tried to visit Senator Ossoff’s office but was not allowed by security. 

“We got kicked off the property by Atlantic Station security,” Zainan with Palestine Solidarity Working Group said. 

There is contradictory information regarding whether 17th Street and the sidewalk at Atlantic Station are private property or public.

Michael Dobbins was Atlanta’s representative for the partnership that implemented the Atlantic Station project. “The 17th Street right of way is a public city street. It includes the auto travelway and sidewalks on either side, which are 10 to 15 feet wide. I can not fathom how the City of Atlanta could have given away that public right of access,” Dobbins said in an email.

The group moved to the 17th Street Bridge, chanting, “Free Free Palestine, Biden You Can’t Hide – We Charge You With Genocide, Burning Children is a Crime.”

“We are here protesting the ongoing massacre in Gaza and the fact that Senator Jon Ossoff has accepted nearly $1 million from Zionist lobby groups,” Zainab said.

“In response to the most recent Zionist massacre targeting refugees in displacement camps next to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, we have gathered here today to express our dissent and our anger. We will not continue accepting attacks on Palestinian civilians funded by U.S. tax dollars,” Zainab promised.

The whole world watched a live video of 19-year-old Sha’ban Al-Dalou, with an IV in his arm, being burned alive in his tent.  Sha’ban and his family had been displaced five times when they took refuge in a tent outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. His mother was also burned alive, and his little brother and sister died a painful death a few days later from their burns. 

“We keep seeing these awful, horrific images coming out of Gaza, and you think that it’s going to be the last time you see something terrible – but whenever you think you’ve seen the worst of it, something worse comes out,” Zainab said.

Netanyahu has often said that ‘Palestinians could leave or die,” and Hamas was his excuse for Israel’s brutal, bloody war and intentional starvation of Palestinians.

Netanyahu isn’t interested in peace, and Israel’s behaviors are deliberately designed to provoke war, but Biden keeps pretending otherwise and continues to enable genocide.

DEATH TOTALS IN GAZA

According to an October 2, 2024, letter to President Biden from a group of U.S. physicians, 62,413 people in Gaza have died of starvation.

https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/papers/2024/IndirectDeathsGaza

Approximately 42,000 died from bombs, and a conservative estimate of 10,000 were killed under the rubble. More people are dying daily from disease due to a lack of clean water and medicine.  

An article in The Lancet in July 2024 estimated that there were 186,000 direct and indirect deaths attributable to the war in Gaza as of June 19, 2024

U.S. MONEY AND WEAPONS TO ISRAEL SINCE OCTOBER 7, 2023

The United States has spent a record of at least $17.9 billion on military aid to Israel since the war on Gaza began and led to escalating conflict around the Middle East, according to a report for Brown University’s Costs of War project.

The U.S. aid includes military financing, arms sales, and at least $4.4 billion in drawdowns from U.S. stockpiles and munitions, from artillery shells to 2,000-pound bunker-busters and precision-guided bombs.

 Four billion dollars to replenish Israel’s Iron Dome and David’s Sling missile defense systems.

The researchers said it was impossible to get the full details of what the U.S. has shipped Israel since Oct. 7, so the $17.9 billion for the year is a partial figure. According to PBS News, Biden hides the total amount of aid and types of systems sent to Israel through bureaucratic maneuvering.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-military-aid-for-israel-tops-17-9-billion-since-last-oct-7

U.S. operations in the region, including in Yemen, have already cost the U.S. government $4.86 billion (plus the $17.9 billion to Israel for an overall  total of $22.76 billion and growing), according to the Cost of War link below

https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/papers/2024/USspendingIsrael

COMPANIES THAT PROFIT FROM GENOCIDE IN GAZA

The American Friends Service Committee provides the following information, and for complete information, click on their website 

https://afsc.org/gaza-genocide-companies

Shortly after Oct. 7, the U.S. government started transferring massive amounts of weapons to Israel. By Dec. 25, Israel received more than 10,000 tons of weapons in 244 cargo planes and 20 ships from the U.S. These transfers included more than 15,000 bombs and 50,000 artillery shells within just the first month and a half. These transfers have been deliberately shrouded in secrecy to avoid public scrutiny and prevent Congress from exercising any meaningful oversight. Between October and the beginning of March, the U.S. approved more than 100 military sales to Israel but publicly disclosed only two sales. A list of known U.S. arms transfers is maintained by the Forum on the Arms Trade.

Much of these weapons were purchased using U.S. taxpayers’ money through the Foreign Military Sales program, while some were direct commercial sales purchased through Israel’s budget.  An undisclosed amount of weapons was also transferred from U.S. military stockpiles already stored in Israel, known as War Reserves Stock Allies-Israel (WRSA-I). The use of WRSA-I to provide Israel with weapons serves further to obfuscate the complete picture of U.S. arms transfers, as there is no public record of these stockpiles’ inventory.

 IS LEBANON NEXT TO RECEIVE THE GAZA MODEL OF GENOCIDE?

Does Israel plan to use the Gaza model in Lebanon, which includes bombing hospitals, schools, power plants, water treatment facilities and destroying the infrastructure? Intentionally killing civilians, journalists, engineers, and aid workers and starving the population. Also, Lebanon has vast gas and oil reserves off-shore of Lebanon. 

Call your Senators and Representatives to stop funding genocide with our tax dollars.

Written and photos by Gloria Tatum