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The International Court of Justice
has ruled today in favor of every provisional measure brought by South
Africa, in which Israel has been charged with violating Geneva
Conventions on genocide. While the ICJ stopped short of calling for a
ceasefire, every other provision that was ruled on is effectively a
call for ceasefire, in particular the allowance that Israel
must allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, which they
have been blocking.
The court immediately focused on
the impending danger of starvation, disease, and exposure. The
genocidal rhetoric of Israeli officials was on full display. The US
now has the responsibility to act immediately to prevent what may
later be shown to be definitive acts of genocide, and President Biden
and other US leaders may themselves be found culpable.
The US must immediately cease all
military assistance to Israel, both financial backing and weapons
supplies. The US must stop providing diplomatic cover for Israel's
genocidal war on Gaza, particularly by ending use of its veto power to
block UN Security Council resolutions calling for a ceasefire that
have been backed by the vast majority of nations and peoples of the
world. The US must convert all military operations in the region to
preparations for humanitarian assistance, in broad coalition with other
nations, in order to
prevent further atrocities against the Palestinian people.
The United States should
immediately join together with the nations of the world, under the
auspices of the United Nations, in a broad coalition to act on the
Responsibility to Protect the Palestinian people from genocide.
Israel's blockade of all entry and exit points from Gaza is already
illegal under international law. The international community must act
now to save Palestinians from extermination. We must act now to
deliver food, water, medicine, shelter, and other emergency relief
supplies to the desperate people of Gaza.
More than 30,000 Palestinians have
lost their lives since October 7th, including over 10,000 children.
World leaders cannot continue to stand by while tens of thousands more
suffer the same fate. Millions of people around the world have stood
in solidarity with the Palestinians, recognizing the cruelty imposed
on them by Israel, with the full throated support of the Biden White
House and both war machine supported political parties.
We now have a ruling under
international law that what is happening in Gaza is morally wrong on
every conceivable level, and it is our duty to act.
Ceasefire NOW. Humanitarian aid
NOW. Stop the genocide NOW.
Jill Stein
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