The President of the United States and two members of his cabinet are being prosecuted for failing to prevent, aid and abet the “genocide” in Gaza.
A federal complaint (PDF), filed Monday against President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, accuses them of “failure to prevent and complicity in the unfolding genocide of the Israeli government” .
New York civil liberties group the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed the lawsuit on behalf of Palestinian human rights organizations, Palestinians in Gaza and U.S. citizens with relatives in the he besieged enclave that has faced more than a month of relentless bombardment by Israel, which receives funds and weapons from the US government.
More than 11,200 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched attacks on October 7. This followed a Hamas attack in Israel, in which around 1,200 people were killed.
“Many Israeli government leaders have expressed clear genocidal intentions and used dehumanizing characterizations of Palestinians, including ‘human animals,'” the CCR wrote in the introduction to its complaint.
He said these “declarations of intent,” combined with the “massacres” of Palestinians, reveal “evidence of an ongoing crime of genocide.”
Many lawyers, rights groups and humanitarians have also called Israel’s actions in Gaza genocide.
“I paid for Israel to kill my cousins”
“Immediately after launching Israel’s unprecedented bombing campaign on Gaza, President Biden offered “unwavering” support for Israel, which he and administration officials have consistently reiterated and backed with military support, financial and political, even as massive civilian casualties increased alongside increasing civilian casualties. Israeli genocidal rhetoric,” the CCR said.
The complaint highlights that the United States is Israel’s closest ally and strongest supporter, as well as its largest provider of military assistance – with Israel being the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign aid since the Second World War. As a result, he said, the United States could have a “deterrent effect on Israeli officials who are currently pursuing acts of genocide against the Palestinian people.”
Instead, the group said, Biden, Blinken and Austin “helped commit the most serious crimes” by continuing to provide Israel with unconditional military and diplomatic support while undermining the international community’s efforts to stop the Israeli bombings.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Astha Sharma Pokharel, a lawyer at the CCR, said: “They have a significant responsibility under customary international law, under federal law, to prevent this genocide, to stop supporting this genocide. At every step of the way, at every opportunity, they have failed. They continued to provide cover for Israel; they continued to provide material support to Israel; and currently they intend to send more money and more weapons to Israel.
Laila al-Haddad, an American citizen and one of the plaintiffs in the case, has lost five relatives in Gaza since the launch of Israeli attacks.
“I paid for Israel to kill my cousins and my aunt, there is no other solution,” she told Al Jazeera. “It was my tax money that did this, that sent these bombs to Israel to kill my family. That’s why I believe that I and all other American taxpayers have a unique responsibility to hold our government and elected officials accountable. »
The lawsuit also calls for an end to the $3.8 billion in annual military support the United States sends to Israel.
The White House has not yet responded to Al Jazeera’s requests for comment on the matter.
