Relay. Cartoon of 31 August 2024 in CTXT
Kamala Harris says she will maintain policy on supplying arms to Israel for the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the West Bank. The Democratic candidate for the White House has reaffirmed her"unequivocal and unwavering commitment to the defence of Israel", stressing that"it has the right to defend itself".
A few days ago, the US government approved another sale to Israel of a large military arms package worth 20 billion dollars (about 18.192 billion euros), including 50 F-15 fighter jets to be delivered from 2029.
The US has already sent some 600 shipments of arms to Israel since the genocide in Gaza began.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu called British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's decision to suspend 30 arms export licences to Israel"for fear that they violate humanitarian laws" "shameful". I no longer know what it takes for Western leaders to consider Israel a murderous state and to organise, at the very least, an international arms embargo.
Absolutely no one agrees with Starmer's decision because it was a partial suspension, he wanted to huff and puff and it pissed off the Israeli government and the Biden administration. Nor did it convince left-wing Labour members or the British Muslim community.
In early September, Israel's main trade union confederation called for a general strike after mass protests demanding an immediate ceasefire from Benjamin Netanyahu's government, which puts him in a difficult situation with his far-right coalition.
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Palestine, empire and the politics of the lesser evil. Harris's democracy is the democracy of markets and liberalism that reaches out to Netanyahu, and not figuratively.
