July 26, 2024
It would never be my intent to write an inaugural post that would include one of the most inhumane and criminal Prime Ministers in modern history. However, in explaining the betrayal of much of the U.S. Congress last Wednesday, I have to bring in who they invited to address a joint session of Congress.
Follow me down a path…
Under United States law, each Congressional member takes an oath of office to uphold the U.S. Constitution.
Senate version:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.
I am going to keep this short, as international law, the convergence with domestic law and sovereignty and treaties is complicated.
What isn’t complicated is this:
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The U.S. Congress and the Executive Branch take an oath to uphold the law and Constitution, which includes treaties, agreements, and conventions.
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The U.S. has ratified the U.N. Charter and the Geneva Convention, therefore, not only do they have to follow, uphold, and enforce the Geneva Convention, they must not break it.
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By assisting Israel in what has been determined by the International Court of Justice, countless genocide scholars, human rights attorneys, and international law attorneys as war crimes, the U.S. has, without dispute, violated the Geneva Convention.
While the U.S. is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, they do have to enforce laws regarding war crimes and human rights atrocities for the above reasons. Therefore, it was a violation of the oath of office of every member of Congress who stood and applauded Netanyahu, who signed on to his invitation, and continues to support his heinous acts.
Furthermore, to stand and applaud a man who likened Palestinians to “barbarians” while the Israelis are the “civilized” is reminiscent of every power joker who has ever committed genocide and ethnic cleansing. He left out the barbaric acts of IDF snipers shooting toddlers in the head, of shooting a child in a car 355 times, of bombing and burning refugee camps, hospitals, schools, aid workers, torturing doctors, attack dogs on elderly women and hostages, allowing IDF to stand by while aid trucks are looted, burned, drivers killed, etc. Allowing soldiers to loot and torment people on TikTok videos, deprivation of food, medicine, energy, homes, education, public records, and water. The barbarism of AI controlled drones choosing whose life matters, and whose doesn’t.
Yes, Bibi, there is barbarism happening, and it was written and scripted by you.
There is no act on this earth that would justify what Israel is doing to the Palestinian people, with full impunity and assistance from the United States government. So, for the members of Congress whose legacy will be this genocide and complicity in war crimes, who attended a speech by a man who should be awaiting trial at the Hague, let me remind you of the law.
From the Council on Foreign Relations:
“The Geneva Conventions provide an agreed-upon framework of legal protections to safeguard soldiers, civilians, and prisoners during wartime. The original Geneva Convention, drafted in 1864, dealt with the treatment of wounded troops. Shortly after the Second World War, it was expanded to include military personnel shipwrecked at sea, as well as prisoners of war and civilians under enemy control. The Conventions have been ratified by nearly every country in the world—194 states in total—including the United States. Countries that violate the Geneva Conventions, including Common Article Three, can be held accountable for charges of war crimes. This article of the Geneva Conventions bars torture, cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment, as well as outrages against the human dignity of prisoners of war, or POWs.”
Congratulations Congress, not only have you violated the law, and aided and abetted a war criminal, but you have hosted and harbored a criminal. You did all of that, and stood in applause, while in those very seconds, human lives were being ripped to shreds.
