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In a secret State Department cable from 2008, Israeli leaders openly
speak to U.S. embassy officials about the genocidal intent behind their
blockade of Gaza, home to 1.5 million Palestinians and one of the most
densely populated areas in the world. The cable notes “Israeli officials
have confirmed … on multiple occasions that they intend to keep the
Gazan economy on the brink of collapse.”
The internal memorandum sets forth Israel’s brutal intentions. U.S. government consent is understood.
Israel
imposed the Gaza blockade with U.S. support after Hamas won the
Palestinian parliamentary election in January 2006. Israel wanted to
starve the people in Gaza as a form of collective punishment.
Despite hypocritical concerns expressed in the cable about “avoiding a
humanitarian crisis,” the people of Gaza have been deprived of the most
basic necessities since 2007, creating massive unemployment, poverty
and homelessness. In addition, collective punishment—like West Bank and
Golan Heights settlements, the imprisonment of Palestinians inside
Israeli jails, the systematic torture of prisoners, house demolitions
and many other routine Israeli practices—violates international
humanitarian law.
The U.S. government is fully complicit in the genocidal blockade of
Gaza. It gives billions of dollars of military aid to Israel annually
and extends diplomatic support, allowing the colonial regime to
withstand international condemnation of its wanton criminality.
In return, Israel acts as a watchdog (and attack dog) for U.S.
imperialism, facilitating the continuing plunder of the Middle East by
Wall Street and its allies.
