By
Ayesha Ahmad, IOL Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON,
July 25 (IslamOnline) - In a swift response to Israel's killing 18
Palestinians early Tuesday morning, an American Muslim group organized
a rally in front of the State Department Wednesday, July 24, demanding
an end to U.S. military aid to Israel.
Demonstrators
showed up on short notice for the rally, carrying homemade signs,
banners and Palestinian flags, and shouting chants such as "Ariel
Sharon, leave Palestine alone!" and "Hey ho, hey ho, the
occupation's got to go!"
"They
were aiming for one person and they dropped missiles on an entire
apartment building," said Margaret Zaknoen, programs director for
American Muslims for Jerusalem (AMJ), which organized the event.
"[And] the administration's response was that it was
'heavy-handed'."
A
U.S.-built Israeli F-16 warplane dropped a one-ton bomb on a building
in densely-populated Gaza City late Monday, July 22, killing 17
civilians, eleven of them children, including a two-month-old infant,
as well as its target for assassination, Salah Shehada, the military
chief of the Palestinian Islamic resistance group Hamas, and his
bodyguard.
Press
reports depicted the U.S. response as unusual criticism. U.S.
President George W. Bush’s administration referred to the attack as
"heavy-handed," amid a chorus of far harsher criticism from
around the world. Amnesty International on Tuesday, July 23, called
the event "disproportionate and… utterly unacceptable."
Following
the attack, many in the Israeli press began to question the government
as well, with some government members stepping back from supporting
the attack. But Israeli president Moshe Katsav, while admitting that
Israeli leadership must take responsibility for what he described as a
"mishap," added that that there was "no reason to hang
anybody for what happened," according to a report by Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
At
the rally, demonstrators were outraged by what they saw as a weak and
ineffective response on the part of the U.S. to the deaths of so many
civilians.
"The
U.S. is quite obviously soft on Israel," said demonstrator
Shabana Mir, a graduate student from Virginia. "This is not a
response. This reflects double standards. This would not have happened
if it had been another country."
Zaknoen
said that the rally was organized in reaction to the attack, but it is
not the first time AMJ or other organizations have called for an end
to U.S. military aid to Israel.
Under
the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751), the U.S. should not
provide arms to countries that use those weapons for anything other
than "legitimate self-defense or internal security;" and the
State Department is required to provide a report to Congress if there
is evidence that U.S.-supplied weapons are being used improperly.
"Why
is the U.S. refusing to investigate this?" asked demonstrator
Joshua Ruebner, executive director of the Washington-based Jews for
Peace in Palestine and Israel (JPPI).
While
demonstrators chanted outside the State Department, inside at a press
briefing, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher fielded questions
about the U.S. response to the attack for the second day in a row.
On
Tuesday, Boucher reiterated the White House response, saying: "We
very deeply regret the loss of life of innocent civilians," and
"President Bush believes that the heavy-handed action in Gaza
last night… does not contribute to peace."
And
on Wednesday, as demonstrators called for more definite action to be
taken, Boucher said: "There are provisions of the Arms Export
Control Act that require us to make a report to Congress… at this
point we've not made any reports."
"I
think the Israelis are quite aware of these provisions," he
added. "They're in every contract we sign" for selling arms.
In
response to repeated questions from reporters both Tuesday and
Wednesday about the required report, Boucher would only say that no
such report had been made, giving no definite statement or suggestion
that a report would be made.
However,
according to an AFP report, a second State Department official
speaking on condition of anonymity said there was "an expectation
that we will take a look at his action in light of the Arms Export
Control Act."
The
State Department's official position, however, was not enough for the
demonstrators chanting outside, many of whom felt the government was
betraying real justice in its unquestioning support for Israeli
actions.
"I
think the American people should really question the government's
actions, and its apathy and its double standards," said Mir.
"It does not appear that the State Department is overly concerned
about the misuse of its weapons."
In
the midst of intense worldwide condemnation of Israel's attack, the
U.S. decision to remain mute about the legal consequences of the
violation of the Arms Export Control Act has many feeling that the
time to make a report is long overdue.
"What
we're demanding from the State Department is to investigate and make a
report," said Ruebner. "There's no excuse for delaying this
investigation any further."
