Sponsor
Alderman Fair
Title
A Resolution Calling Upon the U.S. Government to End Military Aid to Israel, Funded through the State Department Foreign Operations Budget, and Redirect that Money to Community Needs in Racine, Wisconsin
WHEREAS, It is in the national interest of the United States to encourage a just and lasting resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, thereby promoting peace in the entire Middle East, and
WHEREAS, there is international consensus that the territories captured by Israel in 1967 are Occupied Territories, and The Fourth Geneva convention states that an occupying power may not transfer its population into the occupied land, yet Israel has settled over 500,000 of its citizens in the Occupied Territories, and
WHEREAS, it has always been the policy of the United States to classify such settlements as illegal, yet weapons transferred to Israel at U.S. taxpayers expense play a vital role in enabling Israel to maintain its occupation, and
WHEREAS, such use of U.S. Aid is in apparent violation of the United States Arms Export Control Act and Foreign Assistance Acts, and
WHEREAS, the United States and Israel signed a Memorandum of Understanding in August 2007 for the United States to provide Israel with $30 billion in additional weapons between 2009 and 2018, and
WHEREAS, the FY 2010 Labor Budget in Brief estimates that the residents of Racine, Wisconsin, contribute more than $11 million of their federal taxes to finance the purchase of these weapons for Israel from 2009 to 2018, and
WHEREAS, the FY 2010 Labor Budget in Brief estimates that with this same amount of tax money, the federal government could provide, per year, 134 families in Racine with affordable housing vouchers, or retrain 183 unemployed workers in Racine to enter the green jobs economy, or teach early reading skills to 327 Racine school children, or provide basic health care to 8,950 Racine residents, and
WHEREAS, the right of all humans to lives of dignity and safety is far too urgent for us to take the easier route of silence;
NOW, THEREFORE, let it be resolved that the Common Council of Racine, Wisconsin:
1. Call upon the United States government to end military aid to Israel until it abides by international law;
2. Call upon the United States government to redirect the money that Racine residents contribute in weapons to Israel to unmet community needs in the City of Racine;
3. Send a copy of this resolution to the appropriate Representatives and Senators, to the Secretary of State and to the President of the United States.
Fiscal Note: N/A