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Suspend Helicopter Sale to Israel
October 18, 2000
The Honorable Madeleine K. Albright Dear Secretary Albright: We urge that the recently announced sales of military helicopters by the United States to Israel be suspended pending full investigation of Israel´s use of such helicopters in attacks against Palestinian civilians as well as the assured cessation of such attacks. We find the sale particularly inappropriate at a time when the U.S. government is trying to stop the violence and put the peace negotiations back on track. The undersigned organizations have worked together for over seven years to curb U.S. military sales to governments that use U.S. weapons to violate human rights standards and norms of international humanitarian law. We have previously opposed sales of attack helicopters to countries such as Turkey on this basis. In the present case, there are credible accounts, confirmed by Israeli Defense Forces sources, of Israeli deployment of Apache AH-64 attack helicopters in clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian demonstrators (Jane´s Defense Weekly, October 11, 2000). For example, Israel has used helicopter gunships to attack residential areas of Hebron in response to gunfire from Palestinians aimed at Jewish settlements. This apparently indiscriminate and therefore unlawful use of force by the Israeli Defense Forces has clearly added to the number of civilian casualties. The United Nations Security Council condemned the excessive use of force against Palestinians and reminded Israel of its obligation under international law to protect civilians. The International Committee of the Red Cross also expressed "grave concern" about the scale of violence resulting from armed confrontations, strongly condemned Israeli attacks on medical workers, and called on all parties to respect and ensure respect for civilians. Recent helicopter gunship attacks follow the troubling episode last May in which Israeli forces apparently used U.S. supplied Blackhawk helicopters to destroy sections of a civilian power grid in Lebanon in clear violation of international humanitarian law and possible breach of U.S. laws on the use of U.S. weapons. Set against this background of apparently illegal Israeli use of U.S. supplied military equipment comes the announcement of the largest helicopter sale of the decade to Israel, involving Apache and Blackhawk helicopters (Ha´aretz, October 3, 2000). The combined value of the pending sales is well in excess of one billion dollars, some or all of which may be paid for with U.S. funds. The U.S. government must be consistent in its enforcement of international standards of conduct, as well as its own laws, in dealing with foreign governments. It should not supply to Israel more of the very weapons systems that have contributed to the terrible toll of civilian casualties. We therefore call for:
Jim Matlack William S. Schulz, Executive Director Rachel Stohl, Senior Analyst John McCullough, Executive Director Thomas H. Hart Reverand Mark B. Brown Joe Volk, Executive Secretary Joost R. Hiltermann Martha Honey Vivien Stromberg, Executive Director Gordon S. Clark, Executive Director Elenora Giddings Ivory Peter Davies, U.S. Representative Edith Villastraigo William Hartung James Steinhagen, President Reverend Ron Stief Jaydee Hanson Cc: Harold H. Koh, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Labor, and Human Rights
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Key Demands
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