Air Force Personnel Join Us In Turning Against Israel's War Machine

U.S. Air Force Airman Larry Hebert began a hunger strike on behalf of children in Gaza being starved to death by Israel with U.S. support. Hebert posted up in front of the White House on Easter Sunday after lobbying Congress while on annual leave from active duty.

The worst nightmare of the Pentagon and its corporate bosses may be upon them: armed forces personnel turning against the  war-for-profit machine.

From the press release put out by Veterans for Peace - National:

[Hebert] was there during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll to remind parents and their children that while they are playing with eggs on the lawn, children all over Gaza need eggs to stave off starvation.

Hebert will be at the White House all next week, April 1-7. Beginning Monday, April 8, when Congress returns from recess, he will be outside Congress.

In mid-March, Senior Airman Larry Hebert, age 26, from rural New Hampshire and a member of Veterans For Peace, took authorized leave from his assignment at Naval Station Rota, Spain to participate in demonstrations demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and to visit Congressional offices to press for stopping weapons shipments to Israel, which violate several U.S. laws.*

Hebert said, “I was deeply touched when I saw that Aaron Bushnell took his own life at the Israeli Embassy for the people of Gaza and knew that I had to raise my voice in opposition to the U.S. government supplying Israel the bombs and rockets to commit genocide in Gaza. Active-duty members are afraid to speak out[emphasis mine] and I hope that my example and that of others, like Aaron, can change that.”

With six years in the Air Force, Hebert joins many hundreds of current and retired military and civilian government officials urging U.S. leaders to stop fueling Israel’s war that has killed well over 32,000 Palestinians, most of whom are children. Starvation and disease are rapidly becoming as deadly as the war itself in the area Israel has bombed to rubble.

New Hampshire caught our attention here in Maine as that's where the governor vowed on talk radio recently to persecute[sic] protesters at Elbit Systems in Merrimack to the full extent of the law. Currently the eight people arrested at Elbit on March 22 are awaiting arraignment but the one who was singled out, Vietnam-era veteran Bruce Gagnon, will be arraigned April 2. Supporters are expected to gather outside the District Court at 4 Baboosic Lake Road around 7:45am on April 2 to express support for an end to genocide in Gaza and opposition to war profiteer Elbit. 

Another group of protesters arrested at Elbit last November were notified in February that Attorney General John Formella would be prosecuting them rather than the local district attorney's office handling it. AG Formella indulged in some chest-beating in an interview with the New Hampshire Journal: “We took these cases because of the important civil rights and public protection interests involved.” 

Wait a minute -- civil rights for corporations that make weapons used in the genocide of Gaza? I can only surmise that this phrase was inserted because pro-Palestine activists stand accused by Formella  and Governor Chris Sununu of antisemitism. Uh huh. Let's ignore the fact that thousands of Jews have protested against the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, including at least one person that I know of who was arrested in Merrimack.

Before and after pictures of one of Gaza's largest hospitals

Meanwhile, as the gears of "justice" grind slowly on, Israel's military withdrew from al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City leaving behind the decomposing bodies of Palestinians shot, run over by tanks, tortured to death, burned, and starved.

Rest in power, Aaron Bushnell.

Welcome to the movement, Larry Hebert.

Here I serve notice from Maine and beyond: the thugs of New Hampshire state government can threaten all they want, but we will NOT be silenced.

* Following is a summary of the laws currently being violated by the U.S. State Department and other officials every time weapons shipments to Israel are authorized. This summary is included in a letter Veterans For Peace sent to the State Dept. Inspector-General Feb. 12.

· The Foreign Assistance Act, which forbids the provision of assistance to a government which "engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.”

· Arms Export Control Act, which says countries that receive US military aid can only use weapons for legitimate self-defense and internal security. Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza goes way beyond self-defense and internal security.

· The U.S. War Crimes Act, which forbids grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, including willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, and unlawful deportation or transfer, perpetrated by the Israeli Occupying Forces.

· The Leahy Law, which prohibits the U.S. Government from using funds for assistance to units of foreign security forces where there is credible information implicating that unit in the commission of gross violations of human rights.

· The Genocide Convention Implementation Act, which was enacted to implement U.S. obligations under the Genocide Convention, provides for criminal penalties for individuals who commit or incite others to commit genocide.

ERRATA: Corrected to reflect that al-Shifa Hospital was in Gaza City, not Rafah.