Three House Democrats in the progressive “squad” are demanding an end to the US-led investigation into an arms embargo imposed on Israel by a key ally.
Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Cori Bush, D-Missouri, and Summer Lee, D-Pa., wrote to the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), an independent agency that oversees maritime commerce affecting the United States, regarding Spain. . “The decision to prevent the entry of ships carrying weapons destined for the Israeli government and its ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza.”
“This investigation is a reckless affront to our allies in Spain, which has only sought to enforce its sovereign national policies in good faith and uphold international law, including its treaty obligations to prevent genocide,” the hard-left lawmakers wrote.
“It is bad enough that the United States is violating these same obligations and its own domestic laws by sending these weapons. We urge you to immediately suspend this obstruction of justice and withdraw this misguided investigation.”
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Democratic Reps. Cori Bush, left, and Rashida Tlaib have been outspoken critics of Israel. (Getty Images)
Spain, a long-time US ally and NATO member, said it would stop selling weapons to Israel when its war with Hamas breaks out in October 2023.
Since then, the Spanish government has been accused in three separate cases of preventing ships from docking in its ports over allegations that those ships were carrying weapons intended for Israel.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albarez told state television channel RTVE about one of the incidents in May, RTVE reported. news agency. “The Middle East needs peace. That is why this first refusal of the mandate will initiate a policy towards any ship carrying weapons to Israel that wants to dock in a Spanish port.”
The Foreign Affairs Committee opened its investigation earlier this month after receiving information “suggesting that Spain has refused entry to certain ships on at least three separate occasions this year.” Read the press release. “The two most recent incidents involved US-flagged vessels.”
The agency will now “investigate whether regulations or practices of foreign governments result in unfavorable conditions for shipping in U.S. foreign commerce.”
Palestinians surround trucks loaded with humanitarian aid brought through a US-built dock in the central Gaza Strip on May 18. (AFP/Abdul Karim Hanna)
But House Democrats wrote: “Spain’s decisions to prevent Maersk Denver and Maersk Seletar from calling at its port in Algeciras in early November, as well as its decision to deny Marian Danica a calling port in the port of Cartagena.” In May this year, they are legitimate measures taken by a sovereign state to ensure its compliance with international human rights law and international humanitarian law.
Tlaib, Bush and Lee have been the most vocal critics of the Israeli government in Congress since it launched its invasion of Gaza.
The campaign was launched in response to the surprise attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023 in southern Israel. Terrorists crossed the border and killed more than 1,200 Israelis who were in their homes attending a music festival, and in other areas.
The response operation to eliminate Hamas in Gaza led to the deaths of more than 45,000 people, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza.
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Port of Algeciras in Spain (Getty Images)
The Democratic trio in the House of Representatives have often accused the Biden administration of inappropriately capitulating to Israel, the United States’ closest ally in the Middle East.
They also argued that the United States had no right to investigate Spain’s decision, claiming that “these actions do nothing to threaten the reliable international maritime supply system that the FMC is mandated to protect.”
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“No United States agency should act to punish or impose sanctions on our allies for enforcing international law that our government has refused to abide by,” they wrote.
Spain, along with Ireland and Norway, took the decision to officially recognize Palestinian statehood earlier this year.
Fox News Digital has reached out to FMC for comment.
