APN | Zoom

17 May 2025

During a webinar organized by the International League of Peoples' Struggles (ILPS), APN General Manager, Mariam Al Jaajaa, spoke about the central role of U.S. militarization in sustaining the Israeli occupation and its broader impact on Palestine and the region. She emphasized the urgent need to build unified international solidarity to confront these policies.

She stated that what we are witnessing today in Gaza is not just a war, but a genocide—executed through bombing, starvation, and the systematic destruction of life itself. This has affected more than 81% of agricultural lands, half of the wells, greenhouses, farms, and even Gaza’s only port.

Al Jaajaa explained that U.S. militarization is at the core of this oppression, noting that the United States provides $3.8 billion annually in military aid to Israel under a ten-year agreement, making it the largest arms supplier to Tel Aviv. Since 7 October 2023, that figure has exceeded $22 billion.

She pointed out that these billions fuel the engines of war and generate massive profits for companies like Boeing, RTX, and BlackRock, which invest in the weapons used against Palestinians. Meanwhile, U.S. tech startups are turning Gaza into a testing ground for new military technologies, such as drones used to attack civilians and target tunnels.

Al Jaajaa also held the United States politically accountable, noting that it has used its veto power 46 times in the UN Security Council to shield Israel since 1945, 34 of which were directly related to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

She criticized the widespread Western support for Israel, stating: “Accountability does not stop with the United States. It also includes European and Arab countries that have recently signed massive investment deals with the U.S., some exceeding a trillion dollars, including in the arms sector.”

She added that around 70% of the fuel enabling Israel’s brutal war passes through Turkey—revealing a global web of complicity that must be exposed and confronted.

APN General Manager praised the role of ILPS and stressed the importance of building a unified strategy to challenge the global system rooted in militarization and colonialism.