The killing of Kamel Ahmad Jawad—A crime of US-backed Israeli aggression

Attend the online meeting, “The Gaza genocide, world war and imperialist geopolitics,” Wednesday, October 9, at 8:00 pm. Register here.

The Socialist Equality Party and our election campaign condemn the killing of Kamel Ahmad Jawad, a US citizen and father of four from Dearborn, Michigan, who was murdered in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon last Tuesday. His death is not a “tragedy,” as the Biden administration describes it, but a crime, part of the ongoing genocidal assault carried out by Israel with the full backing of the United States.

Jawad’s killing occurred as Israel expanded its war from Gaza into Lebanon, targeting what it claims are Hezbollah militants. In reality, the Israeli military has killed hundreds of civilians and displaced over 1.2 million people. This is part of a broader offensive that threatens to escalate into a full-scale regional war, including against Iran, with devastating consequences for the entire Middle East and the world.

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Jawad’s murder is only one of the many crimes being committed by the Israeli government with the direct complicity of the US. The Biden administration has provided the military, financial, and political support that enables Israel to carry out these atrocities. The weapons that killed Kamel Jawad were supplied by Washington. Biden’s government is financing the slaughter and giving Israel carte blanche to continue the massacre, just as it has done in Gaza for over a year.

Since the start of the genocidal war on Gaza last October, over 41,600 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 11,300 children, according to official figures. Gaza’s infrastructure has been obliterated, with over 227,000 homes damaged or destroyed and only 17 hospitals partially operational. Meanwhile, in Lebanon, Israel’s bombardment has killed hundreds, left thousands wounded, and destroyed essential civilian infrastructure.

Yet, the Biden administration continues to mouth hypocritical statements of “concern” while refusing to take any action to stop the killing. The State Department’s statement on Jawad’s death—that Israel must “mitigate civilian harm”—is nothing but a cynical attempt to cover up its own complicity. The killing of civilians is not collateral damage; it is a deliberate policy.

The death of Kamel Jawad also exposes the utter indifference of the U.S. government to the lives of its own citizens. Their lives are expendable in the pursuit of U.S. imperialism’s goals in the region.

The killing of Kamel Jawad is not an isolated event. It is part of a much broader campaign by US imperialism, using Israel as a proxy, to dominate the Middle East and its vast energy resources. The claim that Israel is targeting Hezbollah to protect itself from “terrorists” is a lie. This is about terrorizing and subjugating the entire population of the region in the service of American imperialism.

Israel’s genocidal assault in Gaza, its bombings of Lebanon, and its threats against Iran are all part of a global war drive. The wars in the Middle East are directly connected to the US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine and the escalating confrontation with China.

One year since the start of the genocide in Gaza, it is clear that mass protests alone will not stop the slaughter. The opposition to these crimes must be organized as a movement of the working class, which is the only social force capable of stopping war and overthrowing the capitalist system that fuels it. The same interests driving the wars abroad are responsible for the attacks on living standards, jobs, and democratic rights at home.

The Socialist Equality Party calls for an international movement of the working class, armed with a socialist program, to put an end to imperialism and its wars. This is the central task of our election campaign.

Attend the online meeting, “The Gaza genocide, world war and imperialist geopolitics,” Wednesday, October 9, at 8:00 pm. Register here.