Three House Democrats in the progressive “squad” are demanding an end to a U.S.-led investigation into a key ally’s anti-Israel arms embargo.
Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Cori Bush, D-Mo., and Summer Lee, D-Pa., sent a letter to the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), an independent agency that oversees maritime trade affecting the United States, regarding Spain’s “decision to deny port entry to ships carrying weapons destined for the Israeli government and its ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza.”
“This investigation is a reckless insult to our allies in Spain, which only wants to implement in good faith its policies as a sovereign nation and uphold international law, including its treaty obligations to prevent genocide,” the hard-left MPs wrote.
“It is bad enough that the United States is violating those same obligations and its domestic laws by shipping these weapons. We urge you to immediately cease this obstruction of justice and withdraw this misleading investigation.”
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Democratic Reps. Cory Bush (left) and Rashida Tlaib have been outspoken critics of Israel. (Getty Images)
Spain, a long-time U.S. ally and NATO member, said it would stop arms sales to Israel when war with Hamas breaks out in October 2023.
The Spanish government has since been accused in three separate incidents of denying ships access to its ports on the grounds that they were carrying weapons bound for Israel.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares described one of the incidents to state television station RTVE in May, according to the Associated Press. “The Middle East needs peace. That is why the first refusal of authorization will set in motion a policy for any ship that wants to call at a Spanish port to deliver weapons to Israel.”
A news release said the FMC launched an investigation earlier this month after receiving information “indicating that Spain has denied entry to certain vessels on at least three separate occasions this year.” “Two recent incidents involved U.S.-flagged vessels.”
The agency will now “investigate whether foreign government regulations or practices result in conditions adverse to U.S. foreign trade shipments.”
On May 18, Palestinians surrounded trucks laden with humanitarian aid arriving through a US-built terminal in the middle of the Gaza Strip. (AP/Abdul Karim Khana)
But House Democrats wrote: “In early November, Spain decided to ban the Maersk Denver and Maersk Seletar from transiting its port of Algeciras, and decided to deny the Marianne Danica a call at the port of Cartagena in May this year. This is a legitimate action taken by a sovereign state to ensure compliance with international human rights and humanitarian law.
Tlaib, Bush and Lee have been the three most vocal critics of the Israeli government in Congress since its invasion of Gaza.
The campaign was launched in response to a Hamas raid in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Terrorists crossed the border and killed more than 1,200 Israelis in their homes, at music festivals and elsewhere.
The response to eradicate Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 45,000 people, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which is run by Hamas.
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Port of Algeciras, Spain (Getty Images)
The trio of House Democrats have frequently accused the Biden administration of inappropriately acquiescing to Israel, America’s closest ally in the Middle East.
They also argue that the United States does not have the standing to investigate Spain’s decisions, claiming that “these actions do not threaten the reliable international maritime transport supply system that the FMC is responsible for maintaining.”
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“No agency in the United States should punish or sanction our allies for enforcing international laws that our government refuses to uphold,” they wrote.
Spain, Ireland and Norway decided earlier this year to formally recognize Palestinian statehood.
Fox News Digital contacted FMC for comment.
