US troops slam country's support for 'Israel', reject military service
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Two American pilots serving in the US Air Force are seeking a conscientious objector status in rejection of their country's support for the Israeli genocide.
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Senior Airman Larry Hebert is going on a hunger strike while on leave from his duty station to protest the genocide in Gaza. (X /Larry Hebert)
NBC News has uncovered the reactions to the Israeli occupation forces' killing of 6-year-old Hind Rajab in February.
Hind Rajab's body was found surrounded by the bodies of five of her family members in the Tal al-Hawa Neighborhood in Gaza, in a car surrounded by Israeli occupation tanks.
She was discovered following a lengthy search prompted by a tragic plea for help from the Palestinian Red Crescent as the Israeli occupation forces were shooting at the car she was in with her family.
The ambulance that was dispatched to retrieve her and her family was bombed by the IOF, killing the two medical crew members, Yusuf Zeino and Ahmed Al-Madhoun, 12 days after losing contact with them.
The tragic story of Hind garnered international uproar and a flood of condemnations of the occupation's warmongering in the Gaza Strip.
For Hind, and the martyred children of Gaza
In this context, American pilot Larry Hebert Jr., who is still on active duty, decided to seek a “conscientious objector” status from the American army, explaining that “the child’s accident accelerated his decision.”
It is worth noting that Hebert went on a hunger strike following the death of Aaron Bushnell, who self-immolated outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., in protest against the US-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza.
The same applies to the American pilot, Juan Betancourt, who, after witnessing the footage of death and destruction in Gaza, said that he “can no longer ignore the role of the American government in the war, including its weapons supplies, diplomatic coverage, and intelligence.”
Betancourt added, according to what the network reported, “I see the slaughter of thousands of innocent civilians, all while the world watches from their smartphones.”
'The American people's conscience is shifting'
In light of the Israeli massacres in Gaza, NBC pointed out that Hebert and Betancourt, both of whom are listed with the US Air Force, are currently requesting to become conscientious objectors due to the United States’ support for “Israel”.
The airmen further stated that the scale of Israeli atrocities led them to question their participation in a military regime that they believe “helps perpetuate the horrific death toll.”
They also stressed that the Israeli offensive on Gaza constitutes genocide, adding that footage coming from the region affects not only them but also many Americans.
Betancourt addressed the US authorities, hoping that American officials would notice that "the war crimes that are being committed, and the thousands of videos of mutilated children that reach our phones, are shifting the conscience of the American people, inside and outside the army."
He further stressed that he can no longer in good conscience continue to serve an administration that he believes is violating American and international law.
