Adopted by the LPNC Executive Committee on April 22

written by Steve Feldman - candidate for U.S. Congress N.C. District 10, and Phil Jacobson, LPNC Judicial Committee and Messaging Committee

The Libertarian Party of North Carolina (LPNC) calls for the complete cessation of sending taxpayer funds to foreign governments.

We in the United States are blessed to live in a wealthy and relatively free nation. From time to time, there may be a direct benefit, perceived or real, to our country from sending funds to other countries. Such funding may be encouraged by the government, but should come from individual citizen choices, not from conscripted funds. As such, the LPNC opposes subsidies given to the government of the state of Israel which come from U.S. taxpayer funds.

In addition to financial subsidies, the U.S. government has given diplomatic support to the government of Israel. The policies of the Israeli government since its inception allow for violations of basic human rights, including forcing entire villages of non-Jewish Palestinian families from their homes. We call on the U.S. government and its institutions at all levels to withdraw diplomatic support for Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinian families. Further, we urge the U.S. government to remove all obstacles to its citizens which inhibit their capacity, as individuals or in association, to give aid and comfort to Palestinians working inside the standards of international law to reclaim their own basic human rights.

The LPNC condemns initiated force as a means of settling interpersonal disputes. As such, while we recognize the right of all people to self-defense, we condemn the application of collective punishment against innocent individuals simply on the basis of their kinship or other non-violent associations with those who do commit initiation of force. War is the most egregious act of humankind, where rich people ask poor people to kill each other for the benefit of those rich people. It results in death in droves, displacement, humanitarian crises, and long-standing aftereffects, and it often tempts some of its participants to commit war crimes. But association with a just cause is not justification for criminal acts.

In its attack on Israel, on October 7, 2023, Palestinians associated with Hamas assaulted people, killing many. Further, we recognize the anger, pain, and despair felt by so many Israeli citizens and people all around the world who can never support such outright malevolence. We acknowledge that Hamas still holds innocent civilians hostage, and we join the voices of those around the world calling for the immediate return of the hostages that Hamas took when it destroyed families and reigned terror in Israel. For this, those Hamas fighters and any Hamas leaders who encouraged such crimes should unquestionably be held accountable.

But such accountability does not justify certain reactions by Israeli military forces. We condemn war crimes committed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) against civilians in Gaza as part of their response to Hamas. We recognize the anger, pain, and despair felt by so many Palestinians and people all around the world who can never support such outright malevolence. We further condemn the killing and other human rights violations committed by the IDF against the Palestinian people in the months, years, and decades preceding the October 7 attack, including keeping Palestinian families refugees from their homes, denial of representation in the government which exercises jurisdiction over them, indefinite detention without trial, and different treatment of Palestinians and Israelis under the law (apartheid).