What follows is from the C-Span video and transcript of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ speech to motivate his resolution, which calls on the State Department to investigate if there have been human rights violations in Gaza by the Israeli government when they have been using weapons and armaments supplied by the United States in their “war against Hamas.” This is a legal requirement under U.S. law. Sanders’ prepared text is posted to his website.
He said, that “while Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas, it doesn’t have the right to wage a war against the Palestinian people.”
Senator Sanders said that this was the first time the “catastrophic” situation has been discussed on the floor of the Senate. He told the assembled that they have been avoiding looking at the situation, saying, “do not hide your head in the sand” or try to avoid the issue.
Framed by two large pictures of Gazan children holding empty pails and asking for food, the Senator highlighted the “catastrophic” situation in Gaza, listing the casualty figures, the number displaced, the extent of the destruction of homes in Gaza,the imminent starvation, and the conditions being faced by children. He also underlined the U.S. government’s “complicity,” by reading news accounts from the Wall Street Journal and CNN about the number and size of the bombs being supplied to Israel by the U.S.
