On April 4, the U.S. Senate rejected two resolutions disapproving $9 billion worth of arms sales to Israel. Only 14 Democrats joined sponsor Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in favor of the two resolutions. Though he never used the word, Sanders graphically described Israel’s genocide against Palestinians, including the deaths of more than 50,000 civilians, including many thousands of children, and the destruction of all of the basic means of existence, from health care to universities, water, electricity, education and shelter. “Put simply, Netanyahu and his extremist government have killed or wounded over 7% of Gaza’s population and has turned Gaza into a wasteland unfit for human life,” he said. “That is what has been going on over the last year and a half.”
Israel’s blockade of humanitarian relief supplies to Gaza, in effect since March 2, “is a war crime,” he said. “You don’t starve children. And it is pushing things toward an even deeper catastrophe.”
“This is not some terrible event. This is not an earthquake in Myanmar. It is not something that we had nothing to do with,” Sanders continued. “We are deeply complicit in all of this death and suffering. Last year alone, the United States provided $18 billion in military aid to Israel and delivered more than 50,000 tons of military equipment. It is American bombs and American military equipment that are being used to destroy Gaza, kill 50,000 people, and injure over 110,000 people. We cannot hide from that reality.” The Trump Administration has approved another $12.5 billion in arms sales to Israel.
Sanders noted that it’s all in violation of not only international humanitarian law but also U.S. laws, which prohibit the supply of weapons to countries that violate internationally recognized human rights or block U.S. humanitarian aid.
Only Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch (R-ID) spoke against Sanders’ resolutions. He completely ignored all evidence of Israel’s genocide against Gaza, preferring instead to rely on fake Israeli propaganda alleging mass rapes by Hamas militants during the Oct. 7, 2023 raid into Israel.
