Bernie Sanders (AP image)
US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont on Wednesday described Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza as “genocide,” becoming the first sitting United States senator to make such a charge against the Jewish state.While Sanders has previously led efforts in the Senate to block US sales of bombs and firearms to Israel, he had avoided labeling the conflict a genocide, a term Israeli leaders have rejected as an antisemitic “blood libel.” In a statement titled “It’s a Genocide,” Sanders said the conclusion was “inescapable.”“Having named it a genocide, we must use every ounce of our leverage to demand an immediate ceasefire,” Sanders said.Over the past two years, Sanders argued, Israel has not only defended itself against Hamas but has waged an “all-out war against the entire Palestinian people.” He cited casualty figures of at least 65,000 Palestinians killed and 164,000 wounded out of Gaza’s 2.2 million population, noting that Israeli military data suggests 83% of those killed were civilians. Sanders also highlighted inflammatory statements from Israeli officials, including defence minister Yoav Gallant calling Palestinians “human animals” and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich vowing that “Gaza will be entirely destroyed.” Sanders emphasized that while Israel had the right to defend itself following the October 7 attack that killed about 1,200 people, its response had indiscriminately targeted civilians.“We, as Americans, must end our complicity in the slaughter of the Palestinian people,” he wrote. “Having named it a genocide, we must use every ounce of our leverage to demand an immediate ceasefire, a massive surge of humanitarian aid facilitated by the UN, and initial steps to provide Palestinians with a state of their own,” Sanders added.He is now part of a small but growing group of US lawmakers, including Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Vermont’s Becca Balint, who have also described the situation in Gaza as genocide.The statement follows a UN commission of experts concluding that Israel’s actions “meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention.” Democratic Senators Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley also released a report after visiting the region, calling the violence “ethnic cleansing” and criticizing US complicity.Several countries, including Australia, France, Luxembourg, Malta, Canada and the UK, are planning to recognize Palestinian statehood at next week’s UN General Assembly in New York, as reported by the Guardian. Sanders renewed his call to end US military aid to what he described as “[Benjamin] Netanyahu’s genocidal government” and stressed accountability for Israeli leaders. “The very term genocide is a reminder of what can happen if we fail,” he said. “That word emerged from the Holocaust – the murder of 6 million Jews – one of the darkest chapters in human history. Make no mistake. If there is no accountability for Netanyahu and his fellow war criminals, other demagogues will do the same,” he added.
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