An increasing number of Democrats are pressuring the White House to support a ceasefire in Gaza and potentially stop a planned weapons sale to Israel after Israel ramped up its attacks on Palestinians in Gaza over the past week.
On Monday, Biden’s administration blocked a United Nations Security Council statement calling for an immediate ceasefire in the area for the third time — though, several hours later, Biden said in a statement that he supports a ceasefire.
However, The Washington Post also reported on Monday that the administration would be going ahead with a $735 million weapons sale to Israel that had been planned before the recent escalation in violence.
Health authorities in Gaza say that Israel has killed over 200 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip over the past week or so, including at least 61 children. Reports also say that Israel has leveled 132 buildings, rendering over 2,500 Palestinians homeless.
Now a growing number of moderate Democrats have joined progressives in Congress in speaking out against the White House’s recent statements and actions regarding Israeli attacks on Gaza.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York), traditionally a moderate, endorsed calls for a ceasefire this week. “I want to see a ceasefire reached quickly and mourn the loss of life,” he told reporters, per Politico.
Schumer has long maintained the attitude that Israel has a right to defend itself — a flawed concept that completely ignores the history of Israeli colonization of Palestine and apartheid rule over Palestinians. Still, Schumer’s call for a ceasefire represents a small shift away from uncritically supporting Israel, which has thanked the Biden administration for blocking the UN Security Council’s call for a ceasefire.
Another centrist Democrat, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia also came out in support of the ceasefire recently, and told Politico that he was “troubled” by the U.S.’s rejection of the UN statement.
“I just can’t remember a shooting war where kids are being killed on both sides where the U.S. hasn’t aggressively pushed for a ceasefire,” said Kaine. While it’s unclear whether this statement is historically accurate, the implication that kids are being killed on both sides does not hold up to what’s being reported — Israel’s actions have killed dozens of Palestinian children but there have been no reports of Israeli children being killed.
On Monday, a group of 29 senators from a wide spectrum of the Democratic Party led by freshman Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Georgia), signed a statement calling for an “immediate ceasefire.” Signatories included more progressive lawmakers like Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), as well as moderates like Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota).
Progressives in the House have also been vocal recently about supporting Palestinians’ rights and opposing Israeli violence. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) praised Biden for his statement supporting the ceasefire on Monday and urged him to go further. “Finally!! Our delay in supporting a ceasefire has caused the slaughter of children and destruction of lives,” she tweeted. “Now Biden has to push for an end to the occupation.”
Progressive representatives held a special order hour on the House floor last week to testify about the horrors of Israeli apartheid and to urge the U.S. to stop funding the Israeli government. “We cannot remain silent when our government sends $3.8 billion of military aid to Israel that is used to demolish Palestinian homes, imprison Palestinian children and displace Palestinian families,” said Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Massachusetts) during the special order hour.
Indeed, though the tide in Washington, D.C., may be shifting ever so slightly, Democrats still have a long way to go on the issue. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Maryland), a top member of the Foreign Relations Committee, and Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island) defended Biden’s somewhat tepid approach to the ceasefire issue, with Cardin saying that Hamas, not Israel, would act in bad faith in a ceasefire order.
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.