That violence stems from Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian land since 1967, with no end in sight or path for Palestinians to be free with equal rights, self-determination or statehood. The violence in Israel-Palestine has escalated of late, but the violence was always there.
Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) said, “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.” President Joe Biden (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) This is about an imbalance of power.”Īnd calling a budget “a reflection of our values,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked a question: “But do Palestinians have a right to survive? Do we believe that? And if so, we have a responsibility to that.” The Squad member added, “The United States must acknowledge its role in the injustice and human rights violations of Palestinians. In response to Biden’s statement that Israel has a right to defend itself, Rep. foreign policy reflecting this empty sentiment.īut Biden’s statement won’t cut it, coming from the leader of the country that gives Israel $4 billion in aid annually and is in a position to make the Mideast nation do better, be better and stop colonizing another people. Biden also said he did not think the Israeli military airstrikes in Gaza were a “significant overreaction.” And while the President would later say upon the upcoming White House Eid celebration that Palestinians and Israelis “deserve to live in dignity, safety and security,” we do not see a U.S. Responding with the typical white American narrative of the Mideast “conflict,” Biden said Israel has “a right to defend itself” from Hamas rockets while speaking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, not mentioning the many Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks this past week.