[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 119 (Tuesday, July 23, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5319-S5321]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ISRAEL
Mr. WELCH. Madam President, in recent weeks, the attention of the
American people has been on the rapidly evolving campaign for the
Presidency issues. But while our national media and the focus have
shifted, it is important that we do not lose sight of the crisis in
Gaza, where innocent people have suffered one calamity after another.
Also in recent weeks, thousands of defenseless, homeless people
sheltering in schools, including one located in an area reportedly
designated by the Israeli military as a humanitarian safe zone, have
been targeted by the Israeli military with missiles supplied by the
United States. Regrettably, scores have been killed, and hundreds have
been wounded.
What little is left of Gaza's demolished hospitals have no capacity
to properly treat injuries. Children are particularly vulnerable in
this conflict. Thousands of children have been killed. Thousands have
sustained severe injuries that require surgery or advanced medical
care, and many suffer from other life-threatening illnesses, like
cancer, that are going completely untreated. In the past 9 months, only
19 of these children have been allowed to leave Gaza, and that is
shocking.
Today, my colleagues and I sent a letter to the Ambassadors of Israel
and Egypt calling on them to work together, with the full cooperation
of the United States, so that these children can leave Gaza and get the
medical care they desperately need, and I urge their governments to do
that. Gaza's children have paid far too high a price in this war.
Negotiations for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas have been on
again and off again. Each time we hear of a possible breakthrough, one
side or the other makes a new demand, and then weeks pass without
further word of progress, and the suffering continues. I hope soon they
will reach agreement on a cease-fire.
In the meantime, it is hard to imagine the depth of misery suffered
by the Palestinian people. It is also hard to imagine the depth of
misery suffered by the hostages trapped underground for 9 months,
subject to constant psychological and physical abuse by their captors.
I have spoken many times about the war in Gaza. It was a war, in my
view, poorly conceived, with vague goals that were nothing more than
slogans--not unlike our own failed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Netanyahu was warned not to repeat our mistakes, but
instead of heeding that advice, he has pursued a scorched-earth
strategy that has destroyed Gaza and killed tens of thousands of people
who had absolutely nothing to do with the atrocities committed by Hamas
on October 7. Two million destitute people are homeless, suffering from
acute hunger, and facing the real possibility of death at any moment.
Mr. Netanyahu and--I use this word intentionally--his extremist
Ministers have divided the Israeli people, divided the American people,
and damaged Israel's standing on the global stage.
Mr. Netanyahu's war has been carried out with our war planes, our
tanks, our guns, our bombs, missiles, and bullets. It has been carried
out in a manner shockingly inconsistent with the principle of
proportionality, a central element of international humanitarian law
that is designed to protect the innocent--international law that Israel
and the United States are both bound to respect.
The counterresponse that we hear is that because Hamas fighters hide
in tunnels and use civilian houses and buildings to carry out their
attacks, anything is a legitimate target--even, apparently, if it means
killing 50 Palestinians and wounding 100 in order to kill 1 Hamas
combatant.
Of course, Israel has the right to go after those involved in the
October 7 attacks. I support that. Hamas mercilessly slaughtered 1,200
innocent Israelis, and the perpetrators of those atrocities must not
escape punishment. But that does not give Israel the right to use
weapons supplied by the United States to kill 30 times the number of
innocent Palestinians as though their lives are worth nothing. That is
wrong.
Meanwhile, in the West Bank, attacks against Palestinians by Israeli
settlers--illegal Israeli settlers--have skyrocketed, and hundreds have
been killed.
Last week, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel's
decades-long occupation of the West Bank violates international law and
amounts to annexation. The court called on Israel to cease new
settlement activities, which
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is also the policy of the United States, and called on it to end the
occupation.
As often happens, people's attention fades or shifts to other
priorities close to home. That is understandable, but that is also why
it is important to remember--to remember that the bombs keep falling,
and an appalling number of civilians keep dying in Gaza in a war that
has gone on far, far too long; to remember that this war, in which the
United States is complicit by providing these arms, was orchestrated by
a Prime Minister who has no strategy--no strategy--for peace between
Israelis and Palestinians.
A Prime Minister who has no vision for the future, who has acted
deliberately to undercut U.S. policy at every turn, and still, he is
invited here to this Congress.
I will not be attending Prime Minister Netanyahu's address tomorrow.
While I welcome a constructive discussion on how to end this conflict
and achieve lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians, I
am not interested in participating in a political stunt.
We, the United States, have a moral responsibility to do everything
we can to help end this war and prevent further loss of innocent lives,
and that includes holding our allies and partners to the same standards
that we expect of ourselves and the rest of the world.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
Mr. SANDERS. Madam President, I want to commend my fellow Vermonter
for his remarks. I wanted to say a few words on the same subject.
Madam President, tomorrow, Wednesday, will be a unique moment in
congressional history. Throughout the many years of our country,
leaders from dozens of countries with all kinds of political
backgrounds and persuasions have been invited to address a joint
session of Congress. To the best of my knowledge, however, tomorrow
will be unique. In bringing Prime Minister Netanyahu to address a joint
meeting of Congress, it will be the first time in American history that
a war criminal has been given that honor.
Frankly, this invitation to Netanyahu is a disgrace and something
that we will look back on with regret. With this invitation, it will be
impossible, with a straight face, for the United States to lecture any
country on Earth about human rights and human dignity.
As you well know, along with the Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, and
several others, Prime Minister Netanyahu has been credibly accused of
war crimes by the International Criminal Court, the ICC. That Court may
soon issue arrest warrants for Sinwar and Netanyahu.
The case against Sinwar and his Hamas accomplices is clear. They were
organizers of the horrific October 7 terrorist attack on Israel that
began this war and involved the mass murder of 1,200 innocent men,
women, and children, the taking of hostages, and sexual violence. These
war crimes are well documented, and very few people would dispute the
merits of these charges.
The ICC's prosecutors' charges against Netanyahu are also well
founded. The charges focus on the starvation of civilians as a method
of war, as well as intentional attacks against the civilian population.
Specifically, the prosecutor says that Netanyahu is responsible for
``depriving [civilians] of objects indispensable to their survival,
including willfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the
Geneva Conventions.''
A separate U.N. independent Commission of Inquiry likewise found that
both Hamas and the Israeli military have committed war crimes since
October 7, leading to widespread civilian deaths. The Commission said
the Israeli military's ``intentional use of heavy weapons with large
destructive capacity in densely populated areas constitutes an
intentional and direct attack on the civilian population, particularly
affecting women and children.''
I think we all agree that Israel had the right to defend itself
against the horrific Hamas attack on October 7, but Netanyahu's
extreme, rightwing government has, since that attack, waged what
amounts to a total war--a total war--against the entire Palestinian
people, making life unlivable in Gaza and killing tens of thousands.
These actions have trampled on international law, on American law, and
on basic human values.
I understand that the mass media and many of us in Congress have been
preoccupied in recent weeks with the awful assassination attempt
against former President Trump and the changes at the top of the
Democratic Presidential ticket. But while all that is going on, it is
absolutely irresponsible for us to turn our backs on one of the worst
humanitarian disasters in modern history, especially when that disaster
has been aided and abetted by U.S. taxpayer dollars and weapons. In
other words, it is not just the Israeli Government; it is us and our
money and our weaponry as well.
Let us be clear. Let us be very clear as to what is going on in Gaza
right now. Since this war began, among a population of 2.2 million
people, at least 39,000 Palestinians have been killed and 89,000
injured--60 percent of whom are women, children, or elderly people.
Most observers believe that the death toll is much higher because
thousands of people remain buried under the mountains of rubble; their
bodies have not yet been recovered.
Some 1.9 million people, out of a population of 2.2 million, have
been driven from their homes, 90 percent of the population. Take a deep
breath--90 percent of the population driven from their homes. The vast
majority of these desperate and poor people have now been displaced not
once, not twice, but, in some cases, four or five times, herded around
like cattle. Just yesterday--yesterday--Israel announced another
evacuation order for Khan Yunis, and 150,000 people were forced to flee
on a moment's notice just yesterday.
When we talk about housing in Gaza, it is not just that people have
been displaced time and time again. More than 60 percent of Gaza's
housing has been damaged or destroyed, including 221,000 housing units
that have been completely destroyed. Where are these people going to go
to if and when this war ever ends? And with that housing destruction,
more than a million people remain permanently homeless. Entire
neighborhoods have been wiped out. Today, more than a million
Palestinians--almost half of the population of Gaza--are living in
tents trying to find shelter, trying to find protection from the
intense summer heat in that area.
But it is not just the housing that has been destroyed. Gaza's
civilian infrastructure has also been devastated. Water and sewer
systems have been made inoperable--and the result: Raw sewage is
running through the streets of Gaza, spreading disease, and there is
very little clean water. Many roads are impassable, and there is
virtually no electricity now in Gaza.
But it is not just the housing that has been destroyed, not just the
infrastructure that has been destroyed. Gaza had 12 universities,
schools of higher learning. Every single one of those universities has
been bombed, and 88 percent of all school buildings have been damaged.
In other words, under Mr. Netanyahu's leadership, the entire
educational system in Gaza has been annihilated. In fact, 540 people
have been killed while sheltering--sheltering--in U.N. schools.
But it is not just the housing that has been destroyed, not just the
infrastructure of Gaza that has been destroyed, not just the
educational system which has been destroyed. At a time when almost
90,000 people are dealing with war-related injuries in Gaza--including
many, many children who have lost their arms and their legs or are
suffering all kinds of diseases--the healthcare system in Gaza has been
systemically obliterated. Madam President, 21 of Gaza's 36 hospitals
are completely out of service, and the remainder can only partially
function. The World Health Organization has recorded more than 1,000
attacks on healthcare facilities since October 7. As a result, disease
is spreading due to shortages of clean water, sanitation, and hygiene.
Cases of hepatitis, dysentery, and other infections are on the rise.
And cases of polio have now been detected.
Malnourished women struggle to breastfeed their newborns. Formula is
inaccessible and even when available cannot be used without reliable
sources of clean water. So the tiniest children and their mothers
suffer as well, as a result.
But it is not just displacement of 1.9 million people. It is not just
the mass
[[Page S5321]]
destruction of housing. It is not just the obliteration of the
infrastructure. It is not just the destruction of the educational
system. It is not just the annihilation of the healthcare system in
Gaza that we are seeing. It is even worse than that.
And I hope that my colleagues who attend Mr. Netanyahu's remarks on
Wednesday remember this as they rise time and time again to give him
standing ovations. As a result of Israeli restrictions on humanitarian
aid, people in Gaza are now starving to death. So remember when people
stand up and applaud, children, women, innocent people in Gaza are now
starving to death. According to the best available research, drawing on
leading experts from the U.N. and other aid organizations around the
world, some 495,000 Palestinians face starvation. These groups estimate
that more than 50,000 children require treatment for acute malnutrition
and are at risk of starving to death. At least 30 documented--I suspect
it is a lot higher number than that--have already starved to death. So
when you stand up and applaud that guy, remember the starving children
that he has created.
But even those who get the lifesaving care they need, the children
will carry the scars of this disaster for the rest of their lives. As
every psychologist will tell you, a child's brain develops fastest in
the first 2 years of life, and childhood malnutrition does lifelong
cognitive and physical damage. That is what Netanyahu is doing to the
children of Gaza.
And I would ask my colleagues to stop for a moment and also think
about the psychological damage this war has done to the children there.
Imagine being a child living with the constant buzzing of drones above
your head, wondering whether those drones are going to rain fire and
bullets onto your home, wondering if they might strike you at any
moment.
Imagine being a little 5-year-old witnessing your relatives killed,
your neighborhood destroyed. Think about being a 10-year-old going
hungry night after night and searching around for water and for food to
survive. Think about being pushed from one place to another not knowing
where you will be tomorrow, carrying your little water, your few
belongings through streets running with sewage and amid piles of rubble
and trash.
That is what Mr. Netanyahu, the man Congress is honoring tomorrow,
has done to the children of Gaza. According to the U.N. and virtually
every humanitarian organization functioning in Gaza, Israel has
intentionally blocked humanitarian aid--including food, water, and
medical supplies--from reaching the desperate people of Gaza.
And let us be clear: There is no--no--excuse for this. Blocking
humanitarian aid, killing aid workers, and creating the conditions for
starvation--these are not only acts of extreme cruelty, but they are
clear violations of both U.S. and international law. They are war
crimes. They are war crimes. And Netanyahu heads the government that
has enacted these policies.
So, tomorrow, when Netanyahu comes before Congress, I hope that, for
one second, the Members who attend will focus--just for a second--on
the starving children in Gaza. I hope, while they applaud, that they
will think about the hundreds of aid workers killed, the dozens of
hospitals bombed, the housing destroyed, and the universities
obliterated.
When Mr. Netanyahu rises to speak tomorrow, I also hope that my
colleagues remember that all this death and destruction is not just the
unfortunate byproduct of a brutal war. Revenge and destruction are the
explicit policy of Netanyahu's extremist rightwing government.
Two days into the war--2 days--after October 7, Israeli Defense
Minister Yoav Gallant said:
I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There
will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is
closed. We are fighting human animals and we are acting
accordingly.
And that is exactly how they have pursued this war. They define the
Palestinian people as human animals, and, tragically, they have acted
consistent with that view.
Let us remember and understand that the Israel of today is not the
Israel of the past. It is now run by a rightwing extremist government.
National Security Minister Ben-Gvir, the man who oversees the police,
has long advocated for the forcible expulsion of Palestinians from the
region.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the man responsible for the
occupied West Bank, is also an extreme racist and has called for the
expulsion of Palestinians from the land. He has called for segregated
hospital wards for Jews and Arabs because ``Arabs are my enemies.'' And
that is the man who is in charge of the occupied West Bank. And that is
the current Israeli Finance Minister as well.
It should come as no surprise that this extremist government, in
addition to destroying Gaza, has overseen record Israeli settlement in
the occupied West Bank, in violation of international law and
commitments to the United States. Israeli forces and vigilante settlers
have killed more than 500 Palestinians in the West Bank since October
7, including 131 children.
Just last week, the International Court of Justice issued a ruling on
the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. A panel of 15 accomplished
judges from around the world confirmed what most of the world has long
known: that occupation is illegal and must end.
I know that there are some here in Congress--not many, but some--who
have condemned Netanyahu and his extremist government. But condemning
Netanyahu is not enough. We cannot condemn a Prime Minister, who the
ICC considers to be a war criminal, while at the same time continuing
to provide his government with tens of billions of dollars in military
aid. That is hypocrisy at its worst.
Just today, I am happy to say, seven major trade unions here in the
United States, including the Association of Flight Attendants, the
American Postal Workers Union, the International Union of Painters, the
National Education Association, the Service Employees International
Union, the United Auto Workers, and the United Electrical Workers--some
of the largest unions in America, representing some 6 million workers--
sent a letter to President Biden calling on him to immediately halt all
military aid to Israel.
And they are absolutely right. Netanyahu is a rightwing extremist and
a war criminal who has devoted his career to killing the prospects of a
two-state solution and lasting peace in the region. He should not be
welcome to the U.S. Congress.
On the contrary, his policies in Gaza and the West Bank should be
roundly condemned and his rightwing extremist government should not
receive another nickel from U.S. taxpayers.
I yield the floor.
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