Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Year : 2, Issue: 12
Anadolu Agency: It is time for the US to end its “complicity” in Israel’s “atrocities” in the besieged Gaza Strip, Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders said Tuesday.
The remarks came as the Senate prepares to vote on measures that would block more than $20 billion in offensive arms sales to Israel.
The US is “currently in violation of the law, and every member of the US Senate who believes in the rule of law should vote for these resolutions,” he said.
He pointed in particular to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and Arms Export Control Act of 1976, which prohibit the delivery of arms to any country that violates internationally recognized human rights, or blocks US humanitarian assistance.
“Clearly, what is happening in Gaza today is unspeakable, but what makes it even more painful is that much of what is happening there has been done with US weapons and with American taxpayer support,” Sanders told reporters on Capitol Hill.
“The United States of America is complicit in these atrocities. That complicity must end, and that is what these resolutions are about. It is time to tell the Netanyahu government that they cannot use US taxpayer dollars and American weapons in violation of US and international law and in violation of our moral values,” he added.
The resolutions seek to block the sale of Joint Direct Attack Munitions worth $262 million, more than $800 million in 120mm tank and high explosive mortar rounds, over half a billion dollars of military tactical vehicles and up to 50 new F-15IA fighter jets and 25 upgrade kits worth $18.82 billion.
Just six of the Senate’s 100 members have so far come out in support of the measures. Sanders declined to offer his views on if the measures would clear the chamber, saying instead, “What will happen, will happen.”
