In an impassioned speech on the Senate floor on Monday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) called the Israelis “war criminals” for intentionally withholding food from Gaza as children are starving. But on Tuesday morning, Van Hollen voted “yes” on a $95 billion foreign military aid bill that includes $14 billion to support Israel’s slaughter of Palestinians.
“Kids in Gaza are now dying from the deliberate withholding of food. In addition to the horror of that news, one other thing is true. That is a war crime. It is a textbook war crime. And that makes those who orchestrate it, war criminals,” Van Hollen said.
The senator said President Biden “must demand that the Netanyahu government immediately allow more food and water, and other lifesaving supplies into Gaza and make sure it reaches the children and other people who are starving.”
If Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t agree to the demands, Van Hollen said President Biden should invoke Section 620-I of the Foreign Assistance Act. Section 620-I is designed to cut off arms exports to any country that’s restricting the delivery of US humanitarian assistance.
Van Hollen also attempted to justify his reasoning for voting to send $14 billion in military aid to people he just described as war criminals. According to The Intercept, Van Hollen cited the $60 billion in spending on the proxy war in Ukraine and the $9.2 billion in humanitarian assistance for Ukraine, Gaza, and other war zones around the world as enough of a reason to pass a bill that will give more weapons to a government that’s killed 12,300 Palestinian children since October 7.
The bill passed in a vote of 70-29, with 20 Republicans voting in favor and only two Democrats opposing the legislation. Its fate in the House is unclear as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is signaling he wants a border deal before bringing it to the floor for a vote.
Liar.
“I’m willing to agree to genocide if it kills people in this other sphere that I have no problem with.”
I think the Democrats have now developed a campaign strategy to score points for supporting genocide while not being forthright about it. I think it should serve as an example as to exactly how low they regard the intelligence of their electory base. Worse still, it is entirely possible that hey could be right about that. They do after all possess a wealth of experience.
Two faced motherf&cker.
Logic and reason and honesty….absent from this government employee…..participating in, being dependent on stolen/printed up$$$ for a salary and condoning Caesar and his words and actions…sounds bipartisan to me…….
If you would quit sending weapons to Israel, you wouldn’t need so much humanitarian aid for Gaza
Bravo Dave for catching this preposterous hypocritical crime….!
“preposterous hypocritical crime”
the fact that the speech and vote both occurred in full public view…and that the Senator unflinchingly pointed to something that clearly implicates the US as a key part of the criminality he fingers…points to a kind of ‘living political contradiction’…that, in theory, could lead to a greater ‘break’ with and opposition to the US policy he voted for.
Could be seen as ‘transitional’ – the point where a contradiction reached a point where it was unsustainable – though that really depends on antiwar political forces outside government.
Soon he will face primary challenger whose stump speech will be Van Hollen is anti semitic.
His argument will be that it did not matter what he said but what he did.
Fox nation and Rupert Murdoch will make sure the election is about what is in here for Israel.
So … Israel is committing war crimes … and I’m going to go ahead and vote to enable what they are doing.
Hmmm, rarely is the late empire’s hypocrisy so well demonstrated …
Look for more of this as they line up to give their individual CYA spleel awaiting the ICJ genocide barrage.
Conflicted mind personality.
Van Hollen: “Kids in Gaza are now dying from the deliberate withholding of food. In addition to the horror of that news, one other thing is true. That is a war crime…And that makes those who orchestrate it, war criminals.”
So…if the US is “deliberately” refusing to use its powers to enforce the provision of humanitarian aid…
…making US “deliberate” inaction in fact integral to the withholding of aid…
…then, wouldn’t that mean the US was, with Israel, co-“orchestrating” the “deliberate” starvation of Gazan children…
…”making” not only Israel, but also the US…ah…now what was that phrase? what did Van Hollen say it made the “orchestrators”?…
…ah, what was that phrase? what did Van Hollen say it made the “orchestrators”?
Accomplices would be the mot juste.
“Accomplices would be the mot juste.”
That too…
“That is a war crime…And that makes those who orchestrate it, war criminals.“
Bibi wants us, you and I, the rest of the citizens of the U.S., to fund the tent city the Palestinians are to die in, in the sands of the Sinai desert.
Israel “wants [US] citizens…to fund the tent city the Palestinians are to die in,”
Ah. Kind of like ‘voluntary relocation’ – ‘voluntary hospice care,’ courtesy of America’s boundless ‘humanitarian assistance.’