The brag on Capitol Hill is that Netanyahu has now addressed the joint session of Congress more times than Winston Churchill. For nearly ten months, the extremist right-wing prime minister has extracted civilian punishment on the people of Gaza for the attack by Hamas that killed 1200 and took 240 hostages. The Palestinian death toll nears 40,000 with many believing it’s closer to 186,000.
The indiscriminate slaughter of innocents, predominantly women and children, and the very targeted murders of journalists, professors, and medical personnel along with the total destruction of infrastructure has led to the accusations of crimes against humanity.
Recently the head prosecutor of the International Court of Justice applied for an arrest warrant for Netanyahu. The process could take months. But the starvation, dehydration and epidemics ravaging displaced Palestinians means the people are running out of time.
Biden has been in lock step with Netanyahu while the majority of our citizens have demanded immediate ceasefire and are now calling for an arms embargo. Yet the joint session of Congress invited this war criminal to speak. Bibi didn’t offer anything new. He didn’t accept Biden’s offer to secure a ceasefire and his cabinet last week rejected the suggestion of a two-state solution.
Kudos to the over 100 legislators who boycotted the speech. Their refusal to stand and applaud a war criminal was patriotic and human. Bravo to the thousands of humans, including the hundreds pepper sprayed and arrested, for daring to expose the depravity of genocide and our complicity with it.*
Biden still has time to rectify his inhuman support of an unhinged prime minister. He has the capacity to pressure Israel to end this madness. It’s up to each of us to demand he do so.
- Since the initial writing of this piece, the main stream media news has shifted to condemn all Pro-Palestinian protesters, who stood up against our Joint Session of Congress welcoming a war criminal, and who have for the past 10 months demanded a ceasefire on innocent civilians and an end to US military support of Israel – as agents of Hamas and Iran.
- These are blatant lies demonizing college students, rabbis and all people of conscience who have from the beginning challenged US complicity in this genocide – because of a few.
- My writings since the horrific attack by Hamas on Oct 7, have never supported Hamas. Not will I ever support the actions of the right-wing Netanyahu and the illegal settlers that are displacing and killing Palestinian people.
- We must rise to our humanity and stop allowing intentional media driven storylines to destroy the anti-violence, and anti-war – for all peoples’ sake. Palestinians, Israelis and us. We must STOP aiding Israeli military. NO MORE BOMBS for GENOCIDE.
let kindness win 