["At this rate there wont be any Palestinians left in Gaza before
enough U.S. senators screw up the courage to do the right thing."]
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MERKLEY JUST SECOND US SENATOR TO DEMAND GAZA CEASE-FIRE  
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Jessica Corbett
November 20, 2023
Common Dreams
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_ "At this rate there won't be any Palestinians left in Gaza before
enough U.S. senators screw up the courage to do the right thing." _

Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley Joins the Call for Ceasefire in Gaza,
Getty Images

 

U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley on Monday became just the second member of the
Senate to demand a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, over six weeks into
Israel's brutal bombardment and ground operations that have killed
over 13,000 Palestinians, including 5,500 children
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The Oregon Democrat's move, which he explained
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in a lengthy post on Medium, follows a cease-fire call
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Durbin (D-Ill.), the number two Senate Democrat, earlier this month,
and demands
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a couple dozen
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Democratic House members.

Merkley, who first visited Israel in 1978, wrote that by his fifth
visit earlier this year, "far-right extremists were now helping to
drive Israeli government policy," with Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu having "formed a government with Bezalel Smotrich as
minister of finance and Itamar Ben-Gvir as minister of national
security."

"Israel has unleashed a bombing campaign on Gaza of phenomenal
ferocity... The impression the world has been left with is one of
indiscriminate bombing."

"Under such a government, attacks by Israel's settlers against
Palestinians in the West Bank have become more frequent and violent,
often condoned by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)," he pointed out.
"Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority (PA), which had worked closely
with the IDF to prevent violence by Palestinians, was losing its
legitimacy."

Since winning local elections in 2006, Hamas—which the Israeli and
U.S. governments consider a terrorist group—has controlled Gaza, and
Israel has limited who and what can come and go. After the October 7
Hamas-led attack in which around 1,200 Israelis were killed and 240
people were taken hostage, Israel declared war and intensified its
blockade.

"The whole world was with Israel," Merkley wrote, noting U.S.
President Joe Biden's trip to meet with Netanyahu—which was followed
by a request that Congress give Israel $14.3 billion in military aid,
on top of the $3.8 billion that the country already gets each year. "I
and others defended Israel’s right to respond with a campaign
targeted at destroying Hamas."

"But the way that Israel has conducted that campaign matters and has
been deeply disturbing for me and millions of others," the senator
asserted, pointing to civilians in Gaza facing "the immediate
possibility of starvation," hospitals operating without basic medical
supplies, a lack of clean water that could spread diseases, and
Israel's refusal to boost the flow of humanitarian aid.

Merkley also highlighted that "Israel has unleashed a bombing campaign
on Gaza of phenomenal ferocity. Israel defends this campaign as
necessary to strike Hamas wherever necessary. But the impression the
world has been left with is one of indiscriminate bombing. Airstrikes
have leveled much of Gaza City and hit crowded refugee camps, schools,
hospitals, and even shelters operated by the United Nations."

"The result is mass carnage," he declared. "Too many civilians and too
many children have died, and we must value each and every child
equally whether they are Israeli or Palestinian. The war will damage
Israel's economy with so many workers called to military duty. It also
risks undoing the relationships with Arab neighbors won through the
Abraham Accords, puts the negotiations for normalization with Saudi
Arabia on ice, and could trigger a regional conflict with Hezbollah
and other powers."

The senator previously called for humanitarian pauses, the position
also held by the White House and various other senators. He wrote
Monday that "after grimly witnessing accelerating body counts, many
Americans, including thousands of Oregonians, have raised their voices
to say more must be done to stop the carnage. I agree. So today I am
calling for a cease-fire."

"The cease-fire requires an immediate cessation of military
hostilities by both sides. But the cease-fire and the negotiations
that follow must accomplish a number of objectives or it will not
endure," he stressed. "Most importantly, the Israeli people and the
Palestinian people must find leaders determined to partner with each
other and the world to replace the cycle of hate and violence with
both a long-term vision for security, peace and prosperity featuring
two states for two peoples, and immediate, concrete steps toward that
goal."

While individuals and groups who have spent weeks demanding a
cease-fire—including with massive demonstrations around the
world—celebrated
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shift as proof that the pressure is working, he is still just the
second of 100 senators.

"At this rate there won't be any Palestinians left in Gaza before
enough U.S. senators screw up the courage to do the right thing and
demand a cease-fire, and this after collectively embracing colonial
Zionism and calling for its incessant support," University of
California, Berkeley history professor Ussama Makdisi said
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social media.

While many senators and representatives are under pressure from their
constituents, a notable target is U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders
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also faced
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calls from hundreds of former staffers from his presidential campaigns
to demand a cease-fire.

Sanders, who briefly lived
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in Israel in the 1960s and has since said
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he is "proud to be Jewish" but "not actively involved in organized
religion," has argued
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weeks that "Israel has the right to go after Hamas" but must stop its
"indiscriminate bombing."

In a statement on Saturday, Sanders reiterated his positions while
also suggesting that Israel should have to meet certain conditions to
receive any more U.S. military aid, including "a significant pause in
military operations so that massive humanitarian assistance can come
into the region" and "no long-term Israeli reoccupation or blockade of
Gaza."

"The Netanyahu government, or hopefully a new Israeli government, must
understand that not one penny will be coming to Israel from the U.S.
unless there is a fundamental change in their military and political
positions," the senator said.

Jessica Corbett [[link removed]]

Jessica Corbett is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams
 
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel
free to republish and share widely.
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* Cease-Fire; Senator Merkley; Gaza; Israel; Palestine
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