Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was slammed over a post on X on Wednesday calling for a “humanitarian pause” in Gaza, with critics accusing him of trailing the Biden administration and not going far enough in calling for a ceasefire.
“Israel has a right to defend itself against Hamas,” Sanders said in the tweet. “But innocent Palestinians also have a right to life and security. I’m calling for a humanitarian pause by all parties so that critical aid can be delivered to the suffering people of Gaza and for the immediate release of all hostages.”
“With all due respect, what is the purpose of a progressive, anti-war Senator echoing the exact same position as Secretary Blinken?” asked Waleed Shahid, a former Bernie Sanders staffer.
“It’s embarrassing that Secretary Blinken called for the smallest thing possible, a humanitarian pause, before you did,” Shahid said in another tweet.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for “humanitarian pauses” at the United Nations on Tuesday, reported the Times of Israel.
“Israel must take all possible precautions to avoid harm to civilians. It means food, water, medicine, and other essential humanitarian assistance must be able to flow into Gaza and to the people who need it. It means civilians must be able to get out of harm’s way. It means humanitarian pauses must be considered for these purposes,” Blinken said.
“’Humanitarian pause’ = restarting bombing + a ground invasion after some meagre aid & ethnic cleansing progresses. The demand by states & human rights orgs worldwide is a ceasefire,” said Branko Marcetic, a writer for Jacobin, which heavily supported Sanders’ two presidential runs. “Sanders is in a safe seat, not threatened by AIPAC, not running for pres. No excuse for this.”
The U.S. left has called insistently for a ceasefire in Gaza as Israel escalated its bombardment of the region. IfNotNow, a progressive Jewish organization, launched a “Ceasefire Now” campaign, calling for American Jews to call on the Biden administration to stop the conflict immediately. But a House resolution calling for a ceasefire has just 18 cosponsors. Just 23 Democratic members of the House and the Senate have called for a ceasefire, reported JTA.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres also called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Tuesday and accused Israel of violating international law through it blockade and bombardment of Gaza.
“To ease epic suffering, make the delivery of aid easier and safe and facilitate the release of hostages, I reiterate my appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” Guterres said. The comment led Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen to cancel a meeting he’d planned with Gutteres.
Sanders supporters said his not calling for a ceasefire is evidence he doesn’t support one.
“Bernie is 82 years old, if he runs [for Senate] again next year he’d almost certainly win no matter what. If he’s not calling for a ceasefire it’s because he doesn’t want to,” wrote @EoinHiggins_.
Nearly 300 former Sanders staffers released an open letter to the Senator on Tuesday to introduce a Senate resolution calling for a “ceasefire now” to match the one in the House, reported The Intercept.
“Many of us, your former staff, share your Jewish heritage,” the staffers wrote. “Like your family, many of our families had entire sections erased from existence by Nazi barbarism in the Holocaust. It is our duty to stand up and say that our pain and sorrow at the losses on October 7 will not be weaponized to justify the ethnic cleansing or genocide of Palestinian civilians.”