Latest news with #AIPAC
L'Orient-Le Jour
11 hours ago
- Politics
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Marjorie Taylor Greene, far-right US congresswoman, calls Israeli offensive a 'genocide'
BEIRUT — Far-right American congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, an ally of Donald Trump, denounced the catastrophic situation in Gaza in a social media post, which she called a "genocide." "It is completely true to say that the events of Oct. 7 in Israel were horrific and that all hostages must be freed, but the same goes for the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and famine ravaging Gaza," she posted on her X account. With these statements on her X account, the staunchly pro-Trump congresswoman became the first Republican member of Congress to use the term "genocide" to describe Israel's actions in the Palestinian territory. "A Jewish American representative who calls for continuing to starve innocents and children is shameful. His appalling statement will only fuel antisemitism," Greene said, responding to comments from Congressman Randy Fine, who was elected earlier this year with the support of the American president and AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee). Fine had called the ongoing famine in Gaza "Muslim terrorist propaganda." Fine had posted on social media earlier this week: "Release the hostages (...) Until then, let them [the Palestinians, ed.] starve." The Georgia lawmaker has long prided herself on defending the "America First" policy championed by Donald Trump, which has isolationist leanings. In mid-July, she introduced a bill aimed at cutting $500 million in U.S. funding for Israel's missile defense system. "Israel is a nuclear-armed country, quite capable of defending itself," she declared at the time. Since the founding of the State of Israel, support from Washington has generally had bipartisan consensus in Congress, but especially on the right. This stance is explained in part by the influence of certain evangelical Christian movements that see the Jewish state as a fulfillment of biblical prophecies. For his part, Democratic congressman John Garamendi also declared last week that "it is impossible to see the famine caused by (...) Israel and not recognize that genocide is being committed against the Palestinian people." U.N. agencies on Tuesday called to "flood" the Gaza Strip with food aid to prevent "widespread famine," as the number of Palestinians killed during the Israeli military offensive in Gaza surpasses 60,000, according to the enclave's health ministry.
The Hill
12 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Sanders rips Netanyahu: ‘Disgusting liar'
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for denying the food crisis in Gaza. 'He is a disgusting liar,' Sanders said Tuesday night during an appearance on CNN's 'The Source with Kaitlan Collins.' 'Israel had a right to defend itself from the terrible Hamas attack. But I think everybody understands that in the last [one] and a half years, they have been waging a brutal, horrific, almost unprecedented type of war, not just against Hamas, but against the Palestinian people,' the Vermont senator added. On Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they would resume aid airdrops in the Gaza Strip. Israel has been accused by a UN official, among others, of blocking aid into the region. The IDF denied reports of starvation as a 'false campaign by the Hamas terrorist organization.' However, Sanders said hundreds of thousands are suffering at the hands of the Israeli government. 'They have virtually completely destroyed the entire infrastructure of Gaza, virtually all of the schools, the health care system, over 70 percent of the housing, the water system. And now, as you mentioned, over the last period of time, they have prevented humanitarian aid coming in,' Sanders told Collins. 'And there is now mass malnutrition and children are starving to death,' he added. In response to the crisis, Sanders said he would introduce a joint resolution on Wednesday to condemn U.S. arms sales to Israel. 'We cannot continue to provide military aid to the extremist, racist, Netanyahu government that is starving the children of Gaza,' Sanders said. Sanders also slammed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for promoting false narratives about the crisis in Gaza. 'So you have a super PAC called AIPAC that spends hundreds of millions of dollars trying to defend the Netanyahu government. And if you vote for a Sanders resolution or you stand up in other ways in opposition to Netanyahu, they're prepared to fund a whole lot of money against you,' the senator said. 'But I think the time is now when members of the Senate have gotta start listening to their constituents back home, and the American people do not want to spend billions and billions of dollars supporting this horrific war.'
Ammon
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Ammon
Poll Shows Zohran Mamdani's support for Palestinians supercharged his campaign to victory
Ammon News - A poll released Tuesday, July 29, by IMEU Policy Project and conducted by Data for Progress found that not only did the vast majority of voters in New York City's Democratic primary for mayor agree with Zohran Mamdani's platform supporting Palestinian rights, including his recognition that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, but that his pro-Palestinian platform may have also activated new voters and can serve as a blueprint for the Democratic Party going forward. The survey of 513 Democratic primary voters was conducted from July 11-17 - before images of Israel's forced starvation in Gaza made major headlines. New York City primary voters were strongly pro-Palestinian and highly critical of Israel. -78% say Israel is committing genocide in Gaza -79% support restricting weapons to Israel -63% support arresting Netanyahu if he visits New York City As national polls have shown support for Israel cratering in the Democratic Party nationally — a June 2025 Quinnipiac poll found 60% of Democrats say they sympathize more with Palestinians, compared to 12% for Israel - the same trend has proven to be true among New York City Democratic primary voters. These voters strongly sympathize with Palestinians over Israel (66% vs 16%) and want to see US support for Israel reduced. Just 5% of voters said 'increasing or maintaining US support for Israel' was a factor in their vote. In contrast, 21% of all voters named 'reducing US support for Israel' as a factor. As the Democratic Party looks for its future leaders in 2028 and beyond, these voters overwhelmingly prefer politicians who have taken a stand for restricting weapons to Israel, like Sen. Bernie Sanders (+62-point net favorability) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (+60). New York Members of Congress who have supported providing taxpayer-funded weapons to Israel rank considerably lower, including Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (+27), Sen. Chuck Schumer (+7), and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (+3). AIPAC (-35) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (-64) are deeply unpopular with these voters. Mamdani voters were also asked what issues affected their decision to vote for him, and the top responses they cite are 'his plans to lower costs' (89%) and 'his plans to tax the wealthy and stand up to corporations' (86%). Notably, the third-most motivating reason for Mamdani voters is 'his support for Palestinian rights' (62%). The poll also included an oversample of New York's 10th Congressional district, represented by Rep. Dan Goldman, a Member of Congress funded by AIPAC who has repeatedly voted with Republicans to advance anti-Palestinian legislation. Goldman is deeply unpopular with his voters. 21% of his constituents say they expect to vote for him again, while 44% say they plan to vote for another Democrat in the June 2026 primary.
Russia Today
a day ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
US congresswoman labels Gaza ‘a genocide'
Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has declared that the situation in Gaza amounts to a 'genocide,' blasting the worsening humanitarian crisis and starvation in the enclave. She also called on Hamas to release the remaining hostages captured during the Islamist group's October 7 assault on Israel, which left around 1,200 people dead. 'It's the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct 7th in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza,' Greene wrote on X on Tuesday. She was replying to a controversial tweet by Congressman Randy Fine. 'Release the hostages. Until then, starve away,' he wrote last week, suggesting that the discourse around starvation in Gaza was 'Muslim terror propaganda.' Greene criticized the post, stressing that the lawmaker's 'awful statement will actually cause more antisemitism.' Fine was reportedly dropped from a list of candidates endorsed by the pro-Israel US lobby organization AIPAC days after the post. The UN warned on Tuesday that the situation in Gaza is one step away from being classified as a famine. There is mounting evidence that 'widespread starvation, malnutrition and disease' are causing hunger‑related deaths, the UN's food security watchdog IPC said. West Jerusalem has rejected claims of deliberate starvation, placing the blame on poor coordination in aid flows and accused Hamas of hijacking convoys and stealing food. In March, Israel entirely cut off the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza to pressure Hamas into a ceasefire, but later relented. On Sunday, following mounting international pressure, Israel pledged to resume food airdrops and allow pauses in fighting to let humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza. According to the UN, more than 100 trucks made it into the enclave on Sunday. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has stressed that the volume of assistance needs to increase. 'The trickle of aid must become an ocean,' he wrote on Tuesday, calling for Israel and Hamas to agree on an immediate ceasefire.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
AIPAC Says It's Too Early to Say if They Don't Support Starving Kids
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee was forced to clarify that they had not actually un-endorsed Florida Representative Randy Fine for his grotesque statements wishing starvation on Palestinians. AIPAC responded Tuesday to a Times of Israel report claiming that the group appeared to have 'dropped' its endorsement of Fine, after he went missing from the group's database of pro-Israel candidates. 'This reporting is based on an unsourced speculative piece,' AIPAC wrote in a statement on X. 'We will be endorsing candidates for the 2026 election throughout the cycle. Current endorsees for 2026 so far are listed on the AIPAC-PAC website.' 'As Rep. Fine was elected only in April, consideration of his endorsement will take place later in the cycle, as is the case with many other freshmen members of Congress,' the statement continued. It turns out that it was simply wishful thinking to believe that the pro-Israel action group would ever draw the line at cheerleading famine—or advocating for violence against protesters. But AIPAC's response doesn't quite add up. It's not clear why the group would choose only to list endorsees for 2026, and why Fine wouldn't be grandfathered in after earning the group's endorsement just four months ago. After all, the group did pour more than $126,000 into Fine's campaign, according to FEC filings. Now they say they need more time to decide? Fine's absence on AIPAC's list was first observed by Usamah Andrabi, the communications director for Justice Democrats, a political action group working to see progressive Democrats elected to office.
