EXCLUSIVE: Bill to Block Arms Sales to Israel Endorsed by Congressional Progressive Caucus
The endorsement of the Block the Bombs Act by one of the largest caucuses in Congress gives a significant boost to efforts to hold Israel accountable for its genocidal war in Gaza.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), one of the largest caucuses in Congress, has voted to endorse blocking weapon sales to Israel.
Representing nearly 100 members of Congress, the CPC endorsement of the Block the Bombs Act, which would prohibit the transfer of weapons to Israel until it stops committing human rights violations, is a major boost to efforts to hold the Israeli government accountable for its genocide in Gaza.
"The United States cannot continue to send bombs we know will be used to commit terrible atrocities in Gaza,” CPC chair Rep. Greg Casar said in a statement.
This is the first time the CPC has endorsed legislation directly related to the Israel-Palestine conflict, and it is the first time any major congressional caucus has backed legislation to end US funding for Israel’s destruction of Gaza.
The bill, led by Illinois Rep. Delia Ramirez, focuses on the most destructive and indiscriminate weapons systems, including bunker buster bombs, 2,000-pound bombs, Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), 120mm tank rounds, and 155mm artillery shells.
“The Block the Bombs bill is the first step toward oversight and accountability for the murder of children with US-made, taxpayer-funded weapons,” Ramirez said in a statement. “In the face of authoritarian leaders perpetrating a genocidal campaign, Block the Bombs is the minimum action Congress must take."
Fifty members had already signed onto the House bill before the endorsement. In July, a record quarter of the Senate, and half the Democratic caucus in the upper chamber, voted to block weapon sales to Israel. Since then, the pressure has only heightened, as Israel has escalated its relentless attacks on Palestinians – and continued to lash out at other neighboring countries, including Yemen, where it committed the deadliest attack on journalists in 16 years.
In Gaza, Israeli forces have killed at least 65,208 people and injured 166,271, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health’s latest figures. At least 442 people, including 147 children, have died of starvation. The numbers are feared to be much higher.
The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory has joined the increasingly long list of nations, global institutions, and genocide and Holocaust experts who have deemed Israel’s war on Gaza a genocide. A group of pro-Palestine and labor organizations, fan associations, athletes, celebrities, and human rights organizations recently launched a campaign for national soccer federations to boycott Israel. Thousands of film workers have launched their own boycott of Israeli institutions implicated in Israel’s genocide.
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Not enough yet, and a long time coming, but at least a sizable number of congress members are finally showing courage and decency by supporting this bill.
The people who proposed this "block arms bill" are funded in part by Islamic interests in the middle east.