Jayapal Statement on Lack of Humanitarian Aid, Genocide in Gaza
SEATTLE, WA — U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) released the following statement on the current situation in Gaza:
“Each day, month after month, we in America are witnesses to, and complicit in, horrific and shocking images coming from Gaza. The population has been systematically starved, civilian infrastructure has been destroyed, and areas designated as ‘safe’ have been bombed. In order to generate the massive shift we need in U.S. policy to stop what is happening and to immediately ensure humanitarian aid into Gaza, we must confront hard truths. I believe it is time to name that the government of Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
“The word genocide was codified by the Genocide Convention in 1948 in direct response to the Holocaust – an atrocity in which six million Jewish people and millions of others were systematically and horrifically murdered, destroying Jewish communities across Europe. The Genocide Convention was ratified by the United States under President Ronald Reagan in 1988, and the purpose was to distinguish it from the actions of other parties so that actors can step in to protect lives when there is a risk of genocide. The Convention identifies both intent and actions as part of the determination.
“In Gaza since October 7th, more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed, including over 870 infants, and nearly 150,000 have been injured. Hundreds have died from malnutrition as humanitarian aid has been blocked by the Israeli Government or only offered at limited and dangerously militarized distribution sites. Large numbers of Palestinians have been shot at by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers even as they attempt to get food from designated sites. Ninety percent of the population in Gaza has been displaced from their homes and communities, forced to repeatedly flee to often unsafe and unsanitary conditions. We have also seen the repeated and indiscriminate destruction of civilian infrastructure, including homes, schools and universities, hospitals, religious sites, and farmland, making it nearly impossible for Palestinians to reconstitute as a group, a key factor of genocide. Top Israeli officials have repeatedly made the intent of these systematic actions clear, referring to the Palestinian people as ‘human animals,’ repeating that ‘there are no innocents in Gaza,’ or advocating for the complete relocation of the entire Palestinian population, essentially an ethnic cleansing.
“The United States is Israel’s largest supplier of arms, providing the Government of Israel billions of dollars in military aid. We have been derelict in not applying our own domestic laws to these military shipments and ignoring international humanitarian laws. This makes us complicit in this genocide. Now we must do everything in our power to uphold our legal obligations by refusing to fund weapons of war to the Government of Israel and by using all our leverage and diplomatic expertise to bring an end to this war and achieve a durable peace for Israelis and Palestinians.
“Recently, more and more prominent voices, including pre-eminent Israeli and Jewish American experts on the Holocaust and on genocide, have determined that what is happening is genocide. After conducting in-depth field research, several Israeli human rights organizations have done the same. I have been deeply influenced by the wisdom of these Jewish experts who have named what is being done in Gaza as a genocide. This is the kind of wisdom that is forged, very painfully, in the crucible of deep suffering.
“I recognize the deep pain that using the word genocide may carry for many of my Jewish constituents, friends, and allies, given the origins of the word and the horrors of the Holocaust. Please know that I will continue to wholly and completely stand against antisemitism, condemn the terrorist attacks of October 7 by Hamas, and forcefully call on Hamas for the immediate and unconditional return of all hostages. As our moral and legal obligations dictate, we must hold both the ability to speak out against the horrors of October 7 and against the horrors of the genocide unfolding right now in Gaza and the West Bank.
“It is my fervent hope that the more we come to terms with the truth of what is happening, the more likely it is that we can shift American policy to stop aiding and abetting this travesty, and ultimately, that America will play an important role in negotiating a lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”