A petition for US leadership to provide humanitarian aid during this critical time.
By Michael Arria | Mondoweiss | Mar 27, 2020
‘If there was ever a moment to realize that we are in this fight together, it is now.’
— IfNotNow press release
A group of Senators has sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, urging the administration to supply Gaza and the West Bank with much-needed humanitarian aid. There are already are at least 50 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the West Bank and multiple individuals have tested positive for the virus in Gaza. Gaza has been under siege for years and the densely populated area is bracing for a potentially catastrophic situation. Trump has frozen nearly all aid to Palestine since January 2018.
“Given the spread of the coronavirus in the West Bank and Gaza, the extreme vulnerability of the health system in Gaza, and the continued withholding of U.S. aid to the Palestinian people, we are concerned that the Administration is failing to take every reasonable step to help combat this public health emergency in the Palestinian Territories,” reads the letter. It was lead by Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), but was also signed by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tom Udall (D-NM), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tom Carper (D-DE), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH).
“This is what leadership looks like,” tweeted Progress Up Consulting Senior Principal Josh Ruebner, “Senator Warren and 7 of her colleagues demand answers from Trump on what he is doing to restore US humanitarian aid to Palestinians to help them cope with COVID-19 under Israeli occupation and blockade.”
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