Article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
(Photo by Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images)
“Israel has committed a genocide in Gaza, and we should have the courage to say so,” said the California Democrat.
Congressman Ro Khanna said in a speech at the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting on Saturday that the party must support cutting off military assistance to Israel, pointing to the country’s ongoing genocidal assault on the Gaza Strip and imposition of an “apartheid system” in the West Bank.
Khanna (D-Calif.), who is considering a presidential run in 2028, told DNC members gathered in Austin, Texas that “Israel has committed a genocide in Gaza, and we should have the courage to say so.” The congressman’s remark was met with enthusiastic applause.
RECOMMENDED…
Ahead of NDAA Vote, AOC Warns Amendment to Integrate US and Israeli Military Is ‘Existential Threat’
Progressives Urge Senate to Reject Israel Military Integration in NDAA Passed by House
Khanna, who also said the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel “must be condemned unequivocally,” cited his recent trip to the illegally occupied West Bank, where the lawmaker was detained by armed settlers and the Israeli military.
“Zero aid to Israel,” Khanna declared Saturday. “No military sales of weapons used to kill civilians. And let me be clear: If our party cannot stand for these principles, it will never convince a generation that watched the horrors of Gaza on their iPhones that we mean what we say about justice.”
[YouTube link doesn’t work]
Khanna’s remarks came after the DNC approved by voice vote a package of resolutions that included one calling for full enforcement of the so-called Leahy Laws, which prohibit the transfer of US weaponry to governments credibly accused of human rights violations.
A United Nations commission said last month that “even after the October 2025 ceasefire, children continue to be killed and seriously injured, with continued disregard by Israel for the ceasefire and for the protection owed to Palestinian children under international law.”
Recent polling has found that an overwhelming majority of Democratic voters oppose US military aid to Israel, but their representatives in Congress remain divided on the matter. In late July, more than half of the House Democratic caucus—including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)—voted against an amendment backed by Khanna that would have cut off $3.3 billion in US assistance to Israel, which has repeatedly used American weapons to commit atrocities against Palestinians.
Article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
- ‘No, I’m Not Going to Pledge That’: Blanche Refuses to Vow Independence From Trump
- ‘Brazen Act of Self-Dealing’: Trump Regulator Approves Trump Family Crypto Firm’s Bank Application
- The Gaza Peace Trump Announced, and the Rejection Netanyahu Delivered
- Corrupt Trump Makes $1.1 Million an Hour by Grifting the US People
- ‘Menace to the World’: With Iran Talks Stalled, Trump Vows to Declare Strait of Hormuz a US Territory
- Despite Growing Alarm, Trump Says Record USS Lincoln Deployment ‘Not Nearly Long Enough’
- New Trump Guidance Could ‘Result in the Disenfranchisement of Nursing Home Residents’