By Luis De Jesus
06 Apr 2024, 21:06 PM EDT
Former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, along with 39 other Democratic lawmakers, including progressive Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, signed a letter calling on President Joe Biden to halt arms shipments to Israel.
In the letter, released on Friday, they expressed their “concern and indignation” over the April 1 attack that claimed the lives of seven volunteers from World Central Kitchen, the NGO founded by Spanish chef José Andrés.
Given this incident, they urged Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to reconsider sending weapons to Israel and stop any future arms transfers until a thorough investigation of the attack is carried out and the humanitarian situation in Gaza is improved.
“In light of the recent attack on humanitarian workers and the increasingly serious humanitarian crisis, we believe that it is unjustifiable to approve these arms transfers,” states the letter signed by Nancy Pelosi and the other politicians.
They also asked the Democratic president not to proceed with the shipment to Israel of 2,000 small and medium caliber bombs, a package approved this week before the attack against the seven World Central Kitchen volunteers.
The relevance of this letter lies in its change of position regarding support for Israel by Pelosi, who has been a defender of the Jewish State throughout her political career. Furthermore, she shows that the idea of suspending the shipment of weapons to Israel is no longer just a request from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, but is gaining support throughout the political force.
This letter came after another prominent Democratic figure, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, requested in March that early elections be held in Israel, arguing that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is hindering peace.
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