Washington DC – In a stunning moment during the 2016 US presidential race, Senator Bernie Sanders criticized his then-rival Hillary Clinton for failing to mention Palestinian rights in a speech she gave to a pro-Israeli pressure group.
Standing on stage during a nationally televised primary debate, Sanders highlighted the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and criticized the unconditional support that the Israeli government – led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – receives from Washington.
“There comes a time when, if we seek justice and peace, we will always have to say that Netanyahu is not right,” he said.
It was a rare statement from a Washington politician. Few, even among left-leaning Democrats, question whether the United States should reconsider its “unwavering” support for Israel.
But seven years later, Sanders is now angering many of his supporters who feel disappointed by his current stance on the war between Israel and Hamas.
As Israel’s military offensive in Gaza intensifies, killing thousands of children and razing entire neighborhoods, Sanders has not called for a ceasefire. Because of his reputation as an anti-war voice, critics say he is in a unique position to amplify demands to end hostilities in Gaza.
“As Washington lines up behind those, including the president, who beat the drum of war, we need leaders with the courage and legacy of anti-war activism to shatter this consensus and say that all human life is precious by demanding a ceasefire,” said Eva Borgwardt, policy director of IfNotNow, a progressive Jewish group.
“If anyone can do that in the Senate, it’s Senator Sanders.”
Sanders’ position
Last week, activists staged a protest outside Sanders’ Senate office to call on him to support a ceasefire.
“We went to his office to say that we – and his colleagues in the House who are speaking out courageously, at great personal and political risk – need him now,” Borgwardt told Al Jazeera in a statement.
Democratic members of the House of Representatives introduced a ceasefire resolution on October 16, but there was no call from the Senate to end the war.
Earlier this month, nearly 300 former aides who worked on Sanders’ presidential campaigns signed a letter calling on him to introduce a similar resolution.
“President (Joe) Biden clearly values your advice, as demonstrated by the way you have successfully shaped the outcomes of his presidency,” said the letter, first reported by The Intercept. “We urge you to clarify what the political, moral and strategic issues of this crisis are. »
Sanders called for a “humanitarian pause” in the fighting last week, but only after Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a similar request.
The senator expressed his strongest criticism of the Israeli offensive on Monday, but he stopped short of calling for a ceasefire.
“The United States provides $3.8 billion a year to Israel,” Sanders wrote in a social media post.
“The Biden administration and Congress must be clear. Israel has the right to defend itself and destroy Hamas terrorism, but it does not have the right to use American dollars to kill thousands of innocent men, women and children in Gaza. »
In 2016, Sanders – an independent senator from Vermont who is caucusing with Democrats – defied the odds and mounted a competitive primary challenge against Clinton. Four years later, he led the race for the Democratic nomination until several candidates dropped out and threw their support behind Biden, who would go on to win the presidency.
Throughout his two presidential campaigns, Sanders led a progressive movement in American politics that adopted the Palestinian issue as a central tenet of his platform.
Questioning U.S. support for Israel during the presidential campaign — where candidates often compete to show their pro-Israel bona fides — remains rare. It showed that Sanders was a candidate willing to challenge the political consensus, a quality that appealed to many young voters.
At the national level, Sanders has focused his agenda on combating economic inequality. But his foreign approach to politics also extended to foreign policy. He said he would impose human rights conditions on U.S. aid to Israel, a proposal Biden called “bizarre” during the 2020 race.
Sanders, who is Jewish, has also long denounced the humanitarian crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip, calling it “unsustainable” and “unacceptable.” He also called Netanyahu a “reactionary racist.”
Arab communities
Sanders’ message at the time resonated deeply with America’s Arab and Muslim communities, who rallied behind his campaign and helped him win the 2016 Michigan Democratic primary, in one of the biggest upsets of the race.
But the senator’s current reluctance to call for a ceasefire has left many of his Palestinian, Arab and Muslim supporters feeling disappointed, even betrayal.
Omar Baddar, a Palestinian-American analyst who supported Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, said it was “difficult to express the depth of disappointment” he feels over the senator’s failure to support a ceasefire.
“I know the political climate in the United States right now is scary, anti-Palestinian, and intolerant of dissent, but that’s precisely why Sanders’ voice would be so valuable,” Baddar told Al Jazeera. If Sanders speaks out, Baddar believes his actions will “create political space” for others to do the same.
Baddar also downplayed Sanders’ call for a “pause” in fighting. Suspending “the massacre of civilians in Gaza is not a moral position,” he said, stressing that the fighting must stop.
“Those who oppose a complete ceasefire are under the delusional impression that Israel can achieve peace or stability through mass violence, ignoring the fact that Israeli brutality towards the Palestinians is precisely the reason why we are in a situation where no one is safe,” Baddar told Al Jazeera.
“Even in the unlikely scenario that Israel succeeds in eliminating Hamas, the horror it inflicts on the people of Gaza will undoubtedly breed the next generation of militants who will seek revenge on Israel. »
Amer Zahr, a Palestinian-American comedian and activist who campaigned for Sanders in Arab communities across the country, also expressed dismay at the senator’s stance.
“After the overwhelming support Bernie received from Arab, Muslim and Palestinian Americans in 2016 and 2020, we would have expected him to be one of the first to call for an immediate ceasefire” , Zahr told Al Jazeera.
“His failure to do so is an affront. His voice could open the door for many others to say the same thing. To characterize his actions, or lack thereof, as a massive disappointment would be to underestimate the suffering. »
Sanders’ Senate office had not responded to Al Jazeera’s request for comment by the time of publication.
Suehaila Amen, an Arab-American activist from Michigan, said she was “stunned” by Sanders’ position, adding that the Arab community as a whole is “extremely disappointed” in the senator.
“The community is truly shaken by the fact that no one has actually stood up to the administration – or those we have supported in the past during their presidential campaigns – and said: This must end. This must stop,” Amen told Al Jazeera.
“The fact that we can’t even call for a ceasefire is absolutely disgusting and beyond me – when we see children being pulled from the rubble in real time.”
Nour Ali, a Michigan activist, also recalled the enthusiasm generated by Sanders’ presidential campaign in the state’s Arab and Muslim communities, where many Arabic speakers called him “Ammo” or “Uncle” Bernie.
“This has forced many of us to question who we have decided to support politically in the past. While the Republican Party openly displays its Islamophobia, many Arab and Muslim Americans realize that the Democratic Party – both moderate and progressive – has used us as a talking point,” Ali told Al Jazeera.