Pamela: Amidst a shaky ceasefire in Gaza, and as PM Netanyahu ramps up attacks on the West Bank, Trump is racing to send him BILLIONS of dollars worth of deadly bombs, missiles, and bullets. The list even includes some of the same bombs President Biden put on hold because the Israeli military was using them to massacre people in Gaza indiscriminately.
It’s rarely been more clear that you can’t bomb your way to peace or that more bombs won’t help get the remaining hostages back home to their loved ones. The potential for U.S. complicity in even more violence and suffering is sky-high, and Congress should act to BLOCK this sale and send the world a crucially needed reminder that people in the United States remain committed to building peace in Palestine, Israel, and beyond.
The good news? Sen. Bernie Sanders, alongside Reps. Pramila Jayapal and Rashida Tlaib, have filed multiple joint resolutions of disapproval (JRDs) that can do just that.
We aren’t under any illusions that passing these bills will be easy, Pamela, but don’t forget: Together, we built a coalition of activists who demanded change and successfully got bipartisan majorities of a Republican-led Congress to vote against weapon sales to Saudi Arabia in the face of incredible suffering and violence in Yemen during the first Trump administration. If we built that kind of power once, we can do it again — so let’s get to work!
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The numbers are staggering: Trump’s weapons deal would send tens of thousands of bombs, missiles, and artillery shells to a government that has allegedly committed war crimes, including the use of white phosphorus on civilian populations, leveled entire communities, and driven millions of people to the brink of famine by blocking vital humanitarian aid.
That’s not all – a weapons deal like this may also simply be illegal.
As Senator Sanders noted when he introduced the JRDs, The Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act require that U.S. arms transfers be consistent with internationally recognized human rights, advance U.S. foreign policy interests, and avoid the association of the United States with human rights violations.[1] Similarly, a little-known statute from the 1990s called the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act — and that law prohibits the U.S. government from sending arms to any government that interferes with or prohibits U.S. humanitarian aid from reaching people.
Speaking out today is about more than just stopping an arms sale, Pamela. This is about saving lives and sending a global message: No one is above the law.
Trump is giving the green light for the kind of mass destruction that has left over 48,400 Palestinians dead and turned Gaza into rubble — but Congress has the power to block this deal before more U.S. weapons enable further suffering and violence. Right now, the kind of pressure that can push them to do it is building.
In early 2024, just 11 senators voted to request a simple human rights report on the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza. But with the support of activists like you, alongside partners across the movement, we pushed the number of senators willing to vote to block offensive weapons sales altogether to 19 by November. Now, with legislation moving in both chambers, we have a crucial opportunity to go further than ever before today.
Thank you for working for peace,
The Win Without War team
1. Press Release, “NEWS: Sanders Files Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to Block Trump Arms Sales to Israel”
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