SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
A Palestinian health worker gives a dose of the Russian Sputnik coronavirus vaccine in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip on February 24, 2021. (Photo: Yousef Masoud/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
'Outrageous': Sanders Rips Netanyahu for Sending Covid Vaccines to Foreign Allies as Palestinians Denied Access
The U.S. senator from Vermont denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for sending spare vaccines overseas "while so many Palestinians in the occupied territories are still waiting."
Feb 24, 2021
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday blasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for shipping spare doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to allies thousands of miles away while leaving millions Palestinians in the occupied territories largely without access to the life-saving shot.
"Israel is actively, illegally, and intentionally denying the vaccine to Palestinians and using it instead for political gain."
--Jewish Voice for Peace Action
"As the occupying power, Israel is responsible for the health of all the people under its control," Sanders (I-Vt.) tweeted Wednesday evening. "It is outrageous that Netanyahu would use spare vaccines to reward his foreign allies while so many Palestinians in the occupied territories are still waiting."
Earlier this week, as Common Dreams reported, began sending thousands of vaccine doses to Honduras, Guatemala, and the Czech Republic--nations that have either moved or pledged to move their embassies to Jerusalem.
The Czech Republic and Honduras confirmed Tuesday that the Israeli government promised them 5,000 doses each, and the New York Times reported that "Hungary and Guatemala would be sent a similar number."
"The donations are the latest example of a new expression of soft power: vaccine diplomacy, in which countries rich in vaccines seek to reward or sway those that have little access to them," the Times noted. "The vaccines allocated on Tuesday were given without conditions, but they tacitly reward recent gestures from the receiving countries that implicitly accept Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, which both Israelis and Palestinians consider their capital."
Meanwhile, just a tiny fraction of the populations of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip have received the Covid-19 inoculation as the deadly virus continues to spread there. After weeks of needless and harmful delay, the Israeli government finally began allowing vaccine shipments into Gaza last week.
"Only several thousand doses are available in the Palestinian West Bank, and a delivery of 20,000 reported to have arrived last weekend in Gaza scarcely scratches at the surface of the needs," Matthias Kennes, a registered nurse and medical referent for the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Covid-19 response in the West Bank city of Hebron, wrote in a blog post Monday.
"At a generous maximum, assuming that the 35,000 reported Sputnik and Moderna vaccines are all available, that would be around 0.8 percent of the Palestinian population," Kennes wrote.
Jewish Voice for Peace Action, a progressive advocacy organization, applauded Sanders and other progressive U.S. lawmakers--including Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)--for "speaking out against this injustice."
"Israel is actively, illegally, and intentionally denying the vaccine to Palestinians and using it instead for political gain," the group tweeted Wednesday.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday blasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for shipping spare doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to allies thousands of miles away while leaving millions Palestinians in the occupied territories largely without access to the life-saving shot.
"Israel is actively, illegally, and intentionally denying the vaccine to Palestinians and using it instead for political gain."
--Jewish Voice for Peace Action
"As the occupying power, Israel is responsible for the health of all the people under its control," Sanders (I-Vt.) tweeted Wednesday evening. "It is outrageous that Netanyahu would use spare vaccines to reward his foreign allies while so many Palestinians in the occupied territories are still waiting."
Earlier this week, as Common Dreams reported, began sending thousands of vaccine doses to Honduras, Guatemala, and the Czech Republic--nations that have either moved or pledged to move their embassies to Jerusalem.
The Czech Republic and Honduras confirmed Tuesday that the Israeli government promised them 5,000 doses each, and the New York Times reported that "Hungary and Guatemala would be sent a similar number."
"The donations are the latest example of a new expression of soft power: vaccine diplomacy, in which countries rich in vaccines seek to reward or sway those that have little access to them," the Times noted. "The vaccines allocated on Tuesday were given without conditions, but they tacitly reward recent gestures from the receiving countries that implicitly accept Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, which both Israelis and Palestinians consider their capital."
Meanwhile, just a tiny fraction of the populations of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip have received the Covid-19 inoculation as the deadly virus continues to spread there. After weeks of needless and harmful delay, the Israeli government finally began allowing vaccine shipments into Gaza last week.
"Only several thousand doses are available in the Palestinian West Bank, and a delivery of 20,000 reported to have arrived last weekend in Gaza scarcely scratches at the surface of the needs," Matthias Kennes, a registered nurse and medical referent for the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Covid-19 response in the West Bank city of Hebron, wrote in a blog post Monday.
"At a generous maximum, assuming that the 35,000 reported Sputnik and Moderna vaccines are all available, that would be around 0.8 percent of the Palestinian population," Kennes wrote.
Jewish Voice for Peace Action, a progressive advocacy organization, applauded Sanders and other progressive U.S. lawmakers--including Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)--for "speaking out against this injustice."
"Israel is actively, illegally, and intentionally denying the vaccine to Palestinians and using it instead for political gain," the group tweeted Wednesday.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday blasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for shipping spare doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to allies thousands of miles away while leaving millions Palestinians in the occupied territories largely without access to the life-saving shot.
"Israel is actively, illegally, and intentionally denying the vaccine to Palestinians and using it instead for political gain."
--Jewish Voice for Peace Action
"As the occupying power, Israel is responsible for the health of all the people under its control," Sanders (I-Vt.) tweeted Wednesday evening. "It is outrageous that Netanyahu would use spare vaccines to reward his foreign allies while so many Palestinians in the occupied territories are still waiting."
Earlier this week, as Common Dreams reported, began sending thousands of vaccine doses to Honduras, Guatemala, and the Czech Republic--nations that have either moved or pledged to move their embassies to Jerusalem.
The Czech Republic and Honduras confirmed Tuesday that the Israeli government promised them 5,000 doses each, and the New York Times reported that "Hungary and Guatemala would be sent a similar number."
"The donations are the latest example of a new expression of soft power: vaccine diplomacy, in which countries rich in vaccines seek to reward or sway those that have little access to them," the Times noted. "The vaccines allocated on Tuesday were given without conditions, but they tacitly reward recent gestures from the receiving countries that implicitly accept Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, which both Israelis and Palestinians consider their capital."
Meanwhile, just a tiny fraction of the populations of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip have received the Covid-19 inoculation as the deadly virus continues to spread there. After weeks of needless and harmful delay, the Israeli government finally began allowing vaccine shipments into Gaza last week.
"Only several thousand doses are available in the Palestinian West Bank, and a delivery of 20,000 reported to have arrived last weekend in Gaza scarcely scratches at the surface of the needs," Matthias Kennes, a registered nurse and medical referent for the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Covid-19 response in the West Bank city of Hebron, wrote in a blog post Monday.
"At a generous maximum, assuming that the 35,000 reported Sputnik and Moderna vaccines are all available, that would be around 0.8 percent of the Palestinian population," Kennes wrote.
Jewish Voice for Peace Action, a progressive advocacy organization, applauded Sanders and other progressive U.S. lawmakers--including Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)--for "speaking out against this injustice."
"Israel is actively, illegally, and intentionally denying the vaccine to Palestinians and using it instead for political gain," the group tweeted Wednesday.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.