Sanders: Israeli Gov’t Includes ‘People Who Are Overt Racists’ — U.S. Must Demand Palestinian Rights Respected

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said Sunday on MSNBC’s “Velshi” that the financial aid the United States sends to the Israeli government, which he claimed included “people who are overt racists,” meant America had a “right to demand that they respect the human rights of all people, including the Palestinians.”

Sanders said, “The Israeli government has evolved over the years into a pretty strong right-wing government. And their coalition now includes people who are overt racists. When you have the United States of America putting almost $4 billion a year into Israel, we have the right to demand that they respect the human rights of all people, including the Palestinians. What we need now is an even-handed policy, which protects the security of Israel. They have a right to live in peace and security without terrorist attacks. But the people in the Palestinian territories also have a right to live in peace and dignity.”

He added, “Anyone who takes a look what’s going on in Gaza right now, where youth unemployment is 70%, and I’m talking about before this current war and the terrible things that have happened in the war — where youth unemployment is sky-high, where people can’t get electricity and clean water on a regular basis. This is a territory controlled by Israel. So we’ve got to deal with the corruption of the Palestinian Authority. We’ve got to deal with that. But we have also got to create a situation where the people in the Palestinian territories are respected as well.”