Rep.SaludCarbajal
Carbajal co-sponsors resolution led by Reps. Ami Bera and Andy Kim calling on Biden Administration to help facilitate the safe, timely, and sufficient delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip
Congressman Salud Carbajal joined a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives that calls on the Biden Administration to help scale up efforts to deliver life-saving aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza and seek the renewal of the humanitarian ceasefires that had previously helped facilitate safe delivery of that aid and secure the release of the remaining hostages.
House Resolution 935, led by Reps. Ami Bera (CA-06) and Andy Kim (NJ-03), also reemphasizes the need for Congress to pass the supplemental funding request for humanitarian aid made by President Joe Biden in October 2023, funding that Congressman Carbajal has continued to push for over the past few months.
“Hamas’ horrific terrorist attacks and continued holding of innocent hostages must be addressed, but we cannot lose sight of the Palestinian civilians that have been used as human shields and who now face a growing humanitarian crisis that is deepening the terrible toll of the conflict in Gaza,”said Rep. Carbajal. “As we saw from the last ceasefire, a pause in fighting can facilitate both the safe release of those still being held hostage and the increased delivery of life-saving medicine, food, and other necessities. It is critical for the Biden Administration to continue pushing for this aid to reach those in need, and for us in Congress to pass their request for additional support to save lives and ensure there is a pathway to restoring a durable peace in the region.”
The resolution backed by Rep. Carbajal specifically calls for the Biden Administration to help facilitate:
- The scale up of safe and continuous flow of aid convoys to reach civilians with life-saving assistance in Gaza;
- The ability for humanitarian organizations to deliver aid in Gaza without impediment or interference;
- The distribution of fuel to humanitarian organizations working in Gaza;
- Proper oversight to ensure aid is appropriately delivered; and
- The renewal of a humanitarian pause to facilitate a surge in humanitarian aid and the release of additional hostages
Rep. Carbajal joins more than a dozen House Democrats as co-sponsors of H. Res. 935, including five other Members of Congress from California.
Recently, Congressman Salud Carbajal and a group of twelve other House Democrats sitting on committees with oversight on international affairs voiced concerns to President Joe Biden over Israel’s current military operations and the need for a strategic approach that supports both the freeing of hostages and a political resolution that protects civilian life.
Congressman Carbajal also joined an effort signed by 92 members of the U.S. House of Representatives reiterating the need for humanitarian aid to protect the lives of Palestinians, Americans, and Israelis, “whose security will be weakened if we fail to meet the humanitarian needs in the region.”
In the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel, Rep. Carbajal voted to formally condemn Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attacks, call for swift support for both Israel’s security needs and humanitarian relief to help innocent civilians in Gaza, and to cut off funding sources for terrorist organizations in the region.
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Rep. Salud Carbajal represents California’s 24th Congressional District, encompassing Santa Barbara County and portions of San Luis Obispo County and Ventura County. He is a member of the Agriculture and Armed Services Committees, as well as the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, where he serves as the top Democrat on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee.
House rep. Carbajal needs to support a ceasefire, not a humanitarian pause which provides a few days of food crumbs to Gazans threatened with mass starvation and death from Israel’s relentless bombing of schools, hospitals, clinics, refugee centers.
Carbajal betrays his constituents, who overwhelmingly want a ceasefire,. Instead he votes for more weapons, another $14.5 billion in weapons for Israel’s genocide–23,000 dead, (13,000 of them children) 55,000 wounded, two million uprooted– in Gaza.
South Africa, courageous South Africa, has filed an 84-page application with the International Court of Justice, the highest judicial body of the United Nations, accusing Israel of genocide and requesting provisional measures to stop Israel’s military operation in Gaza, stop Israel’s forced evacuations/ethnic cleansing and allow for humanitarian aid.
Carbajal’s press statement mentions his support for Pres. Biden’s supplemental request of $106 billion to continue wars and war preparedness, acting as though he supports aid when in fact he supports escalation of this mass murder. Shame on Carbajal!
It’s worse than that, Marcy, the language of the resolution itself states that “a funding package in line with President Biden’s October 20, 2023 supplemental funding proposal is *necessary* to alleviate the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza” (emphasis my own). How incredible!
Gaza is in severe crisis: fact. Israel, not Hamas, has killed scores, upon scores of people in Gaza: fact. Israel has turned off Gaza’s water tap: fact. Israel impedes the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, including food, medicine, fuel: fact.
And, yet, somehow this so-called representative is claiming that we need to fund Ukraine, the US Border Patrol and further arm Israel as a NECESSARY step in resolving the U.S.-sponsored, Israeli-caused crisis in Gaza?! Gimme a break!!
Omar, have you bothered to read the resolution? There is no precondition in the resolution at all that would need to be met in regards to anything you mention here, i.e., Ukraine, Border Patrol, Etc, prior to funding being supplied.
If you read the resolution, it is very specific and clear eyed about the civilian suffering in Gaza and the need to mitigate that.
Oh, and here’s a FACT for you: Hamas has had seventeen years to choose peace. Seventeen years to recognize Israel’s right to exist and pave the way for their own people to thrive. They choose violence and war every time.
Hamas has to go, tragically they would rather take two million innocent people to the grave with them rather than relinquish their power and wealth and dream of the total destruction of all non muslims in the ME.
To quote Mahmoud Zahar : “Entire Palestine is nothing to us. It is like a tooth pick / miswak after an appetizer before we start our real bigger work.” He added “Palestine isn’t even appearing on maps. Our project is much bigger than Palestine.”
Dear Alex, I have read the resolution. Thanks for asking. Those funny little inverted commas you see hanging in the air before and after the phrase about a funding package (“), they’re called quotation marks. I used them because I was including a direct quote from the resolution’s text (with my own emphasis added, hence, my citation of said emphasis). I encourage you to read the resolution for yourself. Please. Then, when you get to the line that I already cited, take a minute to look up what the resolution authors mean when they say, and here I’m again citing directly: “President Biden’s October 20, 2023, supplemental funding proposal.” If you do that, I promise I will honestly engage with you. Let me now if you need any help finding the resolution or the description of Biden’s supplemental funding proposal.
All the best,
Omar
Thanks I read the resolution before I responded to you. Regarding the October 20, 2023 supplemental funding request containing elements that are not specific to the Israel-Hamas war, I personally have no problem with the elements and, in fact, the trade offs contained in that proposal are a function of the nature of our political system which is based in negotiation.
You can skip the snark about punctuation marks. It’s juvenile and detracts from the seriousness of the issue.
The situation is tragic and your position on it is clearly biased. You ascribe no blame to Hamas’ tactics of storing weapons and fighting from positions in, under and around the greatest number of civilians possible.
You fail to recognize the pan-Middle Eastern extremism which is being puppeteered by Iran.
Hamas, during their seventeen years reign over the people of Gaza, has chosen to divert massive resources and funding flowing in to the region away from their people’s well being, peace and security and instead has prepared every day for war.
Hamas is still fighting, still launching cross border attacks. Hamas can stop tomorrow and ask for a third party Arab nation to facilitate meaningful peace talks.
Now, all that being said, I disagree deeply with many of Israel’s policies. I think that Netanyahu is a piece of shit who needs to go. I despise the extremism of the Israeli settlers and would accept injuries and casualties among them as part of an Israeli operation to clear them from disputed areas in service of a long lasting peace.
Lastly, what I would really like to see is a massive strike on Iran’s military and intelligence command and control and munitions storage assets. Iran calls the shots without feeling any of the pain. Nothing will change until they decide it’s against their best interests to maintain their current course.
The USA should do everything in its power to ensure the prompt release of the couple hundred Israeli hostages still held by Hamas, and the thousands of Palestinian hostages held in Israeli jails and prisons without legal recourse. It is time for a full ceasefire, which the USA can demand and enforce, to end the genocide against the Palestinian people inflicted by the apartheid regime. President Biden and Congress hold their hands on the levers of death and destruction. The fascists calling the shots in Tel Aviv cannot and will not commit the crimes against humanity that they and their predecessors have been committing for decades without the go-ahead from Washington DC.
Sounds great. What if neither side wants a cease fire, which is the case. So only one side stops fighting and the other side is allowed to continue killing people? How does that work? The USA has no influence over Hamas.
So your answer is that Israel unilaterally stops fighting, withdraws, Hamas declares victory and re-arms, Iran continues their proxy war through Hamas, and 2-3 year from now it’s the same thing as Hamas launches cross-border attacks and Israel responds, wash, rinse, repeat?
Is that your answer? Because that’s what a “cease fire” will mean.
If a ceasefire is called and one side breaks the ceasefire, then it is immediately considered violated and the other side can go back to fighting. That’s how it works. I don’t think we need “influence” over Hamas for this to work. For it to work, it requires the inherent and acceptable notion that if you break the ceasefire, the ceasefire ends. Do you really think Israel, if fired upon during a ceasefire, would still keep their guns quiet?
As for withdrawing, that doesn’t need to be immediate. This should start with a ceasefire and a mutual allowance of the UN to come in and keep some semblance of peace. Once that holds, Israel can start pulling back. If Hamas keeps attacking, Israel will quickly and easily re-occupy.
The arguments against a ceasefire at this point are thin. It’s time to start ending this now.
Sure, I’m all for a cease fire in theory. In practice, I don’t see it happening at all. Every pause benefits Hamas, so they will agree to humanitarian pauses, a trickle of hostage exchanges, and cease fires in name because it gives them an opportunity to reorganize and re-arm, fundraise, deliver their propaganda message and live another day.
But, I don’t think they will cede power to any outside force because then they lose control of their smuggling and fundraising revenue and their currently elevated central place in the power dynamic of the region.
So, sure, call for a cease fire, that will spare lives, or at least defer deaths to another day, which is good. But practically, some entity needs to force Hamas to abide by terms of a cease fire and ultimately remove themselves from being the primary power in Gaza. That must be Iran and they won’t do it unless, as I said, they feel the pain that Gaza and Israel have felt.
“Support a cease fire”
Your mistake is in believing that there is a desire on both sides for a cease fire. There is not. As long as you have leadership on both sides that desire war innocent people will die. Nothing you are doing or saying here or anywhere else will make an iota of difference or impact.
Also, you’re lying when you say “genocide”. There is certainly a desire to commit genocide within elements of the leadership and population on both sides of the conflict. But, one side lacks the means (Hamas) and the other side is constrained by international pressures (Israel).
Good for you for caring about human life. Unfortunately, you clearly have no solutions.
Alex, please read the UN Convention on Genocide, signed and ratified by Israel. The Convention defines genocide (a legal term) as the intent, in whole or part, to destroy an ethnic, religious or national group by creating conditions to make life unlivable, which Israel has been doing, not only recently with its carpet bombing of hospitals, clinics, refugee centers and escape routes, but for the last 17 years with its blockade of Gaza, denying water, food, medicine and fuel.
Here’s a link to the Convention. Please read it. Thanks, Marcy.
https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.1_Convention%20on%20the%20Prevention%20and%20Punishment%20of%20the%20Crime%20of%20Genocide.pdf
Thanks, Marcy. Let’s start with using terms correctly and truthfully. Something very specific–Israel has not engaged in “carpet bombing” in Gaza. You are using this term falsely, either through ignorance or intent.
Let’s start with that and then I’ll take a look at what you’ve provided.
Alexblue, read the Oxford Dictionary definition of “carpet bombing”–then read this CNN report and tell me with a straight face that Israel has not been carpet bombing Gaza.
Dictionary definition of carpet bombing:
the act of dropping a large number of bombs onto every part of an area
From CNN
Weapons and warfare experts blame the extensive use of heavy munitions such as the 2,000-pound bomb for the soaring death toll. The population of Gaza is packed together much more tightly than almost anywhere else on earth, so the use of such heavy munitions has a profound effect.
https://www.cnn.com/gaza-israel-big-bombs/index.html
“The use of 2,000-pound bombs in an area as densely populated as Gaza means it will take decades for communities to recover,” said John Chappell, advocacy and legal fellow at CIVIC, a DC-based group focused on minimizing civilian harm in conflict.
By the way, Marcy, using your incorrect definition of “carpet bombing” you do realize that Hamas would also be guilty of that.
Why don’t you mention that?
No, you’re 100% wrong. Israel’s strikes have been massive, destructive, etc., etc. but they are not carpet bombing. You’re being dishonest. Carpet bombing is literally an action to drop bombs on “every” part of an area. Israel simply hasn’t done this.
If they were ACTUALLY carpet bombing you would be seeing civilian death tolls at 10x, 20x what they have been.
Again. Start with honesty.
What the IAF is doing is bombing, but it is most definitely not carpet bombing.
Thank you, Rep Carbajal. Of course, while October 7 was a terrible tragedy carried out by horrific terrorists, the innocent people of Gaza need help. It’s good to see some able to separate innocent Palestinians from Hamas and recognize the dire situation they’re in. While, unfortunately, this war will go on and more innocents will die, we should be doing all we can to help those in need there, which is almost every single innocent person in Gaza at this point.
Hold your horses Johnny do-gooder: Gaza received nearly $40 Billion in foreign aid over the last 20 years, and what did they do with it? They purchased weapons of death and dug terror tunnels for Hamas terrorists. They could have turned Gaza into a thriving economy by not shooting the 40,000 rockets missiles and mortars at Israel over that period, resulting in many intentional provocations and retaliations in an effort to win over people like you who believe Israel is the aggressor in the story. While there are without a doubt innocent people in Gaza who deserve a better life and who are anti-Hamas, first things first: 1) destroy Hamas, 2) establish new legitimate government who actually cares more about the future and well-being of its people rather than fueling its blind hatred for Jews and the West in general, 3) provide aid as a reward for coming out of the 7th century and living peacefully for once in their existence. Any aid going to Gaza is currently getting hijacked and used by by Hamas and its supporters of which there are many among the Gazan population. Don’t forget: on October 7, you had hundreds of non-Hamas Palestinians crossing into Israel to participate in the atrocities against innocent Israelis. And you had countless non-Hamas Palestinians spitting on and hitting captured Israeli hostages as they were being paraded through the streets of Gaza. Much of the Gazan population is not innocent. Getting aid to those who truly are is going to be one hell of a challenge and Carbajal is way over his head here in making sure that’ll happen.
“Don’t forget: on October 7, you had hundreds of non-Hamas Palestinians crossing into Israel to participate in the atrocities against innocent Israelis.” – show us the facts.
“Much of the Gazan population is not innocent.” – again, show us the facts.
Just more Islamophobic hate from you, Calib. Not dignifying the rest with an answer.
Small steps are better than none. I can’t believe the kind of support the US government has had for Israel. We’d be better off letting them fight their own battles and staying out of it. They’re killing innocent people. Can’t support that.
Basic – for the most part, spot on.
Maybe. At the same time, one could argue that the only thing restraining Netanyahu from going all out in Gaza is the influence of the US. If we are entirely disengaged from the issue then to whom do they really have to answer?
Good point, Alex. I did read an article yesterday where some in his government were saying they’re not the US’s puppet and won’t be bound by anything we say. A lot of aggression on all sides still. Perhaps our support (and threat of withdrawing such) is a factor in tempering what otherwise could be even worse for the innocents in Gaza.
There was some talk of a “voluntary” relocation of Gazans to Congo and other nations. That would be awful and more indicative of a genocidal motive. Fortunately, the US shot that down and there hasn’t been much said about that since.
As much as I dislike the US sending so much money to already well established militaries (not just Israel), I suppose I can see now how that influence can protect the innocent in a round about way. I do wish we did more to reign in Israel in this conflict though.
Yeah, let’s be clear that there are significant elements in Netayahu’s government who would literally carry out a genocide and ethnic cleansing of all the people in Gaza. What holds them back? They have the military might to carry out the total destruction of any Arab state that were to try launch an attack to stop their actions in Gaza. Another factor that Israel has to consider is the potential for significant civil unrest should they pursue that course. In terms of expanding the war, I think the Israeli government truly believes they can fight and survive on multiple fronts. Hell, I’m sure some of them want that.
Beyond that, who holds them back? Only the US.
Who has any sway over Hamas? Iran more than any other. Then Qatar.
Personally, I wouldn’t mind an ultimatum for Iran. Either force Hamas to agree to a cease fire and for a multiparty representative government to be put in place, or the US publicly green lights Israeli military strikes on Iranian intelligence gathering and munitions facilities inside Iran’s borders.
One of the primary problems here is that Iran is seeing no negative impacts in their pursuit of this proxy war.
By the way, on a personal level, I am Jewish, and I have zero connection to the imperative of Jewish people to live in the “land of Israel” through a religious or cultural or historically derived mandate. Personally, I wish that the Jewish people had resettled in other areas of the world and I don’t give a fuck about who ends up with that particular dirt, I would just prefer that people live in peace.
But, there are millions of people who live there and would rather die than leave. So it would be nice for them to be able to figure out how to live together. Too bad their respective religious beliefs and leadership will never allow that.
How does one support ANYTHING America does with all of its faces 🤷🏻♂️
Would Salud push for aid to innocent German civilians bombed during WW2?
RUBAIYAT – what an impossible and irrelevant question. Please say you understand that technology and laws of war have changed in leaps in the last 80 years.
What has Carbajal contributed toward protecting legal Americans here in our own country from the invasion of illegals storming across the Mexican border?
Is anyone here capable of a rational analogy? Jeez…..
No analogy needed, sir.
Is anyone here capable of realizing that our USA, the one our government is supposed to be protecting FIRST and generations of Americans have died fighting for, has some immediate and intensely serious problems right now here at home? I believe so. Maybe our government needs to reevaluate our priorities and their obligations to us?
Off topic, sir. Whatabout, whatabout, whatabout.
Absolutely, our government is definitely off topic.
What about USA first?
The UN should be more intimately involved in the conflict.
Peacekeepers could ensure aid gets where it needs to without being “diverted” and funding tunnels or rockets, while making sure the two sides aren’t attacking civilian aid centers or supply lines.
It’s a hot issue but there is no clear solution. If we send in countless dollars they will go to Hamas, who will turn them into means to attack Israel. If we don’t, the people under Hamas rule will suffer. There isn’t a mujahadeen to create or a local force to support in Gaza to fight the bad guys, because we would be funding people who support Hamas.
Boots on the ground is the only way to be involved, if at all. And no, I’m not saying call up the military, the last thing we need is another ME war involving Americans, but armed mediation is the only way you can solve issues between a first and third world country. Both sides know it would be bad to fire on US or international forces.
The international community should also help bankroll this rather than relying mostly on the money printer.
Yeah, every member state of the UN should pay into a pool, scaled to GDP, to rebuild Gaza and take over the security duties on the ground in a way that locks out Hamas for as long as it takes to implement a representative government.
Of course, that would draw SCREAMS of outrage about cultural and political imperialism trying to force Western ideas about governance upon indigenous peoples. Oh, the horror.
Agreed. What would be deemed by some as occupation but in reality is restructuring is basically the only way to help the people of Gaza transition to a state free of Hamas and allow the Israelis to relax their posture.
Those who decry Israel’s actions when we did the same thing in Afghan for 20+ years are blissfully ignorant of the terror that unsuppressed extremist ideals can cause.
Not a bad idea. Allowing Israel to take over Gaza would just continue the spiral of violence and oppression. No way that’s going to end well. A temporary, must be temporary, UN presence and international financial support to help Gazans rebuild and create their own government would be a good start. Walking away and leaving Gaza as is will allow Hamas to rebuild. The UN would really be the only viable option. Of course, this MUST be accompanied by Israel’s acceptance of a free state. It’s a 2 pronged approach. One without the other is useless.
Yep, I completely agree.
The hot issue would be what to do about the current Hamas operatives while the UN is present. The peacekeepers are not well suited for anti-terror roles and would surely be a target so they would likely be best utilized to protect civilians while Israel finishes Hamas with coordinated strikes.
Perhaps joint collab between the IDF, Mossad and the UN, with active involvement from some form of democratically elected council from the people of Gaza
Yeah, I agree. Any peacekeeping presence would ideally be only pulled from the ME with UN funding. And, even more so than that, primarily Jordanian and Egyptian personnel who would be least likely to be attractive targets for Hamas.
How about letting other countries fight their own wars, insert their own governments, and borrow money themselves for aid? We DO NOT have extra money. Why are we borrowing for them? So one side has enough weapons and the other to help fund the result? We need to fix our shit here!!!
Where other local publications might reprint a press release and try to pass it off as some form of journalism (to curry favor or out of laziness? idk), I’m heartened to know that EdHat practices responsibility in attributing authorship.
That said, shame on Carbajal and the other co-sponsors of this resolution for trying to capitalize on the humanitarian crisis that they have helped engineer and foment. We are not blind! We see right through your hollow attempts to appear as though you care about the lives of Palestinians. I mean, you give it away in the second paragraph of your own release: this is all about getting Biden’s October 2023 supplement funding request passed.
If you and your fellow co-sponsors recognize how truly desperate the situation is in Gaza–with tens of thousands of lives eliminated, millions of displaced families, a lack of access to water, etc.–why do you insist on passing a funding request that includes more war funding for Ukraine, more domestic military spending, increasing the ranks of the Border Patrol and, more confounding still, sending more arms to Israel? How does any of that address the fact that Israel has killed those +20,000 Palestinian lives; Israel is withholding Gazans’ access to water; Israel is impeding the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza; Israel is threatening the safety of the very Israeli hostages for whom you claim concern (either through their indiscriminate air strikes or their deliberate shooting of half-naked Israeli hostages holding white flags and shouting in Hebrew)? If you truly care about the very real, extreme crisis in Gaza, you must act now and deliberately: demand a ceasefire in Gaza; demand Israel to stop committing genocide; demand Israel to lift its siege on the Gaza Strip; demand Israel withdraw from its occupation; stop voting in favor of more munitions emblazoned with “Made in the USA” that will litter the Gaza Strip and slaughter more precious Palestinian lives! If you are unwilling to do any of these things, please do not try to play the role of concerned citizen, no te queda (it doesn’t suit you).
So much for any hope of a UN presence and temporary security once Hamas is defeated (how ever that will look). Time for Biden to put some pants on now.
“In any arrangement in the foreseeable future — with an arrangement or without one — Israel must have security control over all the territory west of the Jordan,” Mr. Netanyahu said at a news conference, referring to an area including occupied territory that Palestinians hope will one day become their independent state. “This clashes with the idea of sovereignty. What can you do?” – https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/18/world/middleeast/netanyahu-palestinian-state-israel-gaza-war.html
This, of course, won’t end well for anyone. “Defeat” Hamas and then take over all land west of the Jordan river? Yeah, terrorism there will never end if they do that. Someone needs to stop this.