Sen, Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., speaks during a news conference on the debt limit, Thursday, May 18, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
‘US senator peddling blood libel on Easter’ – Former MK joins condemnations of senator over anti-Israel Easter message.
By World Israel News Staff
A Democratic senator from Oregon came under fire over the weekend, after he penned an Easter message on social media accusing Israel of “indiscriminate bombing” of Gazans and demanded the Biden administration end military sales to the Jewish state.
Jeff Merkley, Oregon’s junior senator, condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the ongoing war against Hamas in a three-part Twitter thread Sunday, accusing Israel of pushing Gazans “to the brink of famine.”
“On this Easter, let’s ponder Netanyahu’s indiscriminate bombing of Gaza, which has killed more than 20,000 women and children, and his restriction of humanitarian aid, which has pushed Palestinians to the brink of famine,” Merkley wrote.
Merkley went on to call on the White House to use American “leverage” to increase aid deliveries to Gaza, ignoring the surge in aid transfers and resulting decline in food prices in Gaza.
“But we must also recognize that America is complicit in this tragedy by resupplying Israel with bombs and failing to use America’s leverage to increase aid delivered into Gaza.”
“Reflecting on the admonition to feed the hungry and assist the stranger, and ‘blessed are the peacemakers,’ let’s push Team Biden to do better. More aid. No bombs.”
Merkley’s tweets drew criticism, including accusations he was spreading “blood libels” against Jews.
“Using a sacred holiday for Christians to lie about Jews is pretty messed up and indicative of a truly horrible person,” one user with over 156,000 followers wrote.
Former Israeli Knesset Member Michal Cotler-Wunsh (Blue and White) slammed Merkley over his comments, tweeting: “A US senator. Peddling blood libel. On Easter.We’ve been here before…”
“This is war waged by genocidal terror proxies for whom human TRAGEDY is STRATEGY – enabled & empowered by int’l silence/denial/impunity/double standards/false moral equivalence.”
David Harris, the longtime Jewish activist, former CEO of the American Jewish Committee and the son of Holocaust survivors, responded to Merkley’s tweets with a massive banner reading “BLOOD LIBEL.”
“Easter blood libel,” Harris tweeted. “Facts: Humanitarian aid arrives daily in Gaza Hamas hoards aid, fails to distribute Israel’s military action is as precise as any in history Casualty figure comes from Hamas All in a war, Senator, STARTED by Hamas, a US-designated foreign terrorist group.”
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