Breathe
By Heidi Osuna
With the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan requesting an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Galant for possible war crimes in the Gaza conflict, Netanyahu attended the U.S. Congress for the fourth time in order to defend the collective punishment he is inflicting on the Palestinian civilian population.
Nearly half of the Democratic congressmen did not attend in protest of his presence, and those who did attended showed their rejection. Among the notable absentees were Nancy Pelosi, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Republican Thomas Massie, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Brian Schatz. Senator Sanders explained that his absence was due to the fact that he considers Netanyahu's visit as part of Israel's current military campaign, in addition to calling him a "liar and war criminal".
The speech, which lasted almost an hour, was marked by one lie after another. The image of Republican legislators applauding and Democrats remaining silent reflects the enormous ideological distance between them.
