opinion

Sanders brushes off question about Israel

An open letter to Sen. Bernie Sanders,

I attended your Oct.19 event in Oskaloosa. By the end, I was ready to open my checkbook.

Afterwards, my friend asked you a question, and I wish I would have recorded the interaction, because that 40-second interaction completely turned my support for you upside down.

She asked you about our government’s unequivocal support of Israel and if you would work for Palestinian rights. Your response to her made me sick. You put your hands on her shoulders, pushed down shook your head and said, condescendingly, that you support Israel and a two-state solution. You said, “I don’t want to talk about it, that’s all I’m going to say about that.”

You are running for president, yet you refuse to field a question about foreign policy. Our unequivocal support of Israel ($10 million a day) leaves us on the wrong side of history.

When you truly examine the situation in Palestine/Israel, you will see that a two-state solution is no longer possible.You would also see that this conflict is about occupation; to frame it as a religious issue is incorrect. The Palestinians are a mostly unarmed civilian population occupied by the fourth most powerful military (with nuclear weapons) in the world.

I’m traveling to Gaza in a couple months for a medical mission. The fact that none of the politicians running for president acknowledge the human rights of Palestinians makes me deeply sad. I expected you, Sen. Sanders, to be different.

— Dr. Maria Filippone, Des Moines