WORCESTER – Congressman Jim McGovern said that, “Benjamin Netanyahu is a disaster for Israel” and called for a freeze on military sales and assistance to Israel until there is a ceasefire. McGovern made the statements on Thursday morning during a weekly appearance on Talk of the Commonwealth with Hank Stolz, via Radio Worcester.
“Words are no longer enough,” McGovern said. “This is not the first incident. This has gone on and on and on and on.”
Hear the full comment by McGovern, via Talk of the Commonwealth with Hank Stolz, below.
The full interview with McGovern is available here.
McGovern made the comments in response to seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen (WCK) killed by an Israeli Defense Forces strike on April 1.
WCK says the workers were “traveling in a deconflicted zone in two armored cars branded with the WCK logo and a soft skin vehicle.” It also said that, “Despite coordinating movements with the IDF, the convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route.”
The aid workers killed included a Canadian/ American dual citizen, Jacob Flickinger, as well as nationals of Australia, Gaza, Poland, and the United Kingdom. Israel said the IDF will investigate. WCK has called for an independent investigation.
“These are the heroes of WCK. These 7 beautiful souls were killed by the IDF in a strike as they were returning from a full day's mission. Their smiles, laughter, and voices are forever embedded in our memories.” – Erin Gore, CEO. Read more: https://t.co/4f38RQ1l4I pic.twitter.com/neAsSzKVP5
— World Central Kitchen (@WCKitchen) April 2, 2024
According to WCK, “Israel has admitted to the killings but called it ‘a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants,’ and something that ‘happens in war.”
WCK was founded by Chef José Andrés, who was born and trained in Spain and moved to the US at age 21. He eventually settled in Washington D.C., and volunteered at the DC Central Kitchen. He founded the WCK in 2010, after an earthquake in Haiti. Its workers are currently actively providing emergency food relief in:
- Haiti since last month during political and social unrest;
- Gaza, Israel, Egypt, and Lebanon since October, in response to the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas in Israel and the Israeli operation in Gaza;
- Ukraine since Feb. 2022 since the Russian invasion there;
WCK has deployed emergency food relief efforts in the US on multiple occasions. In the last year, it responded to:
- Northern Texas after wildfires in March
- Florida and Alabama after storms in January
- Tennessee after tornadoes in December 2023
- Hawai’i after wildfires in August and September 2023
- Florida and Georgia after Hurricane Idalia in August and September 2023
- Vermont after torrential rains in July 2023
- Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee after tornadoes in March and April 2023
McGovern has been criticized by some, including demonstrators at a recent fundraiser, for not going far enough to respond to Israeli actions in Gaza.
McGovern has previously spoken out against sending more weapons to Israel as long as the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu restricts humanitarian aid into Gaza. He previously called on President Biden to use US arms for Israel as leverage to get humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza.
Israeli PM Netanyahu has deliberately used food, water & medicine as weapons against the people of Gaza— violating Section 620I of the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act.
We need to use our leverage now, @POTUS. No more U.S. military aid to Israel in contradiction of our own laws. pic.twitter.com/fJmPGHKVt3
— Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) March 13, 2024
The militant group Hamas led an attack from the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7 that killed 695 Israeli civilians, 71 foreign nationals, 373 members of security forces, and led to 240 hostages taken. Since Oct. 7, 110 hostages were released. Since Israel launched a military response in the Gaza Strip, reports indicate that over 30,000 have been killed, 70,000 injured, and 1.7 million people, about 80% percent of the population, has been displaced.
Since the attack, the Biden administration has approved more than 100 arms sales to Israel, according to a report by the Washington Post on March 6. Two of those transfers were worth over $253 million. The rest were transactions below the amount the law requires disclosed individually.
McGovern represents the federal 2nd Massachusetts district in the US House of Representatives, which includes all of Worcester and its surrounding towns, a large portion of central Massachusetts, and parts of Franklin, Hampshire, Middlesex, and Norfolk Counties.
