From Palestine Chronicle Staff 
Pro-Palestinian activists disrupted an event at University College Dublin (UCD) featuring Bernie Sanders on Thursday, accusing him of being a Zionist.
The 83-year-old former US presidential candidate is currently in Ireland promoting his book It’s Okay to Be Angry at Capitalism.
In a video widely shared on social media, Sanders reportedly said he intended to persuade the Biden administration to seek a “humanitarian moratorium or ceasefire to provide desperately needed aid.” There is.
But he said he was just “a little worried” about the use of the word “genocide.” “We need to be careful about that,” Sanders said.
“Decisive victory” – ICJ issues judgment on Gaza genocide
On January 26, the International Court of Justice, at South Africa’s request, ruled that there is a legal basis for accusations that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, 28,775 Palestinians have been killed and 68,552 injured in the Israeli massacre that has continued in Gaza since October 7.
Additionally, at least 7,000 people across the Strip are believed to be missing or dead under the rubble of their homes. Palestinian and international organizations say the majority of casualties are women and children.
“It’s a massacre.”
When Sanders began to express displeasure about the use of the term, attendees at the event interrupted the senator by shouting, “This is genocide.”
Another activist, a woman, shouted, “What is the definition of genocide?” Mr. Sanders did not respond.
“Bernie, you funded Zionism yourself,” cried a third activist, adding: You’re here, pretending you’re not.
“That’s disgusting. Liar, liar, genocide denier!” the activist continued.
Bernie Sanders has discredited the use of the word genocide to describe what Israelis are doing to Palestinians, saying it makes him “sick” when he hears it…and I was humiliated in Ireland yesterday for that.
Humanitarian protesters disrupt an event featuring former Americans at UCD in Dublin… pic.twitter.com/LyENyk7AKZ
— Johan Spishak (@SDGMasterglass) February 16, 2024
According to Irish media, Sanders “replyed that disrupting the meeting was useless and insisted that ‘slogans are not the solution.'”
But the criticism wasn’t just from Irish students.
irish star newspaper report Irish politician Richard Boyd Barrett also criticized Sanders for repeatedly rejecting calls for a ceasefire in Gaza during the first weeks of Israel’s brutal war.
moral disagreement
“I respected Bernie Sanders, but I was surprised that he refused to call for a ceasefire in Gaza during the first two months of #IsraeliGenocide and still refuses to call what Israel is doing genocide. ” said the Irish politician.
“Like our government, he justified ‘self-defense’ propaganda that justified the Gaza massacre,” Barrett continued.
Sanders said in an interview with CNN in November that a ceasefire was not a viable option.
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“I don’t see how you can achieve a ceasefire, (a) permanent ceasefire, with an organization like Hamas that is dedicated to chaos and chaos and the destruction of the state of Israel,” he said.
when sanders made it statementWell over 9,000 Palestinians, including over 4,000 children, had already been killed by Israel.
The Israeli invasion has also resulted in the displacement of nearly 2 million people from across the Gaza Strip, with the majority of those displaced being forced into the densely populated southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt, which is part of Palestine. It is the maximum. It was the first mass exodus since the Nakba in 1948.
(Palestinian Chronicle)