At the very moment a UN-affiliated body officially declared a state of famine in Gaza, few performances have been as grotesquely illuminating as that of Senator Cory Booker.
Just days after issuing a statement so laden with heartfelt concern for Gaza’s starving children that it could have been scripted for a charity telethon, Booker marched onto the Senate floor and voted to continue sending the very weapons that are enabling this extermination.
Booker’s July 25th press release, calling the starvation “heartbreaking” and demanding an “immediate and drastic surge in life-saving resources,” was revealed five days later to be worth less than the paper it was printed on.
Senator Bernie Sanders forced a vote on two resolutions to block offensive arms sales to Israel in light of the daily civilian massacres and unfolding famine created by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government’s policies.
When presented with a tangible chance to leverage U.S. power—to actually vote to block the sale of $675 million in 1,000-pound bombs and tens of thousands of assault rifles—Booker chose the bombs.
“Senator Cory Booker is performing a macabre dance of empty words and damning actions amid this man-made horror show, where children’s bodies are literally consuming themselves from within,” said anti-establishment progressive Democrat Lisa McCormick, who recently criticized Booker for trying to hide behind other lawmakers who joined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a photo shoot in Washington.
“Senator Booker looked at the evidence detailing Israeli forces shooting children at aid distribution points and decided that the appropriate response was to ensure the armory remains fully stocked,” said McCormick.
This is not a policy disagreement; it is a profound moral failure dressed in the garb of compassionate liberalism.
“Booker, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, possesses both the platform and the power to alter the course of this conflict,” said McCormick. “Instead, he offers tears for the cameras and tactical support for the killing on the floor of the Senate.”
“His rhetoric paints a picture of a man anguished by the consequences of war; his voting record reveals a man fully committed to enabling its most brutal architects,” said McCormick. “He bemoans a broken aid strategy while ensuring the military strategy—the bombing, the siege, the starvation—remains impeccably financed by American taxpayers.”
McCormick said the result of this bipartisan complicity is now quantified in the most horrifying terms imaginable.
Famine is not a looming threat; it is the current, grim reality for hundreds of thousands.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) shared evidence that strongly suggests mortality from hunger and disease in Gaza has surpassed the Famine (IPC Phase 5) threshold of 2 deaths per 10,000 people per day.
“After 22 months of relentless conflict, over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions characterised by starvation, destitution and death,” said the IPC. “Another 1.07 million people (54 percent) are in Emergency (IPC Phase 4), and 396,000 people (20 percent) are in Crisis (IPC Phase 3).”
Malnutrition-related deaths are reported in health facilities, though this is a significant undercount as it excludes those dying outside of them. The interaction of starvation and rampant disease is causing a rapid, accelerating rise in preventable deaths.
Doctors report that children have passed the “point of no return,” their gut linings auto-digesting, making even the act of refeeding a potential death sentence. This is the outcome of the policy that Booker, through his votes, endorses.
“He offers thoughts and prayers while signing off on the weapons delivery manifests,” said McCormick. “He is a living testament to the fact that in modern American politics, the most dangerous kind of hypocrisy isn’t saying the quiet part loud—it’s whispering compassion while pulling the lever for continued slaughter.”