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Illinois. Congresswoman Delia Ramirez took to social media to demand an
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immediate cease fire in Gaza.
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Speaking about the ID F strike that killed World Central kitchen aid
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workers, she wrote what Netanyahu did three times when he targeted
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and dropped bombs on aid workers feeding,
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starving Palestinians is a war crime.
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Congresswoman Delia Ramirez is now joining us to explain the current situation
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in Gaza and what we can do to help Congresswoman.
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Hello. Hi. Thank you for having me.
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Thank you for joining us.
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The Israeli military killed World Central kitchen aid workers in Gaza
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earlier this week. Prime Minister Netanyahu claims it was a mistake
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What do you believe and why?
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I absolutely do not think it's a mistake.
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Look, they knew these trucks had the logo of World Central
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Kitchen all over it.
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Even when the trucks were found the following morning,
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one of them unrecognizable right from,
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from being shot at so much.
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But the other you could see the logo even on the top
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of the van. So there's absolutely no excuse for targeting designated
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safe zones in Rafael and killing these seven people providing critical aid
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in a region that we know has been threatened with famine for
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months. Now, it only shows you just the lack of
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care of any life that the Netanyahu government has.
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We have been calling for a permanent cease fire for the last
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six months. And when I get back to Congress,
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I will be saying that,
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shouting that over and over to the administration to my colleagues in
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Congress and saying that a permanent ceasefire is the only way that
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we're going to be able to yes save the hostages that are
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still in Gaza. But to preserve any life,
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if we are in any way committed to saving innocent lives in
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that region, that cease fire should have happened.
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back in October and today,
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this moment in April,
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almost six months later,
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it is now like a life or death for hundreds of thousands
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of people and the world is watching how the US moves forward
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We can't say we condemn what happened to the seven people
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on providing meals to people in Gaza and then authorize billions of
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dollars of more ammunition to Israel government to continue to bomb.
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It doesn't go together.
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It seems almost hypocritical,
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right? It is hypocritical and I'd say it directly to our
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administration. It's absolute dissonance.
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So why does the US continue to provide military equipment to this
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government? Even though many agree that they are engaging in blatant
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attacking aid workers is a war crime,
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killing Children is a war crime.
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This is not the very first time that the Netanyahu government and
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its D forces has done this.
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It's over and over and over and it begs the question,
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why is it that for any other country in the world,
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we have conditions in which we use to determine if we will
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provide them aid. But when it comes to Israel,
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even the word condition up until this moment had never been questioned
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it was unconditional aid,
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unconditional support. And it tells you a lot about where we
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are and the role that we are playing specifically precisely in this
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moment. I have said loud and clear and I voted against
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the latest budget that was going to provide $3.5 billion to the
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Israeli government. And I have said not one more dollar to
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Netanyahu government. The issue I'd be honest is that there are
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too many members of Congress in this precise moment that continue to
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pledge unconditional support to a administration that is literally killing and starving
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Children to death. This is why it's so important that our
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communities are constituents and people around the world are calling for the
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US to be accountable and to not just say that they are
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concerned, but to be able to show that in the way
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that we move. And I have said not one more dollar
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to the Netanyahu government,
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not until there's a permanent ceasefire.
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And what can your constituents and other American citizens do to express
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our frustration and anger with the United States handling of this situation
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I think the very first thing that I would say to
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you is I just came back from Panama.
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I was in the Darien,
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I saw a humanitarian global crisis there,
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women Children starving to death and I saw aid organizations trying to
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do the best they could in absence of real government support.
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And what was clear to me was that was happening in the
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Darien and the need of assistance to Latinos to immigrants is exactly
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the same thing that we need to be thinking about when we're
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thinking about what's happening.
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Miles and miles away.
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It is a global connection.
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Aid workers in Panama are being criminalized.
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Aid workers in Gaza,
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those that want help are being criminalized instead of putting the blame
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where it needs to be.
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in the Netanyahu government.
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So what I would say to people is to say you need
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to continue to call your legislators,
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you need to go to their town hall meetings,
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you need to show up to their offices and as a constituent
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demand that they answer to you why they are not doing more
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to stop the killing of Children.
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And so asking members of Congress to vote no,
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for more aid to Israel and asking for them to be public
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on a permanent cease fire are the two ways that you could
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be helping us in this moment.
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There are only 66 of us have called for a ceasefire out
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I agree. And thank you congresswoman for talking to us about
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this. We appreciate having your voice in Washington.
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It is impactful and,
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and it's making a difference.
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Thank you congresswoman before you head out.
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Do you have any socials or are there any pages where we
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can keep up with what you're doing?
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You can find on my official pages on Congresswoman Delia Ramirez on
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Instagram on Twitter. We're going to open up a Tik Tok
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soon which by the way,
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I voted no on the ban for sure.
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Of course, of course.
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But on Instagram, Twitter and you know,
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people use Facebook stuff too.
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Congresswoman Delia Ramirez. If Google it,
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you'll find them there.
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We're actually, I am hanging up to get on to two
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interviews to talk about what I saw at the day end.
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we're going to do a press release just talking a little bit
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about what I saw and what I'm calling for.
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I serve as a vice ranking member in Homeland Security.
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Every single committee I hear are people being called the legals,
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aliens and criminals. So going to the Darien was important because
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I need to be able to give a face to the people
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that my colleagues continue to criminalize.
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So you'll see more of that information there as well.
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It's inspiring to know there are people like you in the office
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Becca, your daughter of Guatemalan immigrants.
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Very proud. That's right.
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Thank you. Thank you.
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Have a good weekend.
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really glad we have someone like her in congress like she has
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she absolutely passionate and I hope and pray that there will be
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more people like her in office.
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Oh, most definitely.
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It must be a really tough job,
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but I can only imagine,
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but it's making a difference.
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