U.S. Congressman removes tweet criticizing Israel’s vaccine policy

Washington (QNN)- U.S. Congressman Jamaal Bowman(NY-16) removed a tweet that criticized ‘Israel’ for not vaccinating Palestinians, saying “this cruelty is another reminder of why the occupation must end.”

In his removed tweet, Bowman urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ensure that Palestinians receive COVID-19 vaccinations and added that “this cruelty is another reminder of why the occupation must end.”

Bowman removed the tweet after Israeli and pro-Israel officials attacked Bowman, saying that ‘Israel’ is not obligated to vaccinate Palestinians.

The removal, first noted on January 21, by Jewish Insider.

On Wednesday, Bowman tweeted in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, stating that, “The Holocaust was an unspeakable horror that stole 6 million Jewish lives. On today’s #HolocaustRemembranceDay, we mourn. But we also must recommit to ending antisemitism in all of its forms, and acknowledging that the fight against hate is far from over.”

A number of progressive Democrats, including Rashida Tlaib, Marie Newman, and Joaquin Castro, have criticized ‘Israel’ for not giving Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza strip access to the vaccine.

“I commend Israel for leading the world on vaccinating its people, but I’m disappointed and concerned by their government’s exclusion of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation from these vaccination efforts, despite making COVID vaccines available to Israeli settlers in the West Bank,” Joaquin Castro told Haaretz.

“This virus does not see or care about nationality, borders, or religion — its devastating impact is everywhere. The Netanyahu administration has a moral and humanitarian obligation to ensure that both Israelis & Palestinians have access to vaccines,” said Marie Newman.

“I think it’s really important to understand Israel is a racist state and that they would deny Palestinians, like my grandmother, access to a vaccine, that they don’t believe that she’s an equal human being that deserves to live, deserves to be able to be protected by this global pandemic,” said Rashida Tlaib, who’s a Palestinian American.

As of 3 January 2021, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), 159,034 Palestinians in the OPT, including East Jerusalem, had tested positive for coronavirus since the first confirmed case was reported in March 2020.

More than a million Israelis, some 12 percent of the ‘Israeli’ population, receive the vaccination in less than two weeks – the highest rate in the world while It excludes the nearly 5 million Palestinians who live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, under Israeli military occupation.

‘Israel’ is obligated to provide Palestinians with the vaccines, as an occupying power.

Under the fourth Geneva Convention, occupying forces are responsible for providing healthcare to the population of the occupied area.

Most states as well as the United Nations Security Council, the United Nations General Assembly, the International Court of Justice, and the International Committee of the Red Cross, consider ‘Israel’ to be an occupying power.

The UN, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and many other human rights organizations have called on ‘Israel’ to help make vaccines available to the Palestinians, saying ‘Israel’ is obligated to do so under international law.

“The Israeli government must stop ignoring its international obligations as an occupying power and immediately act to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are equally and fairly provided to Palestinians living under its occupation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip,” said Amnesty International.

“These responsibilities, alongside its obligations under international human rights law, include providing vaccines in a nondiscriminatory manner to Palestinians living under its control, using as a benchmark what it provides for its own citizens. The Palestinian authorities’ own obligations to protect the right to health of Palestinians in areas where they manage affairs do not absolve Israel of its responsibilities,” said HRW.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, there have been nearly 2010 deaths related to COVID-19 among Palestinians in the OPT since the beginning of the pandemic, 521 in Gaza strip.

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