Sanders: Israel 'indiscriminately' killed '10,000' Palestinians
[Sanders: Israel 'indiscriminately' killed '10,000'
Palestinians by Ariel Cohen] "Bernie Sanders claimed recently that "over 10,0000
innocent" Palestinians were killed by Israelis during the summer 2014 Gaza War
as the result of an "indiscriminate" military operation.
These figures are much higher than those accepted by
any side of the conflict.
The Democratic primary candidate acknowledged to the
New York Daily News that he wasn't sure if those numbers were exactly accurate.
"Anybody help me out here, because I don't remember
the figures, but my recollection is over 10,000 innocent people were killed in
Gaza. Does that sound right?" Sanders said in an interview with the newspaper's
editorial board on Monday.
Once told that the number was high, the Vermont
denator responded "I don't have it in my number ... but I think it's over
10,000. My understanding is that a whole lot of apartment houses were leveled,"
he went on. "Hospitals, I think, were bombed. So yeah, I do believe and I don't
think I'm alone in believing that Israel's force was more indiscriminate than it
should have been."
Sanders' estimate far exceeds even Palestinian
sources, which estimate that 1,462 Palestinians were killed out of the 2,251
Gaza War fatalities in 2014. Israeli figures are lower.
Sanders' comments come just weeks after he became the
only candidate in the race to turn down an invitation to speak at the annual
American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington, D.C.
While his main opponent Hillary Clinton received a
standing ovation for speaking about the importance of defending Israel, Sanders
gave a policy speech from Utah about the importance of "security for every
Palestinian." As the only Jewish candidate in the race, Sanders also has
personal ties to Israel as he spent a few months living on a Kibbutz in his
youth where he met his first wife.
Sanders' comments gained the attention of prominent
Israeli newspapers such as the Times of Israel, Arutz Sheva and the Jerusalem
Post."
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Sanders:
Israel 'indiscriminately' killed '10,000' Palestinians