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Mohanad, a Palestinian who currently lives in Oregon, says he is proud of his adopted home in the United States. But during the last two years, Mohanad has spent most days worrying about his family in Gaza, including his mother, who lives with multiple chronic health conditions, and mourning those who have been killed by the Israeli military.
One of the most difficult parts of this experience, Mohanad says, is knowing that the tax dollars he pays to the American government “contribute to the weapons that killed members of my family.”
At a press conference outside Portland City Hall on Thursday, September 4, Mohanad joined a group of Oregon elected officials and community members in calling for the US government to stop providing financial and military support to Israel amid the country’s ongoing siege on Palestinians in Gaza. The group, which included Portland City Council members, state lawmakers, and religious leaders, urged Oregon’s congressional delegation to support legislation to restrict US arms exports to Israel.
The US has provided tens of billions of dollars in military aid and arms shipments to Israel since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on the country. Speakers at the press conference said the total military aid given has surpassed $31 billion over two years. The number is difficult to verify, as the US government has not always been transparent about how much support it provides to the Israeli military. Reports have tallied that the US provided almost $18 billion in direct military assistance in the first year of Israel’s war on Gaza, by far the most aid provided to the country in a single year.
Over the last two years, some federal lawmakers have also made multiple attempts to pass legislation that would halt arms sales and military aid to Israel. At the Thursday event, speakers urged lawmakers to co-sponsor the Block the Bombs Act, which was introduced in May and seeks to prohibit the transfer of the most lethal defense weapons and services to Israel. Advocates for the bill made the connection between extensive military spending in Israel and a lack of investment in domestic programs Americans rely on.
Portland City Councilor Angelita Morillo listed some ways the city could’ve spent the billions of dollars provided to the Israeli military over the last two years, suggesting Portland could make infrastructure upgrades for seismic resiliency, build a cap over I-5 at the Rose Quarter to reconnect the Albina neighborhood, and help hungry children.
“We could do anything with $31 billion,” she said. “Instead, our $31 billion is going towards starving, bombing, and maiming children in other countries, because our leaders do not find their lives to be valuable.”
The Israeli military has directly killed more than 64,000 Palestinians in nearly two years of war on Gaza, according to reports supported by authorities including the United Nations and through peer-reviewed studies, with children making up a large fraction of the deaths. Hundreds more people, mostly children, have died of starvation as famine has gripped Gaza due to Israel blocking large amounts of aid from entering the territory.
Oregon US Representatives Suzanne Bonamici and Val Hoyle have joined the bill as co-sponsors. Rep. Maxine Dexter has called for the US to “halt the transfer of offensive weapons to Israel,” but has not officially joined as a co-sponsor for the Block the Bombs Act.
Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, who recently returned from a trip to Israel and the Gaza border, has also supported legislative efforts to stop weapons exports to Israel. The issue, which has many Americans split politically, has also proven divisive among Oregon’s two Democratic representatives in the Senate. Senator Ron Wyden has voted against legislation to curb US military aid to Israel, recently stating defense assistance is necessary to help Israel defend itself against “threats from Iran and its terrorist proxies.” Wyden’s stance on Israel has been contentious among some of his constituents in Portland, including members of the local chapter of the group Jewish Voice for Peace.
The local lawmakers who support the Block the Bombs Act say their endorsement is in line with what Oregonians, and Americans as a whole, want, with recent polling showing most Americans oppose continued US military aid to Israel.
At the Thursday press conference, Oregon State Senator Khanh Pham spoke directly to “those in our US congressional delegation who have not yet [co-sponsored the bill], or who have remained silent or or have voted against stopping the bombs and offensive weapons to Israel.”
“We urge you to listen to the stories of Oregonians who we’ve heard from today, whose family members have been injured and killed by the offensive weapons sent and funded by the US,” Pham said.
Oregon Representative Willy Chotzen said he “ran for office to focus on housing and education and streets and bridges and schools.”
“That’s why I haven’t spoken publicly [about Gaza] much, even though I have a lot of beliefs about this issue,” he told the Mercury after the press conference. “To me, it’s more human than being a state representative in the capital. Almost everything I work on [in Salem] is something I have direct control to improve lives over. But I think I’ve also been given a position of power, and with that power comes responsibility to disrupt violence.”
The Block the Bombs Act, which was introduced by Illinois Democratic Representative Delia Ramirez, has been co-sponsored by 40 others. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, but it’s unclear if or when it will receive a wider vote.
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Taylor Griggs
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