Academy Award winning actress Susan Sarandon, who was dropped by Hollywood for making anti-Semitic comments, blasted Congress for “funding genocide.”
On Thursday, Sarandon joined controversial Squad member, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., on Capitol Hill as part of left-wing activist group CODEPINK’s “advocacy day.”
The all women, anti-war group came out in protest of the Senate’s approval of a $95 billion foreign aid package on Tuesday, which allocates $14.1 billion towards Israel’s war against Hamas.
“As a mother & grandmother, I can’t bear watching the ongoing suffering of the mothers in Gaza, especially knowing that we in the US are paying for the weapons that are killing them and their families,” the actress commented ahead of the protest.
"We have to have a permanent ceasefire and save the lives of all those people that are now and save the lives of all those people that are now just being shot at like fish in a barrel."
– @SusanSarandon in Congress today calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/VwSvxvHxdU— CODEPINK (@codepink) February 15, 2024
“I say to Congress: stop supporting this genocide, call for a permanent ceasefire and the resuming of humanitarian aid through UNRWA,” she demanded.
During a press conference on Thursday, 77-year-old Sarandon, who was photographed wearing a bold red keffiyeh scarf, passionately stated, “There’s never been peace that’s been attained through violence.”
“We have to have a permanent ceasefire and save the lives of all those people that are now basically in a corner, being shot at like fish in a barrel,” she added.
The Oscar winner also took aim at New York Representatives Richie Torres and Hakeem Jeffries, who have received $1,184,374 and $1,261,753, respectively from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
“Well I wish that I had $1,000,000 plus which is what Jeffries has received and Torres also to try to have a conversation,” Sarandon noted.
“But they clearly don’t want to have a dialogue, they don’t want to have a conversation which to me makes it seem as if they’re afraid to know the truth about what’s going on.”
She claimed that that the congressmen’s AIPAC donors will make their lives “very difficult” if they “start to listen to what actually the rest of the world, the rest of the United States, the bulk of the United States wants a ceasefire.”
“I just can’t bear any longer to see this kind of devastation with so many victims are children and women,” she concluded.
“I don’t understand how people cant turn a blind eye to that.”
But Sarandon has had no problem turning a “blind eye” to the violence committed against Israeli citizens by Hamas on Oct. 7, nor has she expressed any sympathy for the hostages that are still being held in Gaza months later.
In fact, Sarandon was dropped by her agents at UTA, which is owned by Jeremy Zimmer, who is Jewish, for making inflammatory remarks at a pro-Palestine protest in New York City last November.
She callously said that those who were “afraid to be Jewish” in America as antisemitism has increasingly escalated into violent attacks, were “getting a taste of what it feels like to be Muslim in America.”
Tlaib, who met with CODEPINK protesters on Thursday, has been equally critical of Israel, if not more than Sarandon.
We all have a responsibility to denounce sexual violence in all forms, regardless of who is responsible. War crimes cannot justify more war crimes. This resolution falls well short of also acknowledging the sexual abuse of Palestinians. pic.twitter.com/T4kdm1WXxk
— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) February 14, 2024
Her stance was made even more clear the day prior, when she was the only member of the House chamber to not vote for a resolution condemning sexual crimes committed by Hamas against Israelis.
In a shockingly rare occurrence, a measure Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL) introduced to denounce the documented sexual violence Hamas has carried out during their war against Israel, received 418 affirmative votes and no nays
However to the astonishment of her peers, Tlaib abstained from the bipartisan resolution, by simply marking “present.”
“While the resolution on the floor today rightfully denounces any sexual violence by Hamas,” she said on the House floor.
“I am disturbed that it completely ignores and erases any sexual violence and abuse committed by the Israeli forces against Palestinians, especially children.”