Pro-Palestinians Protest in Santa Barbara Ahead of Congressional Vote on $95 Billion Aid Package for Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine

[Updated: Wed., Apr. 24, 2024, 11am]

Protesters with Code Pink once again targeted Congressmember Salud Carbajal for a protest, demanding he take stronger action in support of Palestinians now on the receiving end of Israeli military action in Gaza. Their action — shown here at Carbajal’s congressional office in downtown Santa Barbara — came a day before Carbajal cast a ballot in Congress for a much-delayed supplemental $95 billion national security assistance bill that would give $61 billion in military assistance to Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel, and $9 billion in humanitarian assistance for Palestinians enduring the onslaught in Gaza.

Carbajal argued the bill was necessary because “famine conditions have put millions at risk in Gaza” and because, “Israel continues to live under a threat of increasingly brazen attacks on its people,” a reference to Iran’s retaliatory bombing attack in launches against Israel a week ago.

Code Pink organizer Marcy Winograd dismissed the $9 billion in humanitarian aid going to Gaza as “only a sliver,” and asked, “How many children must be murdered before enough is enough?”

Winograd accused Israel of having bombed every university in Gaza — among other things — a practice she described as “scholasticide.”

Carbajal has expressed consistent support for Israel’s policy of militarily eliminating any remaining Hamas troops in Gaza, but expressed concern for the high body count the offensive has exacted among Palestinians. While he has not supported any calls to condition this tranche of aid to Israel with changes in conduct of the war, he did call on the Biden administration to ensure any future assistance is accompanied by reforms to reduce the civilian casualties inflicted.

It was highly uncertain whether radical Republicans would even allow the emergency military funding package to come to a vote Congress, but come Saturday, all but 58 members of Congress voted to approve the package. On Tuesday, the Senate voted 79-18 to approve the aid package, and on Wednesday morning, President Biden signed the bill into law.