Booker Refusal to Block Arms for Israel’s Final Solution Against Gaza Condemned Widely by NJ Organizations
The following is the text of a widely supported letter to US Senator Booker who refused to block arms shipments being used to force starvation, mass extermination and complete removal of Palestinians in Gaza and a resumption of the US – Israel unprovoked war on the nation and people of Iran. National Iranian American Council and Peace Action of NJ spearheaded the organization of the letter which is published here and also presented below.
The following is the description of the letter and process from the NIAC site:
- September 25, 2025
69 national, statewide, and local New Jersey organizations have signed onto a letter led by NIAC’s New Jersey Chapter, NJ Peace Action, and MPower Change Action Fund to Senator Cory Booker expressing deep concern over his recent vote to approve weapons transfers to Israel amid its ongoing assault on Gaza, in violation of U.S. and international humanitarian law. The letter urges Senator Booker to join the majority of Senate Democrats in opposing future arms sales, support legislation conditioning U.S. military aid, and call for an immediate ceasefire and restoration of humanitarian aid.
LETTER TO BOOKER:
Senator Cory Booker
New Jersey Democrat
306 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 205110
Dear Senator Booker
,
We, the undersigned National, state-wide, and local organizations, write to express our profound concern and disappointment in your recent vote to approve weapons transfers to the Israeli military amid its ongoing assault on the Palestinian people in Gaza, in violation of U.S. and international humanitarian law.
At a time when countless respected human rights organizations and genocide scholars — including two leading Israeli human rights groups — have concluded that Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute genocide, your decision to further arm the Israeli military is unconscionable. With this vote, you chose to support the continued killing of civilians, the targeting of children, the destruction of nearly all basic infrastructure, and what experts describe as a “minutely engineered” campaign of mass starvation. You now represent the minority of the Senate Democratic Caucus that chose to supply offensive weapons to Israel. Instead, this should be a moment of unity and moral clarity within the Democratic Party.
This is not theoretical. Over 100,000 women and children in Gaza are now experiencing acute, severe malnutrition. At least 197 people, including 96 children, have already died from hunger. The World Food Program reports that one in three Gazans go without food for multiple days at a time. Your votes to continue sending offensive weapons enable this humanitarian catastrophe unfolding before the world, and render you and our country complicit in the crimes these weapons are being used to commit.
As humanitarian organizations have stated clearly, the continued provision of weapons to Israel must stop. This is also the position of the vast majority of the American public, including 77% of Democrats and 60% of overall registered voters who oppose sending more US military aid to Israel. Among Iranian Americans — a large constituency in New Jersey — support for a ceasefire and a halt to military funding is also overwhelming, as they were forced to watch with horror as Israel expanded its military campaign to Iran, killing hundreds of civilians in June 2025. While your recent yes votes on the Kaine War Powers Resolution were a good step in the right direction towards preventing war with Iran, we would expect any Senator to show better leadership on stopping Israel’s genocide and mass starvation in Gaza.
It is long past time to act. For nearly two years, Israel has systematically destroyed Gaza’s hospitals, homes, schools, food systems, and infrastructure. Now, under the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — which Israel has used to replace the highly-respected UN-led system — aid seekers are being massacred on a daily basis in what multiple eyewitnesses, including American contractors and Israeli soldiers themselves, are calling “killing fields.”
1,000 Palestinians seeking food and aid have reportedly been gunned down with machine guns and even tank fire. Doctors report patterns of gunshot wounds consistent with the deliberate targeting of aid seekers’ heads, genitals, and chests. These are war crimes. Under U.S. law, including the Leahy Law and Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act, the United States must not provide military assistance to foreign countries credibly implicated in gross human rights violations or that block U.S.-funded humanitarian aid. And yet, despite leading and signing a letter acknowledging the escalating famine in Gaza, you have taken no meaningful action to enforce these laws or apply any leverage to end the violence.
Tens of thousands of your constituents have contacted you since November 2024 urging support for the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval led by Sen. Bernie Sanders. You both had the opportunity to stand with the majority of your Democratic Senate colleagues, including Senator Kim by voting to block further arms transfers. You failed to do so. We call on you now to:
- Publicly support and vote for all future resolutions to block weapons transfers to Israel to put a stop to the genocide.
- Support and co-sponsor legislation that conditions or halts military assistance to Israel in accordance with U.S. and international law.
- Demand an immediate and lasting ceasefire, the lifting of the siege on Gaza, and the full restoration of humanitarian aid to Palestinians distributed through the UN-led system.
New Jersey is watching. This is a defining moral moment. We urge you to be on the right side of history moving forward. Thank you for your attention to these crucial and timely initiatives to help end this conflict and save countless lives. We look forward to your response, and we are at your disposal to meet to discuss these matters further.
Signed,
NJ Peace Action
MPower Change Action Fund
And the following organizations:
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
Arab Muslim American Caucus of the Green Party of NJ
Binghamton Solidarity for Palestine
Binghamton Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine
CAIR Action NJ
Casa Freehold
Ceasefire Now New Jersey
Central New Jersey Democratic Socialists of America
Chatham Summit Monthly Meeting (Quakers)
Council for Social Justice NJ
Coalition for Peace Action
Defending Rights & Dissent
Demand Progress
Dover for Palestine
Dover-Randolph Monthly Meeting (Quaker)
Emgage Action NJ
Flemington QTs
FOSNA-NJ
FightBackBetter News Service
Genesee Valley Citizens for Peace
Green Door Studio
IfNotNow Central NJ
International Union of Painters & Allied Trades District Council 4
Islamic Perspectives NJ Chapter
Jewish Voice for Peace – Westchester
Jewish Voice for Peace Northern NJ
Judson Memorial Church
Masjid Ashabul Yameen
Masjid As-Salam
Muslim Advocates
Muslim American Law Enforcement Association
Northwest New Jersey FCNL Advocacy Team
New Brunswick Islamic Center
New Jersey Anti-Zionist Minyan
New York Progressive Action Network
NJ 11 for Palestine
NJ Muslim Coalition
NY8 Neighbors for a Gaza Ceasefire
Occupy Bergen County
Out Revolution NJ
Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Pax Christi New Jersey
Peace Action Le Moyne (from Syracuse, NY)
Peace Action Manhattan
Peace Action Staten Island
Perth Amboy for Palestine
RootsAction
Resistance Cafe
Rowan Students for Justice in Palestine
Rowan University YDSA
Rutgers Queer Caucus
South Jersey Democratic Socialists of America
South Jersey for Gaza
South Jersey Jews for Gaza
Speak Up for Palestine (Rochester, NY)
The Persuasive Pen
The Riverside Church in the City of New York
Teaneck Peace and Justice Vigil
The Reformed Church of Highland Park
The Truth Project
Veterans For Peace-NYC Chapter 34
We Are Revolutionary
Western NY Peace Center
Witness Against Torture
WILPF US (Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom), US Section
