WASHINGTON: Ben Cohen, cofounder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and longtime progressive activist, was removed from a Senate hearing Wednesday after confronting Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and lawmakers over US support for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Kennedy had been reading prepared remarks about his department’s 2026 budget when activists interrupted the session, chanting “RFK kills people with AIDS.”
Kennedy jumped from his seat in reaction to the outburst.
Cohen then shouted: “Congress pays for bombs to kill children in Gaza,” accusing lawmakers of funding arms by cutting Medicaid, the government health insurance program for low-income families that Republicans are seeking to slash.
Video posted by anti-war group Codepink showed the 74-year-old in handcuffs as Capitol Police escorted him from the chamber.
“They need to let food into Gaza, they need to let food to starving kids!” Cohen yelled as he was taken away.
A vocal critic of Israeli policy, Cohen last year co-signed an open letter titled A Statement From Jewish Americans Opposing AIPAC, denouncing the pro-Israel lobby’s influence in US politics.
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‘They need to let food to starving kids!’: Ben & Jerry’s cofounder confronts RFK Jr in Gaza protest at US Capitol
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‘They need to let food to starving kids!’: Ben & Jerry’s cofounder confronts RFK Jr in Gaza protest at US Capitol
Over half million Cambodians displaced by Thai bombardment: interior ministry
PHNOM PENH: More than half a million people in Cambodia have been displaced from their homes by two weeks of deadly border clashes with neighboring Thailand, Phnom Penh’s interior ministry said Sunday.
“At present, more than half a million Cambodian people, including women and children, are suffering severe hardship due to forced displacement from their homes and schools to escape artillery shells, rockets, and aerial bombardments carried out by Thailand’s F-16 aircraft,” the interior ministry said in a statement, giving the total number of people evacuated as 518,611.
Around 400,000 people have been displaced in Thailand due to the reignited border conflict, Bangkok has said.
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