United States Politicians before October 7, 2023
updated 2024-04-08
2023-10-00 Palestine and Empire After Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal, accurately if perhaps accidentally, publicly called Israel a “racist state,” a bipartisan Concurrent Resolution 57 repudiating such a heresy was rushed to the House of Representatives, where the vote passed 412-9-1. We pause briefly for the honor roll of those opposing the resolution: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Rashida Tlaib (MI), Jamaal Bowman (NY), Summer Lee (PA), Ilhan Omar (MN), Cori Bush (MO), Andre Carson (IN), Delia Ramirez (IL) and Ayanna Pressley (MA). Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), author of a bill (HR 3103) against U.S. aid for Israel’s large-scale administrative detention of Palestinian children, voted “present.”
Congressional Representative Betty McCollum has reintroduced the above-mentioned “Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act,” which her website describes as a bill “to prohibit Israel from using U.S. taxpayer dollars on the military detention, abuse, or ill-treatment of Palestinian children in Israeli military detention; to support the seizure and destruction of Palestinian property and homes in violation of international humanitarian law; or on any support or assistance for Israel’s unilateral annexation of Palestinian territory in violation of international humanitarian law.” https://againstthecurrent.org/atc226/palestine-and-empire/
2021-05-16 28 Democratic Senators Call for ‘Immediate Ceasefire’ in Gaza As Biden Admin Urges ‘Calm’ A majority of the Senate Democratic Caucus on Sunday called for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, a move that President Joe Biden’s administration has not yet made. Earlier today, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged returning to “calm” and an end to the violence in Gaza.
Twenty eight senators, led by Georgia’s Jon Ossoff, issued a joint statement calling for a ceasefire in the Middle East. “To prevent any further loss of civilian life and to prevent further escalation of conflict in Israel and the Palestinian territories, we urge an immediate ceasefire,” the senators wrote.
The statement’s signatories include Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Angus King of Maine, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Mark Warner of Virginia, Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
The Biden administration has repeatedly supported Israel’s “right to defend itself” despite calls from progressives to condemn Israel’s actions toward the Palestinians amid the region’s escalating violent conflict.
Sanders, a Jewish-American independent who caucuses with Democrats, urged the Biden administration to denounce “Israeli extremists.” Warren called for the federal government to “make clear to the Israeli government” that evicting Palestinians from their homes is “illegal and must stop immediately.”
On Saturday, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that the violence in Gaza will continue for “as long as necessary.” https://www.newsweek.com/28-democratic-senators-call-immediate-ceasefire-gaza-biden-admin-urges-calm-1591953
2021-05-12 AOC’s Attack on Yang’s Meaningless Israel Statement Shows Her Role: Protect Dem Leaders There are three interrelated political factions that wield actual power to change blind U.S. support for Israel: the U.S. Congress, the Democratic Party, and the Biden Administration. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who claims to oppose this U.S. posture toward Israel, has significant influence in and responsibility for each: she is a member of Congress, one of the party’s most popular elected officials, and was a vocal supporter of the Biden campaign in the general election and is now a key surrogate for his administration.
After the Biden State Department’s defense of Israel, one key Democratic leader after the next has issued one-sided statements pledging continuation of endless and unconditional U.S. support to Israel that are virtually identical to those issued by every pro-war, pro-Israel Republican, from Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) to Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) to Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX). The long-time Democratic Congresswoman representing Manhattan, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, praised Price’s comments and added her own: “This is terrorism,” the New York Democrat said of the Gazan response, adding: “Rocket fire is never the answer.”
U.S. officials reflexively defend Israel’s use of violence. Indeed, support for this foreign nation is such a high priority in U.S. politics that GOP governors have championed laws to prohibit American citizens from supporting a boycott of Israel if they want to keep their jobs (courts have struck down those laws as an obvious violation of the First Amendment).
So when AOC decided on Monday to finally use her massive platform to condemn specific political figures expressing this pro-Israel mentality, which of those powerful targets did she choose? None. AOC said nothing about the State Department’s ongoing defense of Israel. She condemned none of her powerful colleagues in Congress who did the same. She refused to call on the Biden administration explicitly to change its policies or denounce Biden’s fanaticism on this issue. Her only previous utterance was a mealy-mouthed, barely cogent tweet in which she randomly threw the Israel/Gaza conflict into a laundry list along with “paramilitary violence in Colombia” and “the detention of children on our own border and the militarization of US police departments” to say: “the United States must seriously assess its role in state violence and condition aid.” So when she finally worked up the courage on Monday to single out a political official for public scolding and shaming on the issue of Israel, she decided that it should be Andrew Yang. https://greenwald.substack.com/p/aocs-attack-on-yangs-meaningless
2021-04-08 Lawmakers Embracing Fantasy of Being Both “Pro-Israel” and “Pro-Palestine” IT’S BEEN WELL-DOCUMENTED that many Democrats are increasingly willing to criticize Israeli policies and place conditions on U.S. aid to the country. This way of thinking, however, is largely confined to the rank and file of the party, and rarely reflected in the way Democratic legislators speak and vote. Even many self-styled “woke” progressive politicians, who advocate for a wide-range of leftist policies, are reluctant to go all-in when it comes to holding Israel accountable to the law. While such progressives typically distinguish themselves from “mainstream” Democrats by speaking of Palestinian rights, they do so while also regurgitating many traditional pro-Israel talking points. The result is a new brand of Democrat that incongruently seeks to appease both sides of the Israel-Palestine divide.
The “liberal Zionist” group J Street, on the other hand, serves as a natural home for progressives seeking to distinguish themselves from the status quo while also not pushing too many buttons. Street’s slogan, “pro-Israel, pro-peace,” presents a safe, respectable middle ground. Unlike AIPAC, J Street speaks of Palestinian rights, supports the Iran nuclear deal, all while still espousing a deep commitment to Israel. The J Street platform can be sold as new and progressive, while simultaneously offering political cover from charges of anti-Semitism and blind hatred of Israel. While one cannot deny that J Street is progressive in comparison to AIPAC, the organization’s “pro-Israel, pro-peace” mantra reveals the fatal flaw at the heart of liberal Zionism: How does supporting the oppressor facilitate peace? https://www.wrmea.org/2021-may/lawmakers-embracing-fantasy-of-being-both-pro-israel-and-pro-palestine.html
2021-02-17 Where Each New Member of Congress Stands on Israel and Palestine https://www.wrmea.org/congress-u.s.-aid-to-israel/where-each-new-member-of-congress-stands-on-israel-and-palestine.html
2020-11-28 Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Misguided Defense of John Brennan and The Logan Act: a Dangerous and Unconstitutional Law Foreign policy dissidents have the greatest interest in repealing the Logan Act, not wielding it as a weapon to shield ex-CIA Directors while heralding it as a clearly defined criminal statute.
I am glad that there are now members of Congress such as Congresswomen Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan who so vocally and unflinchingly dissent from this general foreign policy orientation and especially from those policies which most members of Congress either cannot or do not want to denounce.
For that very reason, I was quite surprised to see that late Friday night, Congresswoman Omar, in response to something I wrote, defended not only former CIA Director John Brennan — who as Obama’s CIA Director presided over the bombing of numerous countries including Somalia — but also The Logan Act. The Logan Act is nothing more than an unconstitutional attempt to criminalize foreign policy dissidents, like her, and is so dangerous in the hands of the CIA, FBI and federal prosecutors precisely because it lacks any clear definition or meaning. https://greenwald.substack.com/p/rep-ilhan-omars-misguided-defense
2019-10-19 Rashida Tlaib A member of “The Squad,” Rashida Tlaib, joins Ralph to talk about her aborted trip to the Occupied Territories, Israel and Palestine, poverty in Southern Michigan, and of course, impeachment. Rashida Tlaib is currently the Congresswoman for Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, which includes the city of Detroit and many surrounding communities. Representative Tlaib is a well-known progressive warrior who made history in 2008 by becoming the first Muslim woman to ever serve in the Michigan Legislature. She is beloved by residents for the transformative constituent services she provides, and for successfully fighting the billionaires and corporations that tried to pollute her district. https://www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/p/rashida-tlaib-e24#details
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