Can the US Congress bring justice for the Palestinians?: A response to Robert Naiman

The United States Congress has been placing obstacles in the path of a just resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict since the 1956 Suez War.

In that conflict, Israel, in collusion with France and Britain, attacked Egypt and occupied the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula.  President Eisenhower demanded that Israel withdraw from those territories and sought to impose sanctions if it did not.  In terms that sound positively naïve today, Eisenhower asked, “Should a nation which attacks and occupies foreign territory in the face of United Nations disapproval be allowed to impose conditions on its own withdrawal?”  Lyndon B. Johnson, then Senate Majority Leader, and Minority Leader William F. Knowland strenuously opposed the president’s policy.  Eisenhower rebuked them, saying, “America has either one voice or none, and that voice is the voice of the President – whether everybody agrees with him or not.” [1]  Israel resisted for several months, and finally, under U.S. and Soviet pressure, withdrew.

Since then, Congress has consistently, and often more successfully, obstructed Palestinian-Israeli peace, in both symbolic and material ways.  Most egregiously, it annually votes, with only scattered nays, to provide Israel with some $3 billion in military aid.  During Operation Protective Edge – Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip in July-August 2014 – the Senate, by unanimous consent, adopted Resolution 498 announcing that, “The United States firmly and resolutely stands with Israel.”  This extraordinary statement obliterates any distinction between the interests of Israel and those of the United States.  On August 14, before leaving for recess, the House voted an additional $225 million in aid for Israel.  The Senate had unanimously adopted the measure two weeks earlier.

Robert Naiman’s Truthout op-ed, “Attacking J Street Won’t Bring Justice for Palestinians” is based on the fundamentally flawed premise that appealing to Congress can bring about a just resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.  Naiman is impatient with those who argue that, “because of its conduct during the recent Gaza war, J Street should die and be supplanted by Jewish Voice for Peace.”  He does not identify anyone who has actually posed the issue in these terms, and I am not aware of anyone who has.  It is not the stated policy of JVP.

Naiman goes on to criticize JVP for not engaging with Congress effectively.  But his “explanations” for this supposed “failure” are all false.  JVP does not ignore Congress because it is based in California; it is a national organization with 65 chapters and offices in Oakland, CA and New York.  JVP does not underestimate the importance of engaging with Congress because of its membership in the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.  Many JVPers have lobbied members of Congress for years.  The San Francisco Bay Area has a longstanding relationship with Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA), although it cannot claim to have moved her much on this issue.  What is the evidence for the claim that some JVPers “seem to have an existential hatred of J Street”?  Is Naiman qualified to render a psychological diagnosis?  J Street has consistently lined up with the American Jewish establishment to exclude JVP.  Has that in any way undermined joint action on occasions when it might be possible?

The issue is not, as Naiman poses it, whether J Street or JVP is “more progressive.”  JVP opposed Operation Protective Edge.  J Street supported it.  Was there any basis for collaboration between the two organizations in the summer of 2014?

If J Street’s influence wanes, it will be because its strategy has failed.  After six years, its congressional lobbying has resulted in zero concrete results.  Despite J Street’s vigorous supported for a Democratic president who entered office verbally committed to Israel-Palestine peacemaking, congressional obstruction has become more obdurate.  During his May 2011 visit to Washington Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu testily rejected President Obama’s position that the 1967 borders should be the basis of an Israeli-Palestinian peace.  Despite his insulting public dismissal of the president’s views, Netanyahu went on to receive 29 standing ovations during his address to a joint session of Congress.

Given this history, counting on Congress to make a positive contribution to Palestinian-Israeli peace without changing anything else fits Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.  The point is not that we should ignore Congress, but that we should understand that Congress will likely be one of the last institutions to move on this issue.  The way to get Congress to move is to emphasize a grassroots movement building strategy to change the balance of forces so that Congress will feel compelled to pay attention.  Attempting to influence Congress without sufficient street heat is a proven failure.

Notes

1 Robert Divine, Eisenhower and the Cold War (New York: Oxford University Press, 1981), 64-66.

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” The point is not that we should ignore Congress, but that we should understand that Congress will likely be one of the last institutions to move on this issue. The way to get Congress to move is to emphasize a grassroots movement building strategy to change the balance of forces so that Congress will feel compelled to pay attention. Attempting to influence Congress without sufficient street heat is a proven failure.”

Exactly. Thanks Joel.

(btw, are we so used to war now that it’s a foregone conclusion and nobody cares?)

Agreed.

The Vietnam war didn’t end when congress suddenly “got it.” It took years and thousands of people in the streets, college “teach-ins” and body count victories leading the evening news.

Of course, we also had the draft, so sooner or later it became a very personal decision whether or not fighting in Vietnam was worth your own skin. Those in congress today never have to face that particular decision, which allows them to inflict all sorts of bad decisions on us little people . . .

But, yeah, you need some sort of heat to pierce that bubble those elites have made for themselves. Otherwise, it’s no soap.

” JVP does not ignore Congress because it is based in California; it is a national organization with 65 chapters and offices in Oakland, CA and New York. JVP does not underestimate the importance of engaging with Congress because of its membership in the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. Many JVPers have lobbied members of Congress for years. The San Francisco Bay Area has a longstanding relationship with Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA), although it cannot claim to have moved her much on this issue. ”

It was surprising and bewildering to see a piece that on examination, lacked any credibility on JVP’s positions and work from Robert Naiman. Nice to have someone who is familiar, or took the time to research JVP’s positions, Congressional work and paid attention to how each organization reacted to Israel’s Operation Protective edge writing about it.

On September 8, Rep. Danny Davis from Chicago became the third Member of Congress to issue a public statement calling for an end to the blockade of Gaza, joining Reps. Keith Ellison and Barbara Lee. [1]

The Davis statement came as a result of grassroots engagement led by the Chicago-based Committee for Just Peace in Israel and Palestine (CJPIP). Their story is an inspiration to us all, showing us that, with perseverance and persuasion, it is possible to turn Members of Congress out in favor of justice in Israel/Palestine. [2]

The Israelis and Palestinians are scheduled to begin their next round of talks in late October. With Hamas and the Palestinian Authority’s announcement of a unity agreement and the transfer of control of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority, the ground is set for an agreement to end the blockade. All that’s left is to build political will.

We at Just Foreign Policy are trying to build off the momentum generated by the Ellison, Lee, and Davis statements by supporting local groups in targeted districts to push their Reps to come out in favor of an end to the blockade. With Congress in recess until November, now is the time for us to act.

Here’s what you can do to help:

1. Share our graphic promoting the statements of Ellison, Lee, and Davis.

http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/moc-end-blockade

2. Help us provide support to local groups in targeted districts by making a $15 tax-deductible donation.

http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate

Thanks for all you do to help end the blockade of Gaza,

Megan Iorio and Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy

References:

Read CJPIP’s account of how they persuaded Rep. Davis to come out in favor of lifting the blockade: http://mondoweiss.net/2014/09/congressman-lifting-blockade

What a question. Is this a joke? It’s so obvious that the US are muppets in israeli’s hands.