As expected, every member of The Squad was easily reelected. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley will all be returning to the House, but this time they will be joined by even more left-leaning lawmakers.
In addition to those four wins, Minnesota Rep. Betty McCollum also declared victory. McCollum is the first member of the House to introduce legislation for Palestinian human rights and recently sponsored a bill to cut off U.S. funding for any potential annexation in Palestine. In September, she accepted the Champion of Palestinian Rights Award at a American Muslims for Palestine event. “So I want to be clear, as we speak to today, we need change at home and we also need to transform U.S. foreign policy to promote our values, not to promote violence,” she told participants. “Repression, economic stagnation. Apartheid is a system that the Palestinian people endure as they struggle every day under Israel’s military occupation. An oppression that is sadly supported by U.S. taxpayer’s dollars, our dollars. I believe that the Palestinian people deserve dignity, respect, justice, and freedom. [They also deserve] a future in which their fate is decided by the Palestinians themselves.”
Jamaal Bowman made it official in New York’s 16th district. In the primary, Bowman ousted Eliot Engel, one AIPAC’s favorite Democrats and an opponent of Obama’s Iran Deal. This means there will now be a battle over who becomes chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Bowman supports conditioning aid to Israel, an end to U.S. support for the war on Yemen, and cuts to Pentagon spending. “As Netanyahu calls for expanding settlements and annexing the West Bank, we should seriously consider placing conditions on the billions of dollars of military aid our government provides him in order to make sure that the rights and dignity of both the Israeli and Palestinian people are respected,” he told Jacobin last year. “I just don’t understand why American taxpayers are subsidizing the detention of Palestinian children while Democrats are criticizing child detention at the Mexican border. The principles of the Leahy Law should be upheld.”
In Missouri’s 1st district, Cori Bush easily prevailed. During the primary against incumbent Lacy Clay, Bush was smeared for her connection to Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour and her apparent support for BDS. “In our current geopolitical economy, money talks far louder than speech alone,” the foreign policy portion of Bush’s website formerly read. “This is why nonviolent actions like the BDS movement are so important – and why the effort to mischaracterize and demonize the BDS movement by its opponents is so urgent.”
Marie Newman won in Illinois’ 3rd district. She beat the hawkish Dan Lipinski in the primary, a huge blow for pro-Israel groups like AIPAC. “I oppose the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Israeli blockade of Gaza,” Newman wrote in a policy paper. “I also oppose the presence of Israeli settlements and housing on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem which violate international law and undermine the prospect for a just peace.”
Progressive challenger Mike Siegel lost his race with GOP incumbent Rep. Michael McCaul. “Internal polling from Siegel’s campaign had found the two candidates heading into the final stretch of the race statistically tied,” writes Aida Chavez at The Intercept. “To fend off Siegel’s challenge, McCaul launched a million-dollar-plus TV and digital ad buy early last month, leading with an attack against his Democratic opponent. The Congressional Leadership Fund, a Super PAC dedicated to electing Republicans to the House, also threw in more than $144,000 into the race, according to Open Secrets.”
Siegel was endorsed by Jewish Voice for Peace Action.
A brief note to the racist, expansionist, brutal occupier, ethnic cleanser and serial violator of hard won international law referred to as “Israel.”
The writing is on the wall. Read it!! As the above article further attests, America, your benefactor and protector for over 72 years, is rapidly waking up and seeing Zionism for the monster it most certainly is!!
Can someone decipher the cartoon for me? I see AOC, I assume the glasses-wearer is Rashida Tlaib, and the woman with bangs is Betsy McCollum. But who’s the 4th woman? And where are Ilhan and Ayanna?
Or do I need a new scrip from my optometrist?
I can’t wait for Israel to stop taking money from the US.
Then US companies will actually have to compete for the business instead of getting a handout from their own government via Israel.
Then their “special relationship” can continue along the lines of the US-British relationship.
Israel doesnt need the money or the interference it brings.
The US acts in its own best interest which includes fighting Russian and Chinese influence through the ME. Let them continue doing it without involving Israel.
What these Americans don’t understand is that Zionists are entitled to ethnically cleanse Palestinians so they can “right a wrong” from 20 centuries ago, as explained by Jacob Rothschild.
“Lord Jacob Rothschild OM GBE. The Balfour Declaration: Personal & Historical Reflections”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FMVhjv42Gs