Media Analysis

Several progressive U.S. congresspeople condemn Jerusalem evictions– as State Dep’t blames both sides for violence

Israel’s push to evict Palestinians from their houses in East Jerusalem, and its crackdown on Palestinian protests of the evictions, have been getting international attention in a largely negative light. And several U.S. congresspeople are condemning the evictions as illegal and calling on the U.S. government to restrict U.S. aid over the human rights violations.

The congresspeople are responding to the progressive Democratic Party base, which is expressing anger about the evictions and Israeli violence.

While the State Department has equivocated and expressed mere concern. And Israel lobby organizations are largely silent.

Here’s a quick wrapup of U.S. responses.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib is as strong as you can be, on the Israel lobby and the inhumanity our country pays for.

Too many are silent or dismissive as our U.S. tax dollars continue to be used for this kind of inhumanity. I am tired of people functioning from a place of fear rather than doing what’s right because of the bullying by pro-Israel lobbyists. This is apartheid, plain and simple.

Tlaib retweets an Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) tweet completely rejecting the State Department’s cautious statement (more below) saying it urges both sides to deescalate. IMEU:

There is only one military occupation throwing stun grenades into crowds of Palestinian men, women, children, and the elderly who are gathered to break their fast. You can’t “both sides” this.

Tlaib is organizing a petition campaign against the evictions in Sheikh Jarrah.

Rep. Ilhan Omar laments the media’s indifference to religious persecution:

This is happening as Muslims pray tarawih & tahajud in Palestine. Families who pray all night during Ramadan, the mosque is like home. Palestinians deserve to find refuge in a mosque and peace in Ramadan. Where is the media coverage?

[free speech icon] up against Israeli occupation terror.

Senator Elizabeth Warren is uncharacteristically emphatic on the issue:

The forced removal of long-time Palestinian residents in Sheikh Jarrah is abhorrent and unacceptable. The Administration should make clear to the Israeli government that these evictions are illegal and must stop immediately.

Foundation for Middle East Peace has a list of other congresspeople who are outspoken on the Sheikh Jarrah evictions. They include Marc Pocan, Marie Newman, Cori Bush, Betty McCollum, Debbie Dingell, Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.

Cori Bush:

I know what it’s like to be brutalized for simply advocating for my own humanity. I stand in strong solidarity with our Palestinian siblings mobilizing to #SaveSheikhJarrah. @SecBlinken, I’m calling on you to condemn these attacks immediately.”

Dingell:

The violence and forced displacement of Palestinians in #SheikhJarrah is deeply disturbing and morally wrong.

Pocan is very pointed:

The Israeli police violence against Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah is completely unacceptable. The Israeli military is forcing hundreds of Palestinians out of their homes. US taxpayer dollars should not fund annexation of Palestinian land or destruction of Palestinian homes.”

McCollum is as usual, brilliantly on target:

Police violence against Palestinians in #SheikhJarrah who only want to remain in the homes they’ve lived in for generations is state-sponsored persecution. NO U.S. taxpayer dollars should support the annexation of Palestinian land or destruction of Palestinian homes. #HR2590

Rep. Andre Carson, Indiana also says he is “extremely dismayed” by the evictions.

Here is the State Department’s cautious statement that blames both sides for the escalation of violence.

We call on Israeli and Palestinian officials to act decisively to deescalate tensions and bring a halt to the violence. It is absolutely critical that all sides exercise restraint, refrain from provocative actions and rhetoric…

The statement expresses deep concern about the evictions, saying they must be avoided; but stops short of opposing them with any force:

We are also deeply concerned about the potential eviction of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighborhoods of Jerusalem, many of whom have lived in their homes for generations. As we have consistently said, it is critical to avoid steps that exacerbate tensions or take us farther away from peace. This includes evictions in East Jerusalem, settlement activity, home demolitions, and acts of terrorism.

Khaled Elgindy of Brookings slams the statement:

Standard bothsidesism. Palestinian officials, who aren’t even allowed in Jerusalem, are supposed to help deescalate what Israeli forces and extremist settlers have been actively escalating.

The progressive base knows what it thinks, the Democratic Party keeps moving left on the issue. The grassroots organizers Roots Action:

The United States has become the de facto enabler of Israeli expansion in occupied territories, making it complicit in the crimes perpetrated against Palestinians

While Move On has retweeted IMEU’s reports on the crackdown and said:

We are dismayed by the cruelty inflicted upon Palestinians, both inside the Al Aqsa mosque and in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. Israeli forces used stun grenades, rubber-coated steel bullets, and tear gas on worshippers in one of the holiest Muslim sites during Ramadan.

The liberal Zionist group J Street knows which way the wind is blowing. It retweets Andre Carson’s tweet and wants a strong U.S. stance on the “illegal” evictions.

It is critical that the Biden administration proactively and publicly make clear to the Israeli government that the evictions in #SheikhJarrah are illegal under international law, have dangerous ramifications for Jerusalem and the wider region, and should be stopped immediately.

Democratic Majority for Israel is of course backing Israel to the hilt, though its propaganda is not directly on the Sheikh Jarrah protests: “Balancing security & freedom is difficult. In Israel today, a bus search stopped 3 armed terrorists from carrying out an attack against civilians. Lives were saved, & headlines avoided…”

The Israel lobby group AIPAC is also ignoring the attacks on the protesters and focusing on Hamas and Hezbollah and Israel’s new deals with Arab nations.

Some other comments. Bruce Wolman on Reuters/Guardian’s coverage:

What bullshit from @Reuters repeated here by @guardian. These aren’t evictions. They are house appropriations. Israeli Supreme Court is not adjudicating a dispute, it is legalizing theft. These aren’t clashes. They are victims defending against theft.

Russell Khater on an Israel lobbyist on twitter defending Israel’s actions:

Bullshit, Abramowitz. It’s reflexive Israeli apologists like you who go out of your way to obscure the facts. This is Ethnic Cleansing, enabled by the state of Israel. Unambiguously. And you know it.

Vali Nasr has an insight about the Abraham Accords — the Sheikh Jarrah protests are sure to embarrass those Arab dealmakers.

If you ever wondered what the downside of Arab Accords could be for Arab states who signed on it is that they cannot exercise restraint on Israel but will have to answer for images such as this [Israeli raid on peaceful worshipers in Al Aqsa mosque compound]

Our publisher Scott Roth also notes the geopolitics:

Probably time for Jordan to suspend ties to Israel.

And he is incisive on Al Aqsa violence by Israeli forces:

If Palestinians were behaving this way towards Israeli Jews it would be the biggest story in the mainstream media. AND Israel would be slaughtering Palestinians. What’s happening now isn’t even a lead story on the evening news.

And by the way, WPKN did a phone interview Thursday with Rasha Budeiri about the evictions:

May 6th, 202, a special about Sheikh Jarrah, the neighborhood of East Jerusalem where Palestinians are facing imminent evictions, approved by Israeli courts. Once again, Palestinians of Sheikh Jarrah are resisting efforts to remove them from their longtime homes and once again they are being met with violence and repression from Israeli authorities and settlers. Although the Palestinian struggle is part of a broader struggle again escalating Israeli policies of Palestinian dispossession in Jerusalem and beyond, tonight we bring you an up close and personal view of these much broader dynamics in this interview with Rasha Budeiri, who speaks to us via Zoom from Ottawa about her parents and her grandparents’ home in Sheikh Jarrah.

Thanks to Dave Reed and James North.

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The usual “both sides” response by the US is now becoming a joke. The US is known to either support Israel by saying it has the right to “defend” itself, or that they are “deeply concerned” and want both sides to be cautious. Enough is enough. We see the hand wringing and the oye veys, but that is where it all ends. Are we supposed to forget that ONLY one side wields the power, uses the deadly weapons, and have the brutal military, and that they are inflicting the pain, and attacking UNARMED civilians, who are the true victims? This is absolutely uncalled for. The Palestinians had every right to be in that Mosque during the month of Ramadan, and it is unacceptable that Israel resorts to violence once again, on people praying peacefully.

It is heartening to know that a small fraction of progressive leaders are finding the courage to speak out, and it is disheartening to hear nothing but crickets from the majority. The occupation MUST end, and only the US can end it by stopping US tax payer money going to brutal killers and land thieves, and we have enabled them.

Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, mentioned in the article, has called for Israel to grant access to Gaza –

https://pocan.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pocan-kildee-johnson-call-on-israel-to-grant-access-to-gaza

“WASHINGTON, DC (April 25, 2018)  U.S. Representatives Mark Pocan (WI-02), Dan Kildee (MI-05), and Hank Johnson (GA-04) today wrote a letter to Ron Dermer, the Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., calling on Israel to allow Members of Congress to enter Gaza. The Members are requesting permission to visit the area to oversee the appropriate and effective use of U.S. taxpayer dollars allocated to humanitarian aid for Palestinians living in Gaza. Pocan, Kildee, and Johnson visited Israel in 2016 and were denied the opportunity to visit the region by the Israeli Coordination and Liaison Administration to the Gaza Strip….“As you know, the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza territory is quickly worsening, with nearly 1 million Gaza residents now dependent on emergency food assistance, in large part due to a decade-old land, sea and air blockade,” wrote the Members. “ “

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/5/4/violence-is-a-permanent-feature-of-palestinian-lives-in-jerusalem

“Israel is trying hard to erase Jerusalem’s Palestinians”

“And it has made colonial violence a permanent feature of Palestinian lives in the holy city.”
By Jalal Abukhater, Al Jazeera, May 4/21

Excerpt:
“For us Jerusalemites, it is frankly nauseating to hear commentators throw around cliches of ‘cycle of violence’, call for a ‘return to calm’, and generally engage in bothsidesism, whenever violence erupts. And in the past few weeks, we have heard them yet again. There are no two equal sides in Jerusalem.

“The problem with these statements is that they whitewash the fact that Jerusalem is a city under violent occupation and its occupier, Israel, has made its intent to slowly uproot the native population quite public.

“In this sense, violence is a permanent feature of the lives of Jerusalem residents, even when outside observers perceive the streets to be ‘quiet’. And it is not a matter of ‘both sides’ de-escalating.

“This past year had been particularly violent for Palestinian Jerusalemites. The impact of COVID-19 on our community is dwarfed by the effects of relentless harassment, arrests, home demolition and displacement by the Israeli authorities, ultimately aimed at the ethnic cleansing of the city.

“No one should be surprised at the amount of anger Palestinians hold towards the Israeli occupation authorities in the city. Their encroachments on the rights of our community are endless and are directly responsible for any uptick in violence.
“Such is the case with this latest violent episode which began in the first days of the holy month of Ramadan.”

Breaking news:
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Saudi Arabia, UAE and Oman reject Israeli measures to evacuate Palestinian homes in Jerusalem (arabnews.com)
“Saudi Arabia, UAE and Oman reject Israeli measures to evacuate Palestinian homes in Jerusalem” Arab News, May 9/21, by Daoud Kuttab.
JERUSALEM: “Saudi Arabia on Saturday denounced Israeli plans to evict Palestinian families from their homes in Jerusalem amid soaring violence in the city.

“Israel reinforced its security operation on Saturday after clashes on Friday night, when more than 200 Palestinians were injured.

“Riot police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades at Palestinians inside Al-Aqsa Mosque, where throngs of worshippers, including women and children, were praying on the last Friday of Ramadan.

“The clashes at Islam’s third-holiest site and around occupied East Jerusalem came amid mounting anger over the planned evictions.

“’Saudi Arabia rejects Israel’s plans and measures to evict dozens of Palestinians from their homes in Jerusalem and impose Israeli sovereignty over them,’ the Saudi Foreign Ministry said.

“The UAE, which normalized relations with Israel last year, ‘strongly condemned’ the planned evictions. The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Khalifa Al-Marar, urged Israeli authorities to ‘assume their responsibilities — in line with international law — to provide necessary protection to Palestinian civilians’ right to practice their religion, and to prevent practices that violate the sanctity of the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque.’

“Oman also said it rejected the policies and procedures for displacing Palestinian people from their homes in the city of Jerusalem, and the sultanate reaffirmed ‘its steadfast position in supporting the legitimate rights to establish an independent Palestinian state on the borders of 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.’

“As tension mounted on Saturday, Israeli police set up roadblocks near the village of Abu Ghish on the main highway to Jerusalem to stop busloads of Palestinians from reaching Al-Aqsa. Scuffles broke out and police fired stun grenades.

“When the Palestinians left their buses and began to walk the remaining 20 km to Al-Aqsa, local residents came to pick them up in private cars.” (cont’d)

2 of 2
“The late-night clashes in Jerusalem followed days of tension in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, where Israelis are trying to evict an entire Palestinian community and hand over their homes to ultra-extreme Jewish settlers.

“The Waqf Council, Jordan, the US, EU, and European and Arab countries all issued statements denouncing the violence in the city. The US called on all parties to avoid actions that could damage final status talks between Israel and Palestinians, including settlements. UN Security Council Resolution 2334 considers all settlements illegal.

“Wasfi Kailani, executive director of the Hashemite Fund for the reconstruction of Al-Aqsa Mosque,
told Arab News there was no excuse for the Israeli action.

“’What happened on Friday night is inexcusable. Violating the mosque’s sanctity during the last 10 holy days of Ramadan is illegal and a clear violation of the right to worship. Its status quo must be protected.’

“Kailani, a member of the Jerusalem Waqf Council, said Israeli forces not only violated the peace of worshippers but also destroyed mosque property, including its clinic and gates.

“Hijazi Risheq, head of the Jerusalem Merchants Committee, told Arab News that attacks by Israeli forces were meant to intimidate Palestinians following threats by Jewish extremists of a large-scale infiltration into Al-Aqsa on Monday, which they call ‘Jerusalem Day.’

“’However, the people of Jerusalem have broken the barrier of fear and are no longer afraid of Israeli soldiers or Israeli prisons,’ he said. Risheq called on Arab and Islamic countries to help Palestinians defend the mosque.”