In a recent interview, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) insisted that his Iron Dome vote doesn’t mean he will stop speaking out about Palestine.
Bowman was a guest on The Mehdi Hasan Show, where the MSNBC host asked him about last month’s vote to give Israel an extra $1 billion to fund its missile defense system. Hasan pointed out that the U.S. already funds the Iron Dome and that fellow “Squad”members like Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), Rep. Rashida Tlaib, (D-MI), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) all voted against the measure. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) voted present. Bowman voted yes.
Bowman told Hasan that many people in his district supported additional funding for Iron Dome.
“It’s important for me to make sure I represent everyone within my district–not just some people within my district,” said Bowman. “This was an issue was very important to many people in my district. Secondly, voting in favor of the Iron Dome defense system is not going stop me from speaking out about Palestinian rights, and for Palestinian rights, and for Palestinian humanity. There’s inhumane treatment happening towards the Palestinians. That is a fact and that is something that we have to deal with in order to ensure the self-determination of Palestinians, and the safety and security of the people of Israel going forward.”
This week pro-Israel community leader Yaacov Behrman shared a picture of him with Bowman on Twitter. “I bumped into Jamaal Bowman today,” he tweeted. “I thanked him for his vote to support the Iron Dome. He said, in addition to it being a defensive system, he was concerned that a vote against the Iron Dome could be interpreted as license to kill Jews. I agree. That’s exactly how I see it.”
Last year Bowman shocked pundits by beating Eliot Engel in New York’s 16th district primary. For decades Engel was one of the most pro-Israel Democrats in the House and pro-Israel lobbying groups spent big on his reelection campaign. Bowman positioned himself as more progressive on the issue, criticizing the occupation and voicing support for the conditioning of military aid to Israel. The congressman is a cosponsor of Rep. Betty McCollum’s (D-MN) historic H.R.2590, which looks to assure that U.S. taxpayer money is not being used to detain Palestinian children or destroy Palestinian homes.
McCollum also voted for the extra Iron Dome funding.
Israel’s supporters own the security terrain. They do not own the human/civil rights terrain. Seems hard for many, especially the youth, to put that reality to their advantage?
Critics of Israel’s insane policies of wanton murder and robbery typically feel they must soften their criticism to escape the harsh consequences of Israeli wrath. Because nobody wants to be treated like a Palestinian. So Bowman may make some concessions to the Israelis, but they will not respond in kind. They see him as an enemy, and will act accordingly.
To Deter Israeli Strikes on Gaza, US House Reps Should Prepare Floor Fight (truthout.org)
“To Deter Israeli Strikes on Gaza, US House Reps Should Prepare Floor Fight” – TRUTHOUT, Oct. 3/21, by Robert Reuel.
EXCERPT:
“There is a substantial grassroots clamor for floor fights in the House to oppose unconditional U.S. military aid to Israel. This grassroots clamor would be much better served, however, if the floor fights were focused not on funding for the Iron Dome missile defense system but instead on Israeli military abuses of Palestinian civilians.
“The main reason that the focus has been about Iron Dome funding in the past is because that was the terrain chosen by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer — likely because it was the terrain they could best use to isolate and marginalize dissenters.
“But there are paths dissenters can use to force their way to the floor on their own terms, rather than on the terms set by AIPAC, Pelosi and Hoyer. One such path is amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Another such path is invoking the War Powers Resolution of 1973. Each of these paths has its advantages and disadvantages if used alone; but they can be used in combination, getting the advantages of both. These paths can reorient the floor fights to discuss goals like ending the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and ending the Israeli military demolitions of Palestinian homes in the West Bank.
“The recent floor fight on supplemental funding for the Iron Dome missile defense system proves that there is substantial grassroots clamor for a floor fight in the House to oppose unconditional U.S. military aid to Israel.”
“I openly support the genocide of the Palestinian people but no, really, I’m fighting for Palestine”
lol ok Jamaal