House Speaker (and alleged free speech advocate) Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced that he would block an educational event on the Nakba scheduled to take place at the Capitol Visitor Center. “This event in the US Capitol is canceled,” McCarthy tweeted. “Instead, I will host a bipartisan discussion to honor the 75th anniversary of the US-Israel relationship.”
“Nakba 75 & the Palestinian People” was organized by a number of advocacy groups, including the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU), Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), and Jewish Voice for Peace Action (JVP Action). Its featured special guest was Rashida Tlaib (D-MI).
Hours later Tlaib made a public statement declaring that she would not back down and that the event would still take place:
Speaker McCarthy wants to rewrite history and erase the existence and truth of the Palestinian people, but he has failed to do so. This event is planned to bring awareness about the Nakba and create space for Palestinian Americans who experienced the Nakba firsthand to tell their stories of trauma and survival.
“The Nakba is a well-documented historical event that is recognized by the United Nations. We cannot allow the same people who want to ban books and erase history simply because they’re uncomfortable with the truth to silence Palestinian voices.
“McCarthy is desperate to distract from the mounting crises happening on his watch: a scandal-plagued Member he has defended was just arrested on 13 federal charges, his twice-impeached MAGA leader was just found liable for sexual abuse, and he’s hurtling our country towards a disastrous default on our debt in order to cut vital programs like veterans’ health care, food assistance, and Medicaid.
“We fully plan on moving forward with this event and we will continue to ensure that Palestinian voices are heard. We will not be silenced.
And they weren’t. McCarthy was praised by pro-Israel groups and right-wing websites for his move, but he failed. Activists, Nakba survivors, and Tlaib addressed an overflowing crowd of people.
Unsurprisingly Tlaib was also criticized by members of her own party. Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) told the Jewish Insider that “bipartisan support for the U.S.-Israel relationship has always been unbreakable and will remain strong for decades to come. Efforts to rewrite history and question the Jewish State’s right to exist will never succeed in Congress and that “malicious narratives perpetuated by some of our colleagues do nothing but sow divisiveness and hate.”
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) condemned the event and spread lies about the Nakba “Calling the establishment of the world’s only Jewish state a ‘catastrophe’ is deeply offensive, and I strongly disagree with allowing this event to be held on Capitol Hill,” she said. “Israel was founded as a refuge for the Jewish people fleeing millennia of antisemitic persecution and violence. Let me be absolutely clear: the United States is and will always remain a stalwart ally of the State of Israel.”
This all amounts to Nakba denial, but what’s the deeper fear here? These lawmakers presumably don’t want people to learn about the displacement of 750,000 Palestinians and the massacres carried out by Zionist militias because it clouds the narrative about a beacon of democracy in a hostile area. That’s bad for the special relationship, especially with the recent damage that Netanyahu has done to the country’s brand. You can’t have Palestinians talking about their own history or personal experience. It’s dangerous. This is all happening while Israel continues to attack Gaza. At least 28 Palestinians have already been killed at the time I type this, including multiple children.
Note how Anti-Defamation League (ADL) CEO Jonathan Greenblatt handled this situation. Before McCarthy announced he would try to cancel the event Greenblatt sent him a letter applying pressure. “I ask that greater scrutiny be given to such events, including this one, in the Capitol Complex to ensure that that Congressional controlled areas are not being used to espouse discriminatory and hateful rhetoric,” it read. “I appreciate your attention to this matter.”
After McCarthy claimed it was off Greenblatt praised him on Twitter, saying he was “grateful” that the congressman took “rapid action” on the matter. The event ended up taking place in the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing room. Senator Bernie Sanders is chair of the HELP panel. Greenblatt attacked Sanders (who had family members killed in The Holocaust) for allowing public comment on Israeli atrocities.
“It is disgraceful that Senator Sanders allowed this event by Rep. Tlaib to be held in our nation’s Capitol,” wrote Greenblatt. “Real conversations are needed around a path to peace, but not with groups and individuals who espouse antisemitism. We call on the Senate to condemn this event.”
You might recall that Greenblatt gave a speech at the ADL’s National Summit earlier this month where he ignored right-wing antisemitism and focused on the threat of anti-Zionists. How can this organization be taken seriously as a civil rights group?
Yousef Munayyer notes that McCarthy’s stunt actually backfired. Not only did the event take place, but there was a huge spike in Google search interest for the Nakba. Hopefully some ended up at the Project 48 website, a fantastic compendium of information, history, and testimony.
This week Tlaib also reintroduced a resolution calling on Congress to recognize “the ongoing Nakba and Palestinian refugees’ rights.” So far, it’s cosponsored by Reps. Betty McCollum, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jamaal Bowman, and Cori Bush.
Following the Capitol event, Tlaib tweeted, “Let the headlines read ‘McCarthy tries to erase Palestine but fails.'”
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Trone protests
David Trone is a Democratic congressman serving Maryland’s 6th district. He’s also the co-founder and co-owner of Total Wine, the largest retailer of Israeli wines in the United States. He’s a proud supporter of anti-BDS legislation and opposes conditioning military aid to Israel. AIPAC does not just back him, he’s a “minyan donor”, which means that he gives the lobbying group at least $100,000 every year.
Now Trone is running for Senate.
Last week activists from the Jewish progressive group IfNotNow showed up at Trone’s congressional office and called on him to reject AIPAC money.
“Rep. Trone has suggested that his support for and from AIPAC derives from his desire to keep Jews safe,” said IfNotNow organizer Sara Migler. “However, as a Jewish Marylander, conflating AIPAC and the Jewish community actually makes us less safe. AIPAC allies with MAGA extremists. It pours millions into elections to undermine progressive leaders, and it pushes a narrow, racist vision that disregards Palestinian safety and freedom. Using the Jewish community to further this agenda divides us from our allies and makes everyone less safe. AIPAC doesn’t speak for us.”
“Real Democrats wouldn’t accept money from the NRA or the fossil fuel industry,” said IfNotNow spokesperson Davida Ginsberg. “They shouldn’t accept money from AIPAC either. We need to pressure our elected officials to reject AIPAC for the sake of a thriving future for all people.”
Odds & Ends
???? Shireen Abu Akleh was killed one year ago today, and her family continues to fight for Israel to be held accountable. Here’s a useful Twitter thread of our coverage on the subject.
???????? The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has released a new report detailing Israel’s recent history of killing journalists with impunity. It documents 20 examples of Israel killing journalists since 2001. The country has never put a soldier on trial for killing a reporter.
“The killing of Shireen Abu Akleh and the failure of the army’s investigative process to hold anyone responsible is not a one-off event,” said CPJ’s director of special projects Robert Mahoney in a statement. “It is part of a pattern of response that seems designed to evade responsibility. Not one member of the IDF has been held accountable in the deaths of 20 journalists from Israeli military fire over the last 22 years.”
⚖️ Palestinian journalist Shatha Hanaysha, who was standing beside Abu Akleh when she was killed, on the anniversary:
“If you were to ask me how I feel a year later, I would tell you that I feel angry. I feel angry because both Shireen and I died under the tree that day. Shireen awaits justice from heaven, while I wait for it down here on earth. I feel anger and betrayal, and it grows after every crime that is committed against Palestinians. I have nothing to add to what I said a year ago. Nothing has changed. Many things have happened in my country since then, yet no soldier has been held accountable for his crimes against the Palestinian people, the same as the soldier who killed Shireen and injured my colleague, Ali Samoudi, and continued to open fire towards me and Sharif al-Azb, who no matter what I say about him, I will not be able to do him justice, and I will owe him my life for as long as I live.”
???????? Institute for Palestine Studies Director General Khaled Farraj:
“The scene in Jerusalem has not changed since your departure, particularly during Ramadan and Easter. The people of Jerusalem have fortified themselves in their city to protect their Muslim and Christian holy cities, to protect their Arab city. The Israeli occupation, as you know, does not care about any holy months, opting instead to use its might to frighten and oppress.
The only difference this year is that you were not there to cover the scene as it unfolded through your usual appearances on Al-Jazeera, when you would expose a settler colonial regime that excelled in oppression, control, and domination over a native population on its land.”
???? From a JVP Action petition:
“The U.S. government is entirely complicit in Israel’s attacks. The Israeli warplanes that killed Palestinians while they slept were U.S.-sourced, and the Biden administration continues to support $3.8 billion in unconditioned funding to the Israeli military every single year.
We must demand that Congress condemn Israel’s brutal attacks and stop the flow of U.S. support and money to Israel’s apartheid government. They need to hear from you. Take one minute to call your representative and senators now.”
???????? U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides is resigning at the end of the summer. Barak Ravid in Axios: “Nides announced his departure at a time when the Netanyahu government’s controversial judicial overhaul continues to complicate the U.S.-Israel relationship. President Biden still hasn’t invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House — more than four months after the Israeli leader was sworn in.”
“The U.S. ambassador to Israel post is one of the most sensitive and politically explosive diplomatic positions at the State Department. That’s due in part to the special relationship between the U.S. and Israel, the large Jewish community in the U.S., and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
???? Five must-read books on the Nakba.
???? There are dozens of Nakba protests and events taking place across the United States in the coming days.
Stay safe out there,
Michael
