The Shift: Barbara Lee says opposing the expansion of Trump’s arms deals was an accident

Barbara Lee and the Abraham Accords

She’s a frequent critic of U.S. foreign policy, but activists would probably say Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) has been a mixed bag on the question of Palestine. She was one of the only House members to vote against a resolution condemning the BDS movement in 2019, and (since facing pressure from constituents) she’s supported Rep. Betty McCollum’s efforts to stop the U.S. from funding Israel’s detention of Palestinian children.

During Israel’s 2021 attacks on Gaza she criticized both sides, but mainly Israel. “Unjust attempts to forcibly displace Palestinian families from their homes undermines Israeli security, Palestinian dignity and prospects for peace,” she said in a statement. “Violent protests and a heavy-handed Israeli police response escalated the situation. Hamas rocket attacks and retaliatory Israeli airstrikes have caused the deaths of too many innocent civilians. This must stop.”

She’s a committed supporter of the two-state solution and voted for the Iron Dome funding. “I get pickets from every side of the spectrum,” she explained recently. “It’s like, ‘Barbara, why do you support the Iron Dome?’ Well, I’ve always voted for the Iron Dome. I’ve visited. I know how it protects Israelis, I know what it does, and so I’ve supported it. But people in my district, for the most part, picket me because of that.”

This week the House passed a bill to expand the Trump administration’s Abraham Accords in a vote that wasn’t even close: 413-13. The legislation would establish a Special Envoy in the State Department to further the accords. Democrats supposedly disagree with the former (recently indicted) president on virtually everything, but they support Trump’s biggest foreign policy move without caveats. The Biden administration has made it clear that it wants to expand the accords, which are framed as peace plans by the mainstream media but are actually massive arms deals between Israel and authoritarian governments in the region. It’s paid off nicely for Israel. On the same day the Abraham Accords legislation passed Israel announced that they exported over $12.5 billion in weapons last year, with a quarter going to its new Arab partners. That’s a new record for the country, marking a 50% increase over the previous three years.

A couple of Republicans (Thomas Massie and Rich McCormick) voted against the bill and you can probably guess most of the Democrats who opposed the measure: Reps. Jamaal Bowman, Betty McCollum, Cori Bush, Chuy Garcia, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Summer Lee, Ayanna Pressley, Delia Ramirez, and Barbara Lee.

But wait! Shortly after the vote was tallied Lee had an announcement. She actually hadn’t meant to align herself with The Squad this time around. She said she had opposed the bill by mistake and entered a statement into the official congressional record saying as much.

What’s the story here? Well, it’s hard to dismiss the fact that Lee is running for Dianne Feinstein’s Senate seat. Shortly after Rep. Katie Porter announced she was running for that seat she met with local AIPAC officials, said she read Noa Tishby’s book, and pressed for a J Street delegation to meet with Netanyahu.

“I was extremely impressed with his willingness to kind of grapple with us at some of the toughest issues that Israel’s facing, everything from judicial reform — an issue that we’re having questions and discussions about right now within the Democratic Party here in the United States — to issues about the West Bank and about settlements,” she told the Jewish Insider.

It’s difficult to imagine Lee going that far, but she should explain why she believes a massive set of arms deal designed to further isolate Palestinians deserves to be expanded. Is she making a political calculation, or does one of the House’s only foreign policy critics agree with Trump on the issue?

CUNY letter

Fatima Mohammed continues to be attacked by lawmakers across the political spectrum for having the temerity to criticize Israeli apartheid during her commencement speech at CUNY Law. The school’s reaction to the smear campaign has been atrocious, as they’ve effectively thrown her under the bus and embraced the ridiculous assertion that she’s an antisemite.

A new letter from a coalition of human rights groups (including the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and Palestine Legal) calls on the school to apologize for the situation.

“CUNY’s failure to protect and support Ms. Mohammed following a commencement address approved by CUNY is part of a broader pattern of censoring criticism of Israel’s policies and discriminating against Palestinian students, speakers and alumni across CUNY campuses,” it reads. “Over the past decade, anti-Palestinian groups and politicians have disingenuously accused students, professors and speakers of antisemitism for speech in support of Palestinian rights, prompting investigations that have ultimately cleared Palestine advocates of wrongdoing. These attacks against Mohammed are part of widespread harassment campaigns to shut down criticism of Israel by attacking Palestinians and their supporters. These acts of censorship and discrimination against Palestinians and their allies should be the focus of CUNY’s condemnation, not the principled and protected speech in support of justice and freedom for all offered by Ms. Mohammed.”

Within Our Lifetime is also circulating a petition in support of Mohammed, which draws attention to leadership at the school. “Chancellor Rodriguez is a relative new-comer to the CUNY administration, having been installed in that position in the wake of the anti-militarization and anti-austerity campaigns throughout CUNY in the era of 2011-2016,” it explains. “Despite that, Rodriguez has used his position to enjoy all-expense-paid propaganda junkets to the zionist settler colony, canceled the Palestine Lives Conference that was to take place at John Jay College in 2022 on literally one day’s notice, and legitimized a witch-hunt against Palestinian students at CUNY conducted by the New York City Council in the same year. While he pushes for tuition hikes and student fee increases, Rodriguez takes in roughly $670,000 annually, not including a $90,000 housing stipend, paid for by CUNY students and New York taxpayers. Additionally, Rodriguez has announced millions of dollars in funding towards a new initiative “combating anti-semitism” in the CUNY system in partnership with the Foundation to Combat Anti-semitism.

“While the exact details of what this initiative will involve is still under wraps, we note that the Foundation is funded by the owner of the New England Patriots, Robert Kraft,” it continues. “Kraft is linked to a host of settler organizations who operate throughout historic Palestine, including settlements in the West Bank, like the Friends of Ir David. With funders like Kraft, it seems clear that the initiative has more to do with entrenching CUNY’s relationship with settler-colonialism than it has to do with genuinely combating anti-semitism.”

A coalition of Jewish attorneys are now calling for CUNY to lose its accreditation over the speech and pro-Israel groups are pushing for Mohammed to be barred from practicing law in New York.

Odds & Ends

???????? Israeli soldiers won’t face prosecution for death of 80-year-old Palestinian-American:

On Tuesday, Israel’s Military Advocate General announced that the soldiers involved in the death of an 80-year-old Palestinian American would be disciplined but would not face criminal charges.

On January 12th, 2022, Israeli soldiers dragged Omar Asaad out of his West Bank home in the middle of the night during a violent raid. Witnesses say he was bound, gagged, and left in a cold warehouse for hours. He was found face down and unresponsive. An autopsy determined that he had died of a heart attack.

“We’re seeking more information from the Israeli government. We’re going to talk to them directly about it,” said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller when he was asked about the probe. “We want to engage with them further about the outcome of this investigation before making any further pronouncements.”

???? I am past President of the American Anthropological Association and this is why I am voting to boycott Israeli academic institutions:

I recognize that at times certain principles come into contradiction. If the AAA boycott does any harm to academic freedom, this must be weighed against the dead bodies and ruined houses that are the Palestinian plight. If members drop their association membership and donors withdraw, those who support the boycott ought to pledge to bring in 1-2 members each and to provide financial support to the association above their membership dues. Any other threats or harm to the American Anthropological Association can be met with commitment to stand up on its behalf. If the boycott proves ineffectual, this must be weighed against complicity with the silencing of the condition of Palestinians under apartheid, leaving them isolated, lonely, and invisible.

✊ G4S withdrawal from Israeli apartheid a victory for activism

⚖️ Distinguished Law Faculty Call on ABA to Reconsider Resolution Defining Antisemitism It Pulled Under Activist Pressure

???? Diaspora Minister Tells Huge U.S. Jewish Gathering: Israel Protesters ‘Worse Than BDS’

???? ‘A moment of disillusionment’: American Jews torn as Israel turns 75

✍️ Hebh Jamal responds to the recent attack on Fatima Mohammed in The Nation.

???? Pretty telling that the Biden administration is asked to justify citing CAIR in its antisemitism strategy, but not groups like the ADL.

???? RFK Jr. on Israel:

“Everything has a historical context in Israel. If you look at why we aren’t at a two-state solution, which everyone now says they want, but both in 1947-1948, and again in 2001, it was the Palestinian leadership who walked away from a two-state solution and pledged itself to the destruction of the Jewish people,” Kennedy said.

“That’s a very, very clear history – and at a time when they had a very, very generous solution on the table. Now, the other thing I say is, Israel is a democracy but a flawed democracy just like the United States. But if I was a dissident Arab, Palestinian, would I rather be a dissident in Israel or in Saudi Arabia or Oman or Qatar or any other Arab nation?” he asked.

Stay safe out there,

Michael