On Tuesday the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a resolution declaring that Israel is “not a racist or apartheid state.” The final vote was 412-to-nine vote, with one present vote.
The resolution was GOP-effort introduced by Reps. August Pfluger (R-TX), David Kustoff (R-TN) and Max Miller (R-OH). It was developed as a rebuke to comments made by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) at the recent NetRoots conference, in which she referred to Israel as a “racist state” while addressing Palestine activists. She has since walked those comments back and claims she was merely referring to Israel’s current right-wing government and not the country overall.
The nine Democrats to vote against the resolution were Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Summer Lee (D-PA), Cori Bush (D-MO), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Andre Carson (D-IN) and Delia Ramirez (D-IL). Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), a consistent advocate for Palestinian rights in congress, voted present.
“Attempting to silence conversations about Palestinian human rights and intimidate people who wish to have open and honest conversations about the mistreatment of the Palestinian people will only prolong this problem,” said McCollum in a statement. “I will not be silenced. I will keep speaking up against antisemitism, oppression, and hate in all forms.”
“I vote ‘present’ on this resolution, because Americans, Israelis, and Palestinians deserve genuine steps forward on the goal of peace, not more division and political gamesmanship,” she continued. “I do this because every Palestinian child and Israeli child deserves to go to sleep at night dreaming of a brighter future, not one of violence.”
Jayapal said the resolution had “clear political motivations” and was a Republican “distraction,” but still voted for the measure.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian member of Congress, denounced the resolution on the House floor.
“Israel is an apartheid state. To assert otherwise, Mr. Speaker, in the face of this body of evidence, is an attempt to deny the reality and an attempt to normalize violence of apartheid,” said Tlaib. “Don’t forget: This body, this Congress, supported the South African apartheid regime, and it was bipartisan as well.”
The vote came shortly after Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with President Joe Biden and the day before Herzog is set to deliver a speech to Congress. A number of Democratic House members (including Reps. Tlaib, Omar, Ocasio-Cortez, and Bowman) have announced that they will boycott the event.
“There is no way in hell I am attending the joint session address from a President whose country has banned me and denied Rashida Tlaib the ability to see her grandma,” wrote Omar in a Twitter thread. “WE SHOULD NOT BE INVITING THE PRESIDENT OF ISRAEL—A GOVERNMENT WHO UNDER ITS CURRENT PRIME MINISTER BARRED THE FIRST TWO MUSLIM WOMEN ELECTED TO CONGRESS FROM VISITING THE COUNTRY—TO GIVE A JOINT ADDRESS TO CONGRESS.”
Israel has been accused of apartheid by a number of mainstream human rights organizations, and despite the fact that only a small number of Democratic politicians openly refer to the country that way, an increasing number of Democratic voters do. A University of Maryland Critical Issues poll from earlier this year found that 44% of Democratic voters believe Israel is “a state with segregation similar to apartheid.”
That survey mirrors a number of public opinion studies that have been released recently. A 2023 Gallup poll found that 56% of Democrats now view Israel favorably, down from 63% in 2022. 49% of the Democratic voters polled said they sympathize with Palestinians, compared to just 38% who said they sympathize with Israelis.
Now that Congress has voted to certify this Israeli fantasy, others will follow.
Resolved: The Old Testament is an accurate historical document in which God granted Jews the right to ethnically cleanse Palestinians and rule the world from Jerusalem.
Resolved: Israel has the right to monitor all internet traffic in the US, and to block and delete all content that criticizes Israel, that being anti-Semitic hate speech according to Israel. Offenders may have their internet priviledges revoked, be fined, and imprisoned for more serious offenses. Enforcement will be handled by the FBI, working in coordination with INTERPOL’s international enforcement.
Resolved: Members of Congress will not be permitted to criticize Israel on the floor of Congress, since that is anti-Semitic hate speech according to Israel, and may undermine public confidence in Israel.
Congresswoman Rashida Tailb spoke the truth and the truth is not something that most U.S. congresspeople can recognize about the internationally recognized apartheid state of Israel.
By golly, I’ve been waiting for the U.S. government to respond to Amnesty International’s 280 page report on Israeli apartheid ( https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/5141/2022/en/ ) and here it finally is! This is the resolution passed by the House on Israel:
https://pfluger.house.gov/uploadedfiles/pfluger_support_for_israel.pdf
It’s one page! Here’s the entire content:
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress supporting the State of
Israel.
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate1
concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that—
(1) the State of Israel is not a racist or apartheid state;
(2) Congress rejects all forms of antisemitism and xenophobia; and
(3) the United States will always be a staunch partner and supporter of Israel.
Yet another example of US hubris. Who the hell are we to declare that something every agency charged with making this type of determination has said is true, isn’t? We truly take the flag for Arrogance and Ignorance at every turn.
America…guilty by association.