After Iran’s retaliatory strikes on Israel, several lawmakers quickly released statements.
It’s no surprise that many Republicans were immediately braying for war. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) called on Biden to launch aggressive strikes on Iran. Senator Roger Wicker (R-KS) said the United States “must join with Israel to ensure that Iran’s aggression is met with resolute action and resounding strength.”
Pro-Israel Democrats also sounded off. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) said Iran “must be held accountable.” Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) said we “should have Israel’s back.”
Virtually every lawmaker who commented on the development conveniently ignored the fact that Israel recently bombed Iran’s Syrian consulate, killing multiple people.
Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) said the attack was “unjustified.” Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) wondered how the United States would respond if targeted by a drone attack.
I don’t know. How much the United States respond if another country bombed one of its embassies?
This kind of stuff is always predictable. Whenever Iran does something, you can expect the John Boltons of the world to be on your television banging the drums of war. This time around, it’s the response from The White House and the Democratic establishment that’s notable.
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) is one of the most strident supporters of Israel in the Democratic party, but the House Foreign Relations Committee member was quickly on MSNBC making a sudden distinction between Israel’s self-defense and a potential attack. “We don’t want an offensive,” he stated.
Axios reported that Biden called Netanyahu to say the U.S. wouldn’t back an Israeli counterstrike on Iran. The President apparently told the Israeli Prime Minister that the Iran strikes were regarded as a military failure. “You got a win. Take the win,” said Biden.
It’s true that most of the Iranian drones and missiles were shot down, but who did the bulk of the work here? The Intercept reports that it wasn’t the Israel, but the United States military.
We see the “Special Relationship” on full display in this sequence of events. The United States does the heavy lifting, but allows Israel to claim the victory. The White House’s hesitance to back a strike and it’s instruction to Bibi just shows that they could apply pressure to end the Gaza slaughter at any time. They choose not to.
Of course none of this is to suggest the United States isn’t currently fanning the flames of war. They hit Iran with a round of fresh sanctions over the attack and they’ll continue to back Israel.
A couple of newsletters ago, I wrote about an allegedly angry phone call between Biden and Netanyahu, where the President supposedly implied that U.S. policy could shift if Israel didn’t make some changes. There were some minor tweaks, but nothing to write home about. This prompted a renewed discussion about the U.S. potentially conditioning aid to finally alleviate the suffering in Gaza.
Two weeks later, what’s changed? Yesterday Israel bombed a refugee camp playground, killing a number of children. The assault on Gaza continues, U.S. support for it continues.
From the River to the Sea
Israel has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians in Gaza, so this week Congress is focusing on condemning calls for Palestinian freedom as antisemitic.
House Resolution 883 was introduced last November by Representatives Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY). It passed by a vote of 377-44-1 on Tuesday night. 215 Republicans backed the measure. 162 Democrats.
The legislation declares that the phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is antisemitic and that its use must be condemned. You’ll recall that this effort came in response to Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) tweeting, “From the river to the sea is an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate. My work and advocacy is always centered in justice and dignity for all people no matter faith or ethnicity.”
You’ll recall that Tlaib was eventually censured for using the phrase and continually criticizing Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza.
The resolution’s text is stupider and more pathetic than I recall. It never alludes to Tlaib’s tweet but lists many treacherous characters who have used the phrase—Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, etc. About half the resolution is actually a condemnation of Hamas, and it includes a reference to the debunked story of “dozens” of babies being beheaded on October 7th.
This resolution has sat on the shelf for quite some time, but the iron is clearly hot in the wake of Iran’s reprisal attack and the GOP saw a great opportunity to push a racist measure. After months of carnage most Democratic House members remain unsympathetic to the Palestinian cause, as exemplified by their overwhelming support here.
HR 883 isn’t the only piece of pro-Israel legislation to take note of this month. Rep. D’Esposito also just introduced H.R.7945, the Define to Defeat Act of 2024.
The bill would apply the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism to the enforcement of civil rights laws.
“Following the October 7 attacks on Israel, Jews around the world, including in America and New York, endured and continue to endure record-breaking levels of antisemitic attacks and hate,” said D’Esposito in a statement. “My legislation would provide federal officials the tools they need to fully assess, investigate, and prosecute this criminal behavior.”
This is some dangerous nonsense. As we know, the IHRA working definition embraces a vague interpretation of antisemitism and includes a number of antisemitism “examples” some of which are just criticisms of Israel. For instance, calling the state of Israel “a racist endeavor” is regarded as antisemitic, as is “applying double standards” to Israel, whatever that means.
Again, this is what Congress is choosing to focus on now: restricting criticism of Israel while Gaza is being destroyed.
Campus suppression
It’s hard to keep up with the level of McCarthyism that’s developed on college campuses since October, but we’ve seen two especially egregious examples.
First, the case of Asna Tabassum. She’s graduating from the University of Southern California as valedictorian, a moment that should be filled with celebration for her and her family.
However, USC has canceled Tabassum’s graduation speech over supposed safety fears.
What’s going on here? Tabassum is Muslim and has expressed support for Palestine across social media. Her selection led to two complaints from pro-Israel campus groups and the school immediately caved.
The administration’s public statement’s on this have been comically pathetic.
“Over the past several days, discussion related to the selection of our valedictorian has taken on an alarming tenor,” said provost Andrew Guzman. “The intensity of feelings, fueled by both social media and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, has grown to include many voices outside of U.S.C. and has escalated to the point of creating substantial risks relating to security and disruption at the commencement.”
Then we get to the punchline: “In no way does it diminish the remarkable academic achievements of any student considered or selected for valedictorian. To be clear: this decision has nothing to do with freedom of speech.”
Tabassum majored in biomedical engineering. Her minor? Resistance to genocide.
You can’t make this stuff up.
Next, we turn to author Jodi Dean, who was just suspended from her job as a politics professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges.
Dean has been teaching there for 30 years and she’s tenured, but she’ll have to sit out the rest of the semester while the school conducts an investigation.
Dean’s crime was penning an essay in support of Palestine. “Palestine speaks for everyone,” was published on the Verso Books website on April 9th. Critics claim that Dean celebrates the Hamas attack of October 7th, but I’d recommend actually reading the piece.
She was attacked across social media by pro-Israel accounts. Some liberals even joined the pile on.
President of the colleges Mark Gearan has put out a statement condemning the essay. “I find her comments repugnant, condemn them unequivocally, and want to make clear that these are her personal views and not those of our institution,” he wrote in a letter to the campus community. “I deeply regret that as a result of Professor Dean’s comments, there now may be students on our campus who feel threatened in or outside of the classroom.”
The investigation will determine whether Dean violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on national origin.
Odds & Ends
📺 The mainstream U.S. media is hiding key truths in its coverage of Iran’s retaliatory attack
🏫 Columbia University president tells Congress school has disciplined professors over Gaza views
🤐 Resist Congressional efforts to silence free speech on Palestine
🏫 Yale students launch hunger strike over school’s connection to Gaza assault
🇵🇷 Where pa’lante meets sumud: Puerto Ricans organize in solidarity with Palestine
📰 The Intercept: Leaked NYT Gaza Memo Tells Journalists to Avoid Words “Genocide,” “Ethnic Cleansing,” and “Occupied Territory”
🚗 Philadelphia Inquirer: Protesters block traffic in Center City, calling for an end to war in Gaza as part of national A15 demonstrations
🇮🇷 Counterpunch: Iran and the US Say Enough, Will Israel Go Along?
🪖 Politico: Iran confrontation poses potential new risks for US troops
🇮🇱 Common Dreams: Calls for De-Escalation Mount as Israel Plans to ‘Exact a Price From Iran’
🪧 New York Times: Cotton Urges Citizens to Forcibly Confront Pro-Palestinian Protesters
🌉 San Francisco Chronicle: After protest, Golden Gate Bridge lanes reopen while demonstrations continue in Oakland
🇺🇸 Foreign Policy: Netanyahu Wants War With Iran. Biden Can Prevent It
💻 Wired: Google Workers Detained By Police for Protesting Cloud Contract with Israel
🚫 Jewish Insider: Thirty senators introduce bill codifying IHRA definition of antisemitism in Department of Education
✍️ More two dozen Palestinian journalists covering Gaza from the ground are calling on journalists to boycott the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
“The Biden administration’s ongoing support for Israel’s genocidal policies implicates it directly in the relentless targeting and massacring of journalists in Gaza, including hundreds of our colleagues and their families,” reads an open letter from the journalists.
“Western media has played an integral role in manufacturing consent for Israel’s ongoing violence against the Palestinian people, while obfuscating U.S. complicity. Over the past six months, the mainstream press has become the mouthpiece of the homicidal Israeli regime, promoting dehumanizing anti-Palestinian propaganda and platforming genocide apologists and perpetrators, while simultaneously ignoring, downplaying, and underreporting Israel’s war crimes against Palestinians,” it continues.
🛢 TomDispatch: Playing Russian Roulette with Middle Eastern Oil
Here’s an exchange between State Department spokesman Matthew Miller and the AP’s Matt Lee from Tuesday’s briefing:
Lee: Just – no, just before we leave this, have you guys decided yet or made a determination about whether what Israel hit in Damascus was a diplomatic facility or not?
Miller: We have not. We have not.
Lee: Well, how long is this going to take?
Miller: I can’t answer that question. We’re continuing to look into it. I don’t have a timetable, but it’s something that we’re —
Lee: What more do you need to —
Miller: We need to gather enough information that will allow us to make an actual determination.
Lee: And how? You’ve got – you have no one on the ground in Syria.
Miller: We have a range —
Lee: At least overtly.
Miller: As I said to you when – the last time you engaged with me on this question, we have a range of abilities – a range of ways to gather information. There are partner countries of ours who are on the ground. We have intelligence capabilities obviously, and we’re continuing to gather information, but we’ve not yet been able to make a determination.
Lee: Yeah, I get it, but you were pretty quick into condemning the invasion of the Mexican embassy in Ecuador.
Miller: That was a very clear, well-established embassy.
Lee: And this was not very clear, where they blew – they —
Miller: This is something that is taking a little bit more time to determine.
Lee: No one died in that incident.
Miller: That’s not the question. The question was, what is it – is it – was it an embassy or consulate or not, and it was very clear —
Lee: How hard is it to figure that out?
Miller: — in the case of the case of the Mexican – it’s something that we’re gathering information on.
Lee: It’s been like two weeks.
Stay safe out there,
The Intercept reports that
https://theintercept.com/2024/04/16/israel-weapons-aid-us-biden-escobar/
Some may say that’s better than nothing; others may say it’s too little too late. As for me, I’m in the second group, but I do recognize that even that small step takes what passes for courage these days for an American politician.
On the other hand, I see that Speaker Johnson wants $26 Billion for Israel.
Some may say that’s better than nothing; others may say it’s too little. As for me, I think it is obscene.
The more widely the Palestinian cause becomes identified as being one of human rights, the closer will be liberation. Be that in two states or one. Independence or equality. Also, if Abbas formally declares equality in one state a plausible option, the closer independence in two states will become.
It is more clear than previously, Greater Israel’s life blood is insecurity. Thus the double game of creating insecurity, while making it the centerpiece.
Hopefully, the train hasn’t left the station.
The silencing – attempted silencing – of Asna Tabassum has backfired. It was reported in the NY Times and lots of other major media. If USC had let her speak, none of us would have heard of her. Now the college has mud on its face, mud of its own making.
Do you think other colleges will learn anything from this? Why do I not think they will ……..
So far, we have 3 lefties in the savage child-killing zionist regime-line-up: Nosfenyahu, Blinken and Austin, all lefty’s. Almanar reports that US ~actually~ asked IRAN for a ‘free one’….in the true Clint Eastwood “Unforgiven” sense….and don’t attack back….okay???
https://english.almanar.com.lb/2089430
Finkelstein: Israel Is Prepared to Drag the Rest of the World Down with Them
System Update with Glenn Greenwald 14 hours ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEfYVUzgxCk