Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) has introduced H.Res.876, a resolution that recognizes Israel’s actions in Gaza as a genocide and calls on the U.S. to stop sending the country weapons.
Additionally, the bill calls for investigations and prosecution for U.S. individuals and corporations connected to the genocide, compliance with the International Court of Justice, and sanctions on the Israeli government.
“The Israeli government’s genocide in Gaza has not ended, and it will not end until we act. Since the so-called ‘ceasefire’ was announced, Israeli forces haven’t stopped killing Palestinians,” said Tlaib in a statement. “Impunity only enables more atrocity. As our government continues to send a blank check for war crimes and ethnic cleansing, Palestinian children’s smiles are extinguished by bombs and bullets that say made in the U.S.A.”
“To end this horror, we must reject genocide denial and follow our binding legal obligations under the Genocide Convention to take immediate action to pursue justice and accountability to prevent and punish the crime of genocide,” she continued. “We must hold individual perpetrators and complicit corporations to account. We must stop sending weapons to a genocidal military. We must follow international law and use all means available to us, including sanctions, to bring this genocide to an end.”
The legislation has 20 Democratic cosponsors: Reps. Becca Balint (VT-AL), André Carson (IN-07), Greg Casar (TX-35), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), Maxwell Alejandro Frost (FL-10), Jesús G. “Chuy” García (IL-04), Al Green (TX-09), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Henry “Hank” Johnson, Jr. (GA-04), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Summer Lee (PA-12), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12).
It’s also backed by over 100 organizations, including Adalah Justice Project, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), Defense for Children International – Palestine, IfNotNow, Jewish Voice for Peace Action, Justice Democrats, the Sunrise Movement, and the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action (USCPR Action).
The resolution obviously has very little chance of passing, but it comes just one year before Israel’s 10-year security assistance deal with the United States is set to expire.
Axios recently reported that Israel is seeking a new, 20-year security assistance deal, complete with “America First” tweaks to appease the Trump administration. The country wants some of the aid to be allocated toward joint U.S.-Israeli research, rather than just weapons.
“This is out-of-the-box thinking. We want to change the way we handled past agreements and put more emphasis on U.S.-Israel cooperation. The Americans like this idea,” one Israeli official told the website.
In September, the Trump administration informed Congress that it plans to sell Israel an additional $6 billion in weapons, on top of what it already receives as part of the existing deal.
GOP efforts
On the other side of the aisle, we have the Moving American Money Distant from Anti-National Interests, or the MAMDANI Act.
This bill, introduced by Earl “Buddy” Carter (R-GA), would cut federal funding to New York City on account of Zohran Mamdani becoming mayor.
“In United States of America, a nation built on freedom, taxpayer dollars should not be used to fund communism and antisemitism. Georgians want nothing to do with Mamdani’s radical beliefs, and their hard-earned money should not be wasted on programs that will bankrupt the financial capital of the world. If New Yorkers want communism, we should let them have their wish and not artificially prop them up with our successful capitalist system,” said Carter in a statement. “Any New Yorker with common sense is welcome to move to the great, FREE state of Georgia.”
It currently has zero cosponsors.
Congress member Claudia Tenney (R-NY) introduced a resolution declaring that the Temple Mount belongs to Israel. So far, the only other cosponsor is Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA), the lone lawmaker to vote against releasing the Epstein files.
The effort was praised by Mort Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA).
“ZOA is pleased the American Congress will enact this resolution recognizing the 3000 years of Jewish history at the Temple Mount and the right of Jews and Christians to pray there while safeguarding the religious rights of all faiths,” said Klein. “ZOA appreciates the strong leadership of Rep. Tenney and the other cosponsors in introducing this resolution at this time. Future progress towards a peaceful Middle East depends on a correct understanding of the history of the Temple Mount and its importance to all three Abrahamic faiths. Pretending that Israel might someday surrender this site or any part of Jerusalem as a bargaining chip would only hinder American peacemaking efforts.”
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) recently wrote a letter to Attorney General Bondi calling for an investigation of the anti-war group CODE PINK over alleged connections to terrorism and the Chinese government.
“Multiple members of Congress have called for investigations into these matters. I respectfully add my name to that list and request that DOJ investigate whether Code Pink and the individuals involved have violated FARA by failing to register as agents of the Chinese Communist Party and whether their support for designated FTOs constitutes material support in violation of federal law,” wrote Cotton.
CODE PINK has consistently held protests and actions over Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the U.S. government’s support for it. Cotton cites the group’s commitment to the issue in his letter.
This is not the first Palestine-supporting organization that Cotton has targeted.
Earlier this year, Cotton sent a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel on the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM). Cotton has repeatedly called for PYM’s nonprofit status to be investigated, claiming that they support terrorism and sow “antisemitic discord.”
Obama speechwriter: Holocaust education has backfired
Democratic speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz is facing backlash over comments she made at a Jewish Federation event.
Hurwitz, who formerly wrote speeches for Barack and Michelle Obama, condemned social media for showing too many images of the genocide, which makes it hard for Israel supporters to reach the youth.
In her remarks, she also equated the reporting of Al Jazeera with the rantings of white nationalist, antisemite Nick Fuentes.
Here’s Hurwitz:
So, we are now wrestling with a new, I think, generational divide here. And I think that’s particularly true in that social media is now our source of media. And this, you know, it used to be that the the media you got in America was American media and it was pretty mainstream. You know, it generally didn’t express extreme anti-Israel views. You had to go to a pretty weird bookstore to find global media and fringe media.
But today we have social media which is a global medium, right? It is shaped, its algorithms are shaped by billions of people worldwide who don’t really love Jews. And so while in the 1990s, you know, a young person probably wasn’t going to find Al Jazzer or someone like Nick Fuentes, today those media outlets find them. They find them on their phones. It’s also this increasingly post-literate media. Less and less text, more and more videos.
So you have Tik Tok just smashing our young people’s brains all day long with video of carnage in Gaza. And this is why so many of us can’t have a sane conversation with younger Jews because anything that we try to say to them, they are hearing it through this wall of carnage. So I want to give data and information and facts and arguments and they are just seeing in their minds carnage and I sound obscene.
She goes on to lament that Holocaust education has backfired because it has inspired students to sympathize with oppressed people:
And you know, I think unfortunately the very smart I think bet that we made on Holocaust education to serve as anti-semitism education in this new media environment, I think that is beginning to break down a little bit because, you know, Holocaust education is absolutely essential.
But I think it may be confusing some of our young people about anti-semitism because they learn about big strong Nazis hurting weak emaciated Jews and they think, “Oh, anti-semitism is like anti-black racism, right? powerful white people against powerless black people. So when on TikTok all day long they see powerful Israelis hurting weak, skinny Palestinians, it’s not surprising that they think, “Oh, I know the lesson of the Holocaust is you fight Israel. You fight the big powerful people hurting the weak people.
Holocaust education certainly hasn’t inspired people to back Israel, which seems to be Hurwitz’s main beef:
We know that it happened because the Germans insisted that the Jews, 1% of the population, were responsible for all their problems. Just like people insist that Israel, the size of New Jersey, is responsible for all the world’s problems today. But that’s not really what you take away from Holocaust education. You take away the images of power powerless. And you also don’t really learn about Islamist antisemitism and Soviet anti-Zionism, which is so much of what I’m seeing, especially on campus with young people today.
It’s actually refreshing to see a supporter of Israel be so transparent about this stuff.
Odds & Ends
🐘 Is a ‘post-Israel’ GOP on the horizon? Breaking down the battle over Israel on the U.S. Right
🙅 Why normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia won’t happen now, regardless of what Trump wants
🇵🇸 Palestinians in Gaza reject UN Security Council approval of Trump’s plan: It’s a ‘new occupation’
🇮🇱 Responsible Statecraft: Pearl clutching as MTG questions Epstein-Israel connection
🇺🇸 BBC: ‘Things happen’ – Trump defends Saudi crown prince over Khashoggi killing
🛢️ New York Times: Texas Governor Declares Muslim Civil Rights Group a ‘Terrorist Organization’
💰 Counterpunch: One Aircraft Carrier or Health Care Coverage for Tens of Thousands?
🚓 Palo Alto Online: Six students seek plea deals in Stanford vandalism case
⚖️ The Nation: In an Unusual Twist, the Prosecution of a Gaza Protester Puts Israel on Trial
🇸🇦 Truthout: Trump Names Saudi Arabia “Major Non-NATO Ally,” With Billions in Arms Deals
💻 My Northwest: Activists urged Microsoft to cut ties with Israeli military during protest at HQ
Re: Congress member Claudia Tenney (R-NY) introduced a resolution declaring that the Temple Mount belongs to Israel.
Which one? Despite the entrenched tradition of the Jerusalem temple mount’s identification, ancient descriptions of it do not correspond with the 36-acre area we see today. So, she should just keep looking.
In any event, Archeologists have listed hundreds of Temples, Horned Altars, and High places that already “belong to” or have been “confiscated by” the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). How many more of those unused sites do Zionists, and a bunch of genocidal atheists really need to acquire, before its’s considered hoarding òr sacrilegious? See for example all of the articles about Temples and Altars as of 2019 in the special edition of “Archaeology and Ancient Israelite Religion” or just the long list of “nice little fixer uppers” outlined in “Archaeology and Folk or Family Religion in Ancient Israel”, by William Dever. Just today the government announced it was confiscating the largest parcel of private Palestinian land for restoration. See Israel to Expropriate Hundreds of Acres of Palestinian Land for West Bank Archaeological Site — Haaretz
In all fairness, Jebusite theashing floors were well known sites employed for Canasnite fertility cult sacred sex rituals. So, there were prior owners who put the place to good use too. David was portrayed as a violent sociopath, and serial murderer, who acquired the land he supposedly “purchased” by armed infiltration, and conquest. Even Yahweh deemed David unworthy to ever build a temple, because he shed so much innocent blood. To be honest, if you can’t locate a worthy red heifer, it’s probably a sign that finding a worthy modern-day descendant among the Zionists is just a fools errand. It was a Jewish Commander who wisely destroyed the last Temple due to hatred without a cause.