The Shift: Senate rejects resolution requesting report on Israeli violence in West Bank

This week, the Senate voted on Resolution 852, a straightforward piece of legislation that simply requested the State Department provide a formal report on human rights conditions in the West Bank. It was introduced by Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).

The text of the resolution points out that since January 2022, at least nine U.S. citizens have been murdered by Israeli settlers or the Israeli army in the illegally occupied West Bank, including Omar Assad, Shireen Abu Akleh, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, Mohammad Khdour, Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, Amer Rabee, Sayfollah Kamel Musallet, Khamis Ayyad, and Nasrallah Abu Siyam.

“The killings of these Americans in the West Bank have been met by a lack of accountability from the Netanyahu government and an inability to secure justice by the United States Government,” it notes.

“The U.S. Government – including this Administration – has said time and again that our number one priority abroad is ensuring the safety and security of American citizens. And yet, as we’ve seen violence rise in the West Bank, nine American citizens have been killed in recent years, and they have received no justice and no accountability,” said Van Hollen in a statement. “Their families – and the American people – deserve answers on their deaths. But today Republicans denied them that. Meanwhile, the Palestinian people have also borne the toll of this violence day in and day out. They too deserve justice and accountability. But again, Republicans blocked that today. While I was pleased that so many of my Democratic colleagues joined this effort, it’s clear the United States must do more. It is our responsibility to ensure recipients of U.S. taxpayer dollars act in line with our laws and our values – this resolution was an opportunity to shed light on a reality that flies in the face of that principle.”

Last week, Peace Action president Kevin Martin met with Van Hollen to talk about the resolution. In a post about the meeting, Martin said the legislation was the absolute minimum that could be done, but hoped that its passage would help pave the way for more comprehensive bills.

“Peace advocates regularly support much stronger legislation, and will do so repeatedly, until peace, justice, and human rights are the real foundations of US foreign policy, and not just paid cynical lip service,” wrote Martin. “Soon there will likely be a Joint Resolution of Disapproval (JRD) in Congress to stop the proposed shipment of 40,000 one-ton bombs to Israel. The Biden administration, as bad as it was in its support for Israel during the razing of Gaza, had put this sale on hold, but President Donald Trump is now moving it forward. But the relatively modest Van Hollen resolution would be an important step toward ending Israel’s impunity, and if we can’t get justice for American citizens killed by Israel, then Congress is completely derelict in doing its job.”

Van Hollen’s resolution was broadly popular with the public. Groups like Peace Action were able to generate almost 100,000 letters in support of the effort and an IMEU poll found that 84% of all voters, including 83% of Democrats and 82% of Republicans, backed it.

Of course, these kinds of facts matter very little in Congress, where the pro-Israel consensus almost always prevails. The resolution failed on a 47-53 vote. The only Republican to vote for the measure was Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), and Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) dutifully joined the GOP in voting against it.

Troy Jackson

Is the Troy Jackson campaign in trouble?

That’s certainly the vibe you get when reading Rebecca Traister on his Maine Senate campaign in New York magazine.

It paints a picture of a candidate who’s being directed by a cadre of consultants from the Democratic establishment.

“According to multiple sources, these advisers are frustrated by Jackson and his backwoods cadence, his insistence on taking questions, and his unapologetically progressive stances,” reports Traister, who says that Jackson “has often deferred to their expertise, angering longtime allies and organizers who have their own thoughts on how he can win.”

Part of this story concerns Israel’s genocide in Gaza, as Traister points out, his stance on the issue (and others) has seemingly shifted as a result of the aforementioned consultants.

“Typically an impassioned speaker, Jackson has become more tentative, with answers on Israel and ICE getting muddier,” she writes. Internal campaign documents reveal that, when asked whether Israel is committing a genocide, Jackson is supposed to tell constituents and reporters, ‘No matter what you’re comfortable calling it, I think we can all agree this is senseless violence.'”

At Drop Site News, Nathan Bernard and Ryan Grim obtained that document, which also him to call on Hamas to release the hostages, despite the fact that they don’t currently hold any.

The reporters note that the campaign is seeking to generate contributions from pro-Israel donors:

To establish leverage for moderating Jackson on Gaza, as Traister’s piece acutely explains, the consultants have sought to bring in donor dollars from pro-Israel sources. In the last three weeks, documents reviewed by Drop Site reveal Jackson’s campaign has held at least three fundraisers with prominent Democratic fundraisers with favorable views of Israel’s military actions in the Middle East. The consultants appear to believe that by surrounding Jackson with big donors who have a sympathetic view of Israel, they will be able to pressure Jackson into moderating his public statements on the genocide in Gaza. “They have told him to stop saying genocide, moved him to blocking offensive only, and his answers are pissing off voters,” said one source familiar with the guidance.

The Jackson campaign dismissed Drop Site’s questioning on the ethics of fundraising from big money sources, including those with favorable views of Israel. They believe the idea of raising funds from big-dollar sources is the only path to remaining competitive, representing what they described as a false choice between maximizing donor dollars and grass roots organizing. Current fundraising totals are not public yet, but Jackson raised $5.3 million in July and $4 million in August.

In the American Prospect, Robert Kuttner invokes the potential influence of Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer, noting that the longtime supporter of Israel installed a centrist, out-of-state campaign staff.

“Schumer and company installed campaign operatives whose two main qualifications are that they tend to lose elections and know nothing about Maine,” he writes. “One key player in Jackson’s decision to let Schumer’s people take over his campaign is Jackson’s former chief of staff and closest aide, BJ McCollister. After leaving Jackson, McCollister created an advertising and consulting firm called Frame Strategies.”

At a recent event, a constituent asked Jackson whether Israel was committing a genocide, and he only referred to it as one after she yelled the question to him again off the mic.

Shortly after that, he referred to it as a genocide in a Portland radio interview.

“It’s unfortunate that there are people here in Maine that don’t like to use that term only because they’re Jewish, and what that means to them, with the Holocaust,” he told the station. “It fits that description. And it is — it’s an unbelievable thing that’s happened there that people that are innocent are being murdered, and it is a genocide.”

Now he’s apologizing to Jewish Mainers for potentially offending them. In a statement, he said he misspoke when making the aforementioned comments.

“I believe what’s happening in Gaza is genocide, and I also understand that word carries particular weight for many Jewish families given the Holocaust,” said Jackson.

Polling suggests that Republicans are likely to face losses in the midterms, but they also indicate that GOP incumbent Susan Collins is leading Jackson.