Albert Lee is looking to unseat longtime Democratic incumbent Earl Blumenauer in Oregon’s 3rd congressional district and spoke with Mondoweiss about BDS, the occupation of Palestine, and whether his campaign is pushing Blumenauer to the left on these issues.

Pro-Israel groups and Republicans have been lying about Ilhan Omar’s boycott bill and it seemingly just paid off. The State Department has updated its working definition of antisemitism to include comparisons between current Israeli policies and those of the Nazis.

In 2016, Fordham University tried to block a Palestinian advocacy group from being formed. After a two year legal battle, students at the school have won a landmark victory which legal advocates are calling “the first major legal victory for free speech for advocates of Palestine on college campuses,” and a Students for Justice in Palestine club can now be established on their campus.

Congress is trying to expand the federal definition of antisemitism for the third time. The legislation directs the Education Dep’t to use a standard for anti-Semitism written by a Holocaust-remembrance organization that includes some criticisms of Israel, including applying “double standards” to the country and claiming that the state is a racist endeavor.

Mckayla Wilkes and Briana Urbina, the two progressives hoping to unseat Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, have criticized the Maryland Representative for leading a congressional delegation on a trip to Israel while Americans mourn the victims of mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio.

Tulsi Gabbard voted to condemn BDS, but she now supports Ilhan Omar’s bill affirming that Americans’ right to boycott foreign countries to advance the cause of human rights.

Following a week where the House of Representatives passed three pro-Israel bills, there were still no questions about Israel and Palestine during two nights of Democratic Party debates. “Lucky for Netanyahu, Israel didn’t come up. Two candidates on stage — Beto and Bernie — both described his policies as racist and Warren isn’t far behind,” Aaron David Miller told the website Jewish Insider.

Thanks to our supporters, Mondoweiss is able to tell the world about how U.S. policy in Israel/Palestine affects not only those living over there, but also the civil liberties of everyone here. We need your help to keep telling these stories. Please make a gift to Mondoweiss today and help us continue to do this work going forward. 

In an interview on July 26, Vermont Senator and presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders said he would “absolutely” consider cutting military aid to Israel as leverage to change their government’s actions.

A resolution affirming that Americans have the right to participate in the boycott of foreign countries has four new cosponsors, including New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The number of cosponsors on the bill has more than doubled since the House overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning the BDS movement earlier this week.