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.
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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.
Fresh off the House resolution condemning boycotts of Israel that passed by 398-17, Republicans call on Democrats to put real teeth in the measure by enabling state laws that forbid contracts with BDS supporters.
Notable progressives backed the House resolution condemning BDS, including Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA). Both faced intense criticism on Twitter for their votes. Khanna responded, Lincoln was not an abolitionist “early in his career”. While Pressley said, “Voting yes on this resolution affirmed to my constituents raised in the Jewish faith Israel’s right to exist.”
Despite the overwhelming passage by the House of a resolution condemning BDS, many Democratic politicians are torn about how much to support Israel. Rep. John Lewis voted for the resolution but also supports a bill that affirms the right to boycott. Go figure! And two leading presidential candidates have said that Israel should suffer reductions in aid for human rights violations.