Rashida Tlaib speaking out against Iron Dome funding reveals opposing Israel’s occupation is no longer taboo among elected American politicians.
Dave Reed spoke to Beth Miller, Senior Government Affairs Manager at JVP Action, about the political maneuvering that brought the Iron Dome funding expansion bill to its ultimate passage.
Dr. Osama Abuirshaid and Ayah Ziyadeh discuss Americans for Justice in Palestine Action, a new pro-Palestine political advocacy group in Washington D.C.
Nina Turner, running for Congress in Ohio, says a group is targeting progressive candidates of color with “dirty money”– in an apparent reference to Democratic Majority for Israel. Turner has called for conditioning U.S. aid to Israel, while her rival Shontel Brown recently visited the country at the behest of a rightwing Israel lobby group.
Three Republican House members are calling on the FBI to investigate dubious connections between the BDS movement and terrorism.
Israel has begun demolitions in the al-Bustan area of Silwan. Most Democratic congress members have largely ignored the destruction, but a small group of progressive House members are speaking out.
Former Obama national security aide Ben Rhodes says the Israel lobby uses money to get its way in Congress. “Members would call me at the beginning of the August recess in 2015, when we’re having the Iran [deal] fight, and be like, AIPAC put out a press release saying they’re going to spend $40 million on ads on this. The money issue became acute. And people started to say, AIPAC told me they’d cancel my fundraisers if I vote this way. We’re never supposed to name the issue of money. But when AIPAC is threatening people that they’re going to cancel fundraisers, suddenly you’re having that conversation.”
As expected, every member of The Squad was easily reelected. And this time they will be joined by even more left-leaning lawmakers.
A guide to highlight some of the races that we are paying attention to as we approach election night 2020.