Israel’s declaration of six leading Palestinian human rights and civil society groups as “terrorist” organizations continues to have reverberations in Washington. Rep. Betty McCollum has introduced a resolution calling on the U.S. House of Representatives to condemn Israel’s announcement, and specifically called for the Biden administration to “publicly condemn this authoritarian and antidemocratic act of repression by the Government of Israel against prominent Palestinian civil society organizations.”

In Israel’s latest attack on Palestinian civil society organizations, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced a list of six Palestinian human rights organizations which he claimed have links to militant “terror” groups. On the list were prominent institutions like Addameer, Al-Haq, and Defense for Children International – Palestine.

Rashida Tlaib had sound reasons to call Israel an apartheid state, including Human Rights Watch’s report saying as much. But politicians and journalists don’t defend her because pro-Israel journalists like Bret Stephens have viciously attributed all criticism of Israel to its status as a Jewish state, and said the critics are motivated by antisemitism.

Progressives lost a vote on Israel in the House yesterday, overwhelmingly, by 420-9. But the ten Democrats who refused to vote for the funding represent a solid beachhead of opposition inside Congress to the special relationship between the U.S. and the apartheid “Jewish state.” Pro-Palestinian human rights forces are not going away — and the sooner the American public is exposed to this debate, the better.

Hundreds of Palestinians gathered in the city center of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday in protest of the Palestinian Authority’s killing of popular activist and dissident Nizar Banat earlier this summer.  The demonstration came on the heels of mass arrests by the PA of prominent Palestinian critics of Abbas’ regime. These arrests have caught the eyes of the international community, including some members of Congress.

“Palestinians, under occupation for decades, are fighting for their homes and demanding freedom,” Kelly Cobiella says on NBC, in a sign that Israel’s new government will not be able to reverse the disaffection for its practices in the U.S. “New government — same apartheid,” says the young Jewish group IfNotNow.

Rep. Ilhan Omar’s progressive allies, in Congress and outside, rushed to her defense. Had this exchange happened just a few years ago she would have been left to twist slowly in the wind, alone. Instead, more than 50 progressive U.S. groups said clearly that “the repeated targeting of Rep. Omar is rooted in sexism, racism and anti-Muslim bigotry.”

It never crossed the minds of most pundits or politicians or Democrats to be critical of Blinken’s pathologically dishonest response to Rep. Ilhan Omar about U.S. and Israeli accountability. His response was normal, entirely mainstream, precisely because Israel is an apartheid state and the US is a superpower and neither is accountable to their victims and we aren’t supposed to notice the lack of accountability.

While Democratic unity continues to fray in the Senate, a party rift also developed in the House this week when Dems (once again) attacked Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar for comments about Israel.

Israel lobbyists have opened a new front in their effort to characterize Palestinian solidarity as “antisemitic.” Now that two House members and leading human rights groups have said Israel practices “apartheid,” Israel’s friends want to shut down the discussion. It’s a good battle to have, as even mainstream groups say the shoe fits Israel.