Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, on Saturday condemned Israel as a racist state, warning activists that there is an organized opposition against progressive critics of Israel’s policy towards the Palestinians.
The sharp criticism from the lawmaker from Washington state marks among the highest-level condemnations of Israel, as several members of her caucus plan to boycott Israel President Isaac Herzog’s address to a joint session of Congress later this week.
Speaking on a panel at Netroots Nation, an annual progressive activist conference in Chicago, Jayapal was addressing pro-Palestinian attendees interrupting the session.
The Democratic Majority for Israel has been killing progressive primary candidates with attack ads who might even challenge US support for Israel while it continues to expand settlements and oppress Palestinians. These attack ads never speak about the candidate’s policy on Israel. And it’s a Super Pac, so it doesn’t have to reveal its donors or how much they donated although the PAC version showcases that the PAC at least is being largely funded by a person who donates to Republican senators. Yay for Citizens United! </sarcasm>
Mellmann, the creator of the Super PAC and PAC doesn’t believe that the US and US politicians should ever be critical of Israel, Israeli policies, or Israeli treatment of Palestinians, should ever make the $3.8B sent there annually have any sort of strings attached, and that there should be any sort of movement against Israel’s illegal occupation and refusal of Palestinian refugees right to return (ethnic cleansing 101) akin to the movement against South African apartheid.
Look, Israel is the birthplace of Judaism (and Christianity). It is and always will be the home of Judaism and its followers. I think whatever happens in the future, that should be a cardinal rule. But a theocratic democracy is not possible, especially one where you’re freaking out about becoming a minority and seem to think people of a certain religion or ancestry are more privileged in law and the courts.
But do you know who else has been in Israel-Palestine and the rest of the Canaanite region since the Bronze Age (the same as the Ancient Israelites)? Palestinians. Israel-Palestine is just as much their home as it is for any descendant of the Ancient Israelites (and so this should be another cardinal rule whatever happens in the future). Just because their religion today is Islam and their language is Arabic instead of some sort of Canaanite religion doesn’t mean they deserve their home any less.
https://www.haaretz.com/science-and-health/2015-10-20/ty-article/palestinians-and-jews-share-genetic-roots/0000017f-dc0e-df9c-a17f-fe1e57730000
Like people didn’t stay there and change religions and languages after Rome took out the Jewish government in AD 70 and people warred over the region over the next couple of millennia.
And even if they weren’t descendants of Canaanites, they would have been living there for nearly 2000 years, longer than Israelites can traced as a distinct people before AD 70. And even if it wasn’t 2000 years, but just 200 years, you don’t get to displace or oppress people whatever their ancestor’s relationship to the land is. The reality is that they’re there and that’s all they’ve ever known. And that’s enough whether Palestinian, Uyghur, Rohingya, or Jewish in Europe and America and Middle East over the millennia.