Yesterday, amid anger from Democratic Congresswoman and Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus Pramila Jayapal calling Israel "a racist state", the House of Representatives passed a resolution declaring Israel to be neither a racist nor Apartheid state by a count of 412-9-1.
The lone member of Congress who voted present is Minnesota Democrat Betty McCollum, who has long harbored hostility towards Israel and skipped Israeli President Isaac Herzog's speech before Congress today.
Then there were the 9 Democrats who voted against the resolution and the names do not come as a big surprise: Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, Andre Carson, Summer Lee and Delia Ramirez.
If I lived a hundred or so feet down my street, Pressley would be my Representative. Instead, Katherine Clark is my member of Congress, and she is part of the House Democratic leadership which publicly condemned Jayapal's remarks. Let's just say that I am grateful for short distances.
NBC News curiously described these members of Congress as "Nine progressive Democrats of color." Now if calling Israel a racist state or an Apartheid state is an act of progressivism, then I'm afraid progressivism has lost all meaning. They would be more aptly described as being regressive in their attitudes towards Israel and towards Jews.
In the grand scheme of things, these members of Congress are on the fringe when it comes to Israel. But fringes have a funny way of becoming the norm. In a generation from now, it is possible that you won't be able to find 9 Democrats who don't think Israel is a racist or Apartheid state.
With that said, I realize that not all of the 412 members of Congress who voted in favor of the resolution introduced by Texas Republican August Pfluger aren't all on the up and up when it comes to their attitudes towards Israel and Jews. Indeed, Pramila Jayapal herself voted in favor of the resolution.
Yet from where I sit, Jayapal firmly believes Israel to be every bit as racist as she did on Saturday. After all, consider what Jayapal actually said - "We have been fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state!" This is a fight she has been fighting for years. Almost exactly four years ago, Jayapal voted against a resolution condemning the BDS Movement. Guess what? The BDS Movement calls Israel racist. Had she not been the idiot who ran her mouth, she would have surely joined AOC and company in voting against the resolution.
It is also hard to take Republicans who voted in favor of this resolution seriously when they turn and around and welcome Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to testify before Congress with all of his history of anti-Semitism. Most, if not all of these Republicans are going to back Donald Trump for his third White House despite questioning the loyalty of American Jews and supping with neo-Nazis.
Republican hypocrisy and some Democratic insincerity notwithstanding by voting against this resolution, 9 Democrats are on the record as declaring Israel to be a racist and Apartheid state. And in so doing they are engaging in defamation. And defamation is anti-Semitism to its very core. Sadly, we can expect a lot more defamation to come from these 9 Democrats.
No comments:
Post a Comment