[ The House overwhelmingly passed a resolution declaring Israel is
"not a racist or apartheid state." The final vote was 412-9. Rep.
Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian member of Congress, declared:
“Congress supported South African apartheid...”]
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VAST MAJORITY OF HOUSE DEMS BACK GOP RESOLUTION SAYING ISRAEL ISN’T
AN APARTHEID STATE  
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Michael Arria
July 19, 2023
Mondoweiss
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_ The House overwhelmingly passed a resolution declaring Israel is
"not a racist or apartheid state." The final vote was 412-9. Rep.
Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian member of Congress, declared:
“Congress supported South African apartheid...” _

Israeli military vehicles are seen behind the apartheid wall in the
West Bank city of Tulkarm on June 5, 2023., Photo By Mohammed Nasser.
(C) Apaimages (Palestine) // Mondoweiss

 

On Tuesday the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a
resolution declaring that Israel is “not a racist or apartheid
state.” The final vote was 412-to-nine vote, with one present vote.

The resolution was GOP-effort introduced by Reps. August Pfluger
(R-TX), David Kustoff (R-TN) and Max Miller (R-OH). It was developed
as a rebuke to comments made by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) at the
recent NetRoots conference, in which she referred to Israel as a
“racist state” while addressing Palestine activists. She has since
walked those comments back and claims she was merely referring to
Israel’s current right-wing government and not the country overall.

The nine Democrats to vote against the resolution were Reps. Rashida
Tlaib (D-MI), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN),
Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Summer Lee (D-PA), Cori Bush (D-MO), Ayanna
Pressley (D-MA), Andre Carson (D-IN) and Delia Ramirez (D-IL). Rep.
Betty McCollum (D-MN), a consistent advocate for Palestinian rights in
congress, voted present.

“Attempting to silence conversations about Palestinian human rights
and intimidate people who wish to have open and honest conversations
about the mistreatment of the Palestinian people will only prolong
this problem,” said McCollum in a statement
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“I will not be silenced. I will keep speaking up against
antisemitism, oppression, and hate in all forms.”

“I vote ‘present’ on this resolution, because Americans,
Israelis, and Palestinians deserve genuine steps forward on the goal
of peace, not more division and political gamesmanship,” she
continued. “I do this because every Palestinian child and Israeli
child deserves to go to sleep at night dreaming of a brighter future,
not one of violence.”

Jayapal said the resolution had “clear political motivations” and
was a Republican “distraction,” but still voted
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the measure.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian member of Congress, denounced
the resolution on the House floor.

“Israel is an apartheid state. To assert otherwise, Mr. Speaker, in
the face of this body of evidence, is an attempt to deny the reality
and an attempt to normalize violence of apartheid,” said Tlaib.
“Don’t forget: This body, this Congress, supported the South
African apartheid regime, and it was bipartisan as well.”

The vote came shortly after Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with
President Joe Biden and the day before Herzog is set to deliver a
speech to Congress. A number of Democratic House members (including
Reps. Tlaib, Omar, Ocasio-Cortez, and Bowman) have announced that they
will boycott the event.

“There is no way in hell I am attending the joint session address
from a President whose country has banned me and denied Rashida Tlaib
the ability to see her grandma,” wrote Omar in a Twitter thread.
“WE SHOULD NOT BE INVITING THE PRESIDENT OF ISRAEL—A GOVERNMENT
WHO UNDER ITS CURRENT PRIME MINISTER BARRED THE FIRST TWO MUSLIM WOMEN
ELECTED TO CONGRESS FROM VISITING THE COUNTRY—TO GIVE A JOINT
ADDRESS TO CONGRESS.”

Israel has been accused of apartheid by a number of mainstream human
rights organizations, and despite the fact that only a small number of
Democratic politicians openly refer to the country that way, an
increasing number of Democratic voters do. A University of Maryland
Critical Issues poll
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earlier this year found that 44% of Democratic voters believe Israel
is “a state with segregation similar to apartheid.”

That survey mirrors a number of public opinion studies that have been
released recently. A 2023 Gallup poll
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that 56% of Democrats now view Israel favorably, down from 63% in
2022. 49% of the Democratic voters polled said they sympathize with
Palestinians, compared to just 38% who said they sympathize with
Israelis.

* Israel
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* apartheid
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* Congress
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* House GOP
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* Democrats
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* Israel Lobby
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* Pramila Jayapal
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* Rashida Tlaib
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* Ilhan Omar
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* Isaac Herzog
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* Palestine
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* Palestinians
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* South Africa
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