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AS BOYCOTT GROWS, OCASIO-CORTEZ SAYS NETANYAHU INVITATION ‘SHOULD
BE REVOKED’  
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Jake Johnson
June 19, 2024
Common Dreams
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_ "This man should not be addressing Congress," said the New York
Democrat. "He is a war criminal." _

Democratic members of the US House of Representatives call for a
ceasefire in Gaza on Capitol Hill in Washington DC on November 13,
2023., Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA

 

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
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Tuesday that Democratic and Republican leaders should withdraw their
invitation for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak at a
joint meeting of Congress next month after he released a video
[[link removed]] attacking
the Biden administration for "withholding" weapons from Israel's
military.

"This man should not be addressing Congress. He is a war criminal,"
Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) wrote
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"And he certainly has no regard for U.S. law, which is explicitly
designed to prevent U.S. weapons from facilitating human rights
abuses."

"His invitation should be revoked," she added. "It should've never
been sent in the first place."

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), House Minority Leader Hakeem
Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) formally invited
[[link removed]] Netanyahu
to address a joint meeting last month, roughly two weeks after the
Biden administration all but acknowledged
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leading human rights organizations had been saying for months
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Israeli forces have used American weaponry to commit war crimes in
the Gaza [[link removed]] Strip.

The invitation also came roughly two months after Schumer criticized
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a speech on the Senate floor, accusing the prime minister of being
"too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza" and calling for
new leadership in Israel [[link removed]].

Netanyahu, who is scheduled to address Congress on July 24 as he faces
a possible arrest warrant
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the International Criminal Court, said in his video remarks Tuesday
that the Biden administration "has been withholding weapons and
ammunitions to Israel" over "the past few months." The Israeli prime
minister was apparently referring to the administration's decision
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pause a shipment that includes 2,000-pound bombs
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But the administration is still moving ahead with other weapons deals
with Israel, including an $18 billion sale of F-15 fighter jets and
Joint Direct Attack Munition kits that the Israeli military has used
against civilians in Gaza
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Ocasio-Cortez's call for the cancellation of Netanyahu's scheduled
address came as the number of Democrats planning to boycott the
Israeli prime minister's speech continued to grow, with Rep. Ro
Khanna
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and Sen. Elizabeth Warren
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recently announcing their decisions to skip the joint meeting.

"Benjamin Netanyahu has created a humanitarian disaster," Warren told
[[link removed]]_The
Hill_ on Tuesday. "The United States needs to be using its leverage,
including restrictions on arms sales, as a way to advance a push
toward peace in the Middle East."

"We need a cease-fire, massive humanitarian relief, the return of the
hostages, and we've gotta have a breakthrough on getting the parties
to the negotiating table," the senator added. "Giving more arms to
Israel is not pushing in the right direction."

In addition to vowing to boycott Netanyahu's scheduled speech, some
congressional Democrats are reportedly discussing
"counter-programming" plans "focused on peace, bringing the hostages
home, and ending this horrible conflict," _Axios _reported
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week, citing an unnamed House Democrat.

Sen. Bernie Sanders
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among the lawmakers pledging to boycott
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Israeli prime minister's speech, said
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that "it is absurd that Netanyahu has been invited to address
Congress."

"We should not be honoring people who use the starvation of children
as a weapon of war," said Sanders.

In an email sent out on Wednesday, the progressive group Justice
Democrats urged its supporters to demand that their elected
representatives either boycott or disrupt Netanyahu's July 24 address,
noting that the Israeli prime minister and his government "are still
actively carrying out what historian Robert Pape has called 'one of
the most intense civilian punishment campaigns in history.'"

"We need our leaders in Washington to stop using our taxpayer dollars
to send billions in weapons and bombs to Israel, and demand a
permanent cease-fire and the release of all hostages—not roll out
the red carpet for Netanyahu," the group added.

_Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams._

* AOC
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* Netanyahu
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