Speaking Truth to Insanity

When can our highly partisan Congress come together with nearly one voice? Apparently only to condemn free speech and turn a blind eye to atrocities committed by the State of Israel. We amplify here a voice of moral integrity and political courage against the stampede to silence such voices. It is the voice of Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota, land of 10,000 lakes and 2 congresswomen (Rep. Ilhan Omar is the other) willing to shine a light on injustice and hypocrisy.

Rep. McCollum wrote the following to Speaker Pelosi in protest of House Resolution 246, which passed by a vote of 398 to 17.

“Peaceful dissent and the protesting of injustice are the right of all Americans guaranteed by the Constitution. It is called freedom of speech. H. Res. 246 is an attack on the peaceful promotion of human rights, self-determination, and justice on behalf of Palestinian people living under Israeli military occupation. This resolution completely ignores Israel’s brutality, dehumanization, and subjugation of Palestinian people which is at the root of this peaceful movement.

[Image by RafahKid lic: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode]

The State of Israel is a sovereign nation, an ally of the United States, and a military power that occupies Palestinian lands for the benefit of Jewish settlers. H. Res. 246 claims that the use of voluntary boycotts, divestment, and sanctions is an ‘effort to delegitimize Israel’ and ‘undermines the possibility of a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict’.

Israel cannot be delegitimized by any outside movement, it is a nation-state that is self-governed and makes its own laws, its own policies. Sadly, and I say sadly because I want peace and security for the Israeli people, it is the actions of the Netanyahu government the delegitimizes Israel’s standing in the world community.

Today’s Washington Post ran a headline: ‘Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes provokes outcry’. Is this the action of a nation
seeking peaceful negotiations? Is the annexation of Palestinian lands or the military detention and torture of Palestinian children an effort to seek a negotiated peace agreement?

Under Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israel is engaged in a systemic, violent, and repressive strategy to annex Palestinian lands and permanently displace the Palestinian population, not seek a negotiated peace or a two-state solution. Shamefully, the President of the United States and the U.S. ambassador to Israel are enabling this effort in a reversal of decades of bipartisan U.S. foreign policy.

Actions by Congress, like passing H.Res. 246, which ignore reality and effectively supports military occupation, violations of international humanitarian law, and the subjugation of the Palestinian population, does not strengthen Israel, but it does damage the standing of the U.S. House in the eyes of the world.

It is time for Congress to exercise real American leadership that is based on our values and the belief that Israel deserves peace and security, and at the same time the Palestinian people deserve justice, equality, and an end to Israeli repression and occupation. H. Res. 246 offers nothing but the perpetuation of the status quo, repression, and conflict.

I am voting to oppose H. Res. 246.”