Episode 007: Call Your Representatives!
This week, Lara and Michael talk HR 2590 - the monumental new bill proposed by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn) on April 15, 2021 and co-sponsored by over a dozen other representatives that seeks to hold Israel accountable for land theft of Palestinian land, Israeli house demolitions of Palestinian houses and Israel’s jailing of Palestinian children. The bill is wider in scope than previous bills related to Palestinian human rights co-sponsored by Rep. Betty McCollum and establishes annual certification and reporting obligations on the Secretary of State to show that no U.S. funds have been used by Israel to support the prohibited activities included in the legislation. The bill also requires oversight reporting detailing Israel’s human rights violations against Palestinians. Lara and Michael break down the significance of its co-sponsors and 75+ supporting organizations (including Movement for Black Lives, Justice Democrats, Working Families Party, Detention Watch, Center for Constitutional Rights and more) as well as the ensuing public meltdown by AIPAC who, as Rep. Betty McCollum tweeted earlier this week, apparently *wants* US tax dollars to be spent on demolishing houses and jailing children. While it is notable for example that “liberal Zionist” group J Street has endorsed the bill, Lara and Michael remain critical by recent attempts of so-called “progressive Zionists” to paint Zionism as rooted in Judaism and compatible with Palestinian human rights by citing to the scholarly work of Rabbi Shapiro who explains clearly in his interviews and writings that Judaism has nothing to do with Zionism and that the latter was born out of secular European settler colonial movements. Lara and Michael put out a call to action encouraging everyone to call their representatives and ask them to support HR 2590. In other Palestine-related news, Michael reports a recent BDS win in Canada where the New Democratic Party, passed a resolution, “[e]nding all trade and economic cooperation with illegal settlements in Israel-Palestine,” becoming Ottawa’s first major political group to endorse a partial boycott of Israel, with 80% of the party voting in favor of the boycott. In an extension of last week’s discussion on political prisoners, Lara mentions Israel’s recent arrest of a Palestinian dabke dancer whose only known “crime” is dance and recalls the story of the Holy Land 5, five Palestinian-American political prisoners in the US who were prosecuted more than a decade ago on dozens of charges including material support to a foreign terrorist organization, even though there was not a shred of evidence against them. Lara and Michael roast Ted Cruz and bond over homemade pizza dough.
To consult the sources used in the preparation of this episode, please see:
Sample Text for Phone Call with Representative
When calling your own representative: Hi, My name is X. I live in X and I would like to urge Representative X to co-sponsor HR 2590, Rep. Betty McCollum’s bill which seeks to ensure that U.S. aid to Israel is not being used to violate human rights of Palestinian families and children. This is such an important progressive issue for a constituent like myself and I want to know whether I can count on Representative X’s support for this bill?
When calling Rep. Betty McCollum’s office: Hi, My name is X. I live in X and I would like to thank Rep. Betty McCollum for introducing HR 2590 and her courage and commitment to supporting Palestinian human rights. This is such an important progressive issue and I really want to thank her for ensuring that U.S. tax dollars are not being used to violate human rights, especially when others in congress are silent on this issue.
Books
Legislation/Articles/Videos
Pro-Israel Lobby Contributions to Politicians in the US in 2020 (OpenSecrets)
Pro-Israel Lobby Contributions to Politicians in the US in 2018 (OpenSecrets)
For a full list of co-sponsors and supporting organizations, see here.
Israel/OPT: 10 things you need to know about “annexation” (Amnesty International): Annexation is a violation of international law. It is land theft.
Three Perspectives on Anti-Zionism (Interview with Rabbi Shapiro)
Episode 7 of the Miko Peled Podcast with Rabbi Shapiro (YouTube)
NDP boycott resolution marks loss for Israel lobby, win for democracy (Mondoweiss)
Internet Zionists refers to Palestine as Israel’s “deadname” in a new effort to pinkwash Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians
Internet Zionist rewrites history by labeling Black-Palestinian solidarity as “Soviet antizionist propaganda” (For more on the rich history of Black-Palestinian solidarity, see Episode 2 of the Palestine Pod)
Daughters of Palestine: leading women of the Palestinian national movement (Amal Kawar, State University of New York Press, 1996) (on Fatima Bernawi, see p. 10)
John McCain calls Obama a “decent family man” in response to a questioner's concern that Obama is a secret Muslim (YouTube)
Threatened by cultural defiance, Israel throws dancer in prison (Electronic Intifada)
In the Presence of Darwish (The Nation): “He was imprisoned five times and placed under house arrest by the Israeli military authorities. Darwish’s poem “Identity Card” (1964), with its unforgettable refrain “Write down, I’m an Arab!” crystallized Palestinian resistance against Israeli attempts to erase Palestinian identity and history.”
Why the “Holy Land Five” must be exonerated and released from prison (Mondoweiss): In a September 2016 article, when he was still doing research for his book Injustice, Miko Peled related one of the most outrageous aspects of the government’s case against the five innocent men:
In a move unprecedented in the history of the United States, the judges in both these trials had allowed key evidence for the government to be provided by two anonymous Israeli witnesses: an Israeli Security Agency employee known to jurors and the defense lawyers only as “Avi” and an Israeli Defense Forces intelligence officer known only as “Major Lior.”
When the 2008 convictions were appealed, the appeals court recognized that allowing the new pieces of evidence was an error. However, in a move that HLF lawyer John Cline called, “The most ridiculous, dishonest, indefensible call by a federal court I ever saw in my life,” the appeals court declared these errors “harmless” and denied the appeal– even though these errors were not harmless but had brought about the guilty verdicts and the harsh sentencing.”
