posted by INTEL-DROP July 21, 2023 1 comment
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…”
July 20, 2023 Michael Arria MONDOWEISS
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. “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 for the measure.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian member of Congress, denounced the resolution on the House floor.
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“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 CONGRE
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 from 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 found 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.
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Palestinians are at the mercy of their Israeli occupier every day – through checkpoints, incursions, home demolitions, and more.
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“Gaza reminds me of apartheid in South Africa”
Gaza “brings back terrible memories of apartheid” according to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during a France 24 interview.
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Middle East – This is how israeli apartheid looks like
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A bloodied Israeli flag hangs on the main building at the University of Cape Town during Israel-Apartheid Week 2018. (photo credit: SAUJS/FACEBOOK)
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UN chief rejects Richard Falk’s ESCWA report accusing Israel of ‘apartheid’
U.N. chief Antonió Guterres rejected a report published by ECSWA, a Beirut-based agency of the world body— ECSWA—comprised entirely of 18 Arab states, which accuses Israel of “apartheid.”
The report’s chief author is Richard Falk, a former U.N. official who was condemned repeatedly by the UK and other governments for antisemitism.
In 2011, Falk was also denounced by his own boss, former U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, for espousing 9/11 conspiracy theories which accused the U.S. government, instead of Al Qaeda, of perpetrating the 9/11 terror attacks.
The new report, said Guterres’ spokesman, “does not reflect the views of the Secretary‑General.”
U.S. ambassador Nikki Haley blasted the report, and called on the UN to withdraw it:
The United States is outraged by the report of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). That such anti-Israel propaganda would come from a body whose membership nearly universally does not recognize Israel is unsurprising. That it was drafted by Richard Falk, a man who has repeatedly made biased and deeply offensive comments about Israel and espoused ridiculous conspiracy theories, including about the 9/11 terrorist attacks, is equally unsurprising. The United Nations Secretariat was right to distance itself from this report, but it must go further and withdraw the report altogether. The United States stands with our ally Israel and will continue to oppose biased and anti-Israel actions across the UN system and around the world.
ABOUT RICHARD FALK
Falk Blamed Boston Terror Attacks on U.S. & Israel
Richard Falk sought to blame the April 2013 Boston terrorist attack, which left 4 dead and 300 wounded, on “the American global domination project” and “Tel Aviv.” Falk was condemned by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who said his comments “undermine the credibility and the work of the United Nations.” U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said that “someone who spews such vitriol has no place at the UN,” and noted the “absurdity” of Mr. Falk’s continued service. The British Mission to the United Nations condemned Falk’s “antisemitic” remarks, highlighting it was the third time they had to do so. Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird condemned Falk’s “mean-spirited, anti-Semitic rhetoric,” and noted that “the United Nations should be ashamed to even be associated with such an individual. Members of the U.S. Congress, Democrats and Republicans, including Rep. Mike Kelly, Senator Robert Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rep. Doug Lamborn, Rep. Eliot Engel and Rep. Trent Franks, also condemned Falk.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/i6mIA8F1ZVY?feature=oembed
Human Rights Watch Expelled Falk
Human Rights Watch expelled Falk in December 2012, following the United Nations Watch complaint about his ethical breaches.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/ePO-Cgylvrw?feature=oembed
PLO Tried to Oust Falk Over His Support of Hamas
As the UN’s rapporteur on Palestine, Falk was so extreme in his support for the Hamas terrorist organization that even the Palestinian Authority tried to remove him, on grounds that he was a “partisan of Hamas”:
Richard Falk, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, said on Monday the Palestinian Authority urged him to step down after he criticized the PA’s treatment of a UN war crimes report… Falk said PA officials formally approached him in February asking him to resign… “Informally they say different things, things that are essentially untrue, that my health doesn’t me allow to do the job or that I’m a partisan of Hamas.”
See also Wikileaks cable here:
Also on February 16, in a separate conversation with Charge and PolCouns, PA DPR Zuhairi was visibly upset by Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the OPT Richard Falk’s reference to Hamas in his draft report. In para 8, Falk states that UNGA resolution 64/10 calls on Hamas – vice the PA – to undertake investigations. Zuhairi argued that he had too often corrected Falk’s many errors and that this latest misguided effort by Falk had gone too far… In light of the reference to Hamas, Zuhairi said he had called Falk personally and asked him to step down, something Falk angrily rejected. Zuhairi sought our advice on how best to approach the issue, particularly in light of currently OIC and African Group attempts to censure the secret detention study. Charge and PolCouns, while acknowledging the problem of recognizing Hamas, told Zuhairi that the U.S. defended the independence of the special procedures mandate holders and that we objected to state’s use of the code of conduct as a means to muzzle rapporteurs.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/7aPN97izL-c?feature=oembed
U.N. Rights Chief & PM David Cameron, Condemned Falk for Antisemitic Cartoon
Falk published on his website a cartoon showing a dog wearing a Jewish head covering, and with “USA” written on its body, urinating on a depiction of justice and devouring a bloody skeleton, for which he was condemned by British Prime Minister David Cameron and other public figures, including UN rights chief Navi Pillay.
UK Condemned Falk for Endorsing Antisemitic Book “The Wandering Who”
Falk’s cover endorsement of a virulently antisemitic book entitled “The Wandering Who” was act condemned by the British Foreign Office.
Falk Accused Israel of Planning “Palestinian Holocaust”
In 2007, Falk accused Israel of planning a “Palestinian Holocaust.”
https://www.youtube.com/embed/MScOdfbq_EM?feature=oembed
U.N. Chief Condemned Falk for 9/11 Conspiracy Theories
Falk has become one of the world’s most high-profile supporters of 9/11 conspiracy theorists, lending his name to those who accuse the U.S. government of orchestrating the destruction of the Twin Towers as a pretext to launch wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He promotes the writings of David Ray Griffin, a disciple and close friend of Mr. Falk who has produced 12 books describing the World Trade Center attack as “an inside job.”
Falk contributed the Foreword to Griffin’s 2004 book “The New Pearl Harbor,” where he praised the author’s “patience,” “fortitude,” “courage,” and “intelligence.” In turn, Griffin credits Falk for getting the book published.
Falk has repeatedly appeared on the “TruthJihad.com” show of Kevin Barrett, a 9/11 conspiracy theorist and Holocaust skeptic who rails against the “ethnic Jews” who he says run Washington and the media, a show on which Falk has endorsed Barrett’s “good work” while also praising Iranian tyrant Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx5okg14r1k
In 2011, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon took the floor of the Human Rights Council to issue an unprecedented condemnation of Mr. Falk’s 9/11 remarks, saying they were “preposterous” and “an affront to the memory of the more than 3,000 people who died in that tragic terrorist attack.”
U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice denounced Falk’s 9/11 remarks as “despicable and deeply offensive,” condemned his “one-sided and politicized approach,” deplored his comments for being “so noxious that it should finally be plain to all that he should no longer continue in his position,” and noted that “the cause of human rights will be better advanced without Mr. Falk and the distasteful sideshow he has chosen to create.”
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Shalom, shalom:
BIG BROTHER in the 21. Century 