Yesterday, House Representative Rashida Tlaib denounced Israel as an "apartheid state" in anticipation of Israeli President Isaac Herzog's joint address to Congress. Herzog's visit to the U.S. upholds a continued betrayal felt by Palestinians.
Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, was joined by other progressive Democrats, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Ilhan Omar, in boycotting Herzog's speech.
"Israel is an apartheid state," Tlaib said on the House floor. "The government is deeply problematic in the way that they are proceeding in the structure of oppression."
In response to House Rep. Pramila Jayapal's remark that "Israel is a racist state," House Democrats issued a statement describing Israel as a nation founded on equality for all citizens, "irrespective of religion, race, or sex."
But Tlaib pointed out that President Herzog himself has "long advocated against interracial marriages." She quoted several Israeli leaders, including former Defense Minister Rabbi Eli Ben Dahan, who once declared that Palestinians "are beasts, they are not human."
According to The Electronic Intifada, Israeli Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked wrote that Palestinians "should go, as should the physical homes in which they raised the snakes. Otherwise, more little snakes will be raised there."
Thinly-veiled calls for unjust violence like these are present throughout the Israeli government, as the Palestine Advocacy Project showed. "The violent rhetoric of these leaders underscores the violence that Israel has meted out, again and again, against the people of Palestine," wrote journalist and PalAd President Clare Maxwell.
Other than a few opponents, most House Democrats — including Jayapal — have backed a resolution that expressed staunch support of Israel, and rebuked the notion that it upholds racism. The resolution received overwhelming, bipartisan support, with a House vote of 412-9-1.
Unlike the United States, the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Israel's largest human rights organization B'Tselem have all spoken out against the Israeli government's occupation of Palestinian territories.
Bipartisan support for Israel may very well be a repeat of history, warned Tlaib.
"Don't forget, this body, this Congress, supported the South African apartheid regime, and it was bipartisan as well," she said.
