Right-wing ethno-nationalist movements across the world have shared propaganda, financial support and tactics for years. This is partly why Trump’s campaign forged close relationships with Russian/European right-wing parties that seek to expel non-white people and dream of ethnically homogenous nation-states. These right-wing politicians often use rhetoric designed to demonize immigrants, out-groups and minorities. One of them is the right-wing Likud party in Israel, led by Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu .
For over fifteen years, the Israeli government has had a policy of murdering entire families (including children) in order to assassinate a Palestinian official. Israeli forces killed hundreds of Palestinian children in their homes during the 2015 bombing of Gaza while following this policy.
The Israeli government has justified killing children by claiming they were “human shields”. In the Israeli government’s telling, when Palestinian officials and armed combatants visit their families, they are using them as “human shields”. Such claims are especially deceptive since the Israeli army has illegally used Palestinian children as human shields, which is a war crime.
Lost in the news barrage last week was the Trump administration’s adoption and use of the right-wing Israeli government’s rhetoric in an identical context.
At a Monday night roundtable in Mississippi on his bipartisan criminal justice reform effort, President Trump charged that some migrants he identified as "grabbers" who rushed the San Ysidro, Calif., point of entry on Sunday essentially used children as human shields at the border. — www.foxnews.com/...
Here, Trump is demonizing families exercising their rights (in this case, to apply for asylum) by claiming they are using their children as “human shields”. This argument is employed by the Trump administration to justify the use of illegal force (tear gas in this case) against refugees. This is precisely what the Israeli government does to justify its use of lethal force against Palestinian protesters. Along with Trump, other senior administration officials are employing the same rhetoric.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said in a statement that the agency has "confirmed that there are over 600 convicted criminals traveling with the caravan."
She also said the women and children in the caravan were being used as "human shields" by organizers when they confront law enforcement. — www.haaretz.com/...
As the present administration draws closer to segregationists at home and abroad, the Democratic party appears to be inching towards re-evaluating policy towards Palestine and Israel.
Each year, the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC sponsors an all-expense paid junket for Congressional members, seeking to further bolster support for Israel. These junkets ignore the daily, decades-long pervasive violation of Palestinian’s rights by the Israeli government and serve as a platform for the Israeli government to present its views unchallenged. By targeting newly-elected US Representatives, AIPAC and the Israeli government seek to influence politicians with limited foreign policy experience, before they can form an informed, unbiased opinion. Part of AIPAC’s goal is to maintain support for the billions of dollars in military aid directed by Congress towards Israel each year and rebuff attempts to tie all such aid to equal rights for Palestinians.
Rashida Tlaib, who is the first Palestinian-American woman elected to Congress has announced that she will not participate in this one-sided propaganda trip. Instead, she plans to lead a competing delegation on a tour of the West Bank.
Rashida Tlaib, who became the first Palestinian-American ever elected to Congress last month, will lead a Congressional delegation to visit the West Bank, according to a report in the Intercept today.
Tlaib will skip the trip to Israel that the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC offers to all newly-elected members of Congress.
“I want us to see that segregation and how that has really harmed us being able to achieve real peace in that region,” Tlaib told the Intercept. “I don’t think AIPAC provides a real, fair lens into this issue… [T]hey don’t show the side that I know is real, which is what’s happening to my grandmother and what’s happening to my family there.” — forward.com/...
When she won her election, Tlaib made a moving speech recognizing her mother and alluding to her family’s history.
Tlaib also announced that she supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS). BDS seeks to place economic pressure on the Israeli government to remedy human rights violations. It is modeled on the boycott/divestment movement against the apartheid regime in South Africa.
Alongside, Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American elected to Congress, has also signaled her support for a re-evaluation of US policy towards Palestine/Israel.
“Ilhan believes in and supports the BDS movement, and has fought to make sure people’s right to support it isn’t criminalized,” her campaign told Muslim Girl after the election. “She does, however, have reservations on the effectiveness of the movement in accomplishing a lasting solution.” — www.jta.org/...
“My position has always been the same,” Omar texted Goldsmith. “I believe and supports the BDS movement, and have fought to make sure people right to support it isn’t criminalized, re: my vote against the Anti-BDS bill. I do however, have reservations on effectiveness of the movement in accomplishing a lasting solution. Which is what I believe I said at the forum.” — forward.com/...
Ayanna Pressley is adopting a more cautious position than either Omar or Tlaib, but she is also firmly at the progressive end of the spectrum when it comes to Palestine/Israel:
Pressley does reportedly back a bill that centrist pro-Israel groups, including the Boston JCRC, don’t love: It would prohibit U.S. money to be used by Israel for the “military detention, interrogation, or ill-treatment of Palestinian children.” But that measure also has the backing of 29 progressives in the House and is not extraordinary. — www.jta.org/...
The strength of the AIPAC lobby is apparent in the fact that barely 7% of the House of Representatives has signaled support for a measure to protect Palestinian children. 93% of current representatives are clear that they do not care if US funds are used to interrogate or ill-treat Palestinian children.
Lastly, Ocasio-Cortez says she plans to highlight Palestinian rights while in office.
We can expect the new House of Representatives to signal in very visible ways, that changes are afoot when it comes to US policy towards Palestine/Israel. This is going to come as a shock to some politicians.
— @subirgrewal