All The Republicans Are Pro-Genocide, But Not All The Pro-Genocide Congressmembers Are Republicans

When Aryeh Neier was born in Berlin (1937), the Nazis were already in power— and his family was Jewish. He was 2 when they fled. In 1970 he became executive director of the ACLU. He was also a founder of Human Rights Watch and was president of the Open Society Institute. The new issue of the New York Review published a piece by him, Is Israel Committing Genocide? Short answer: believe what you’re seeing; Israel is doing exactly that. “Saint Augustine,” he wrote, “argued that the goal of war is not more war, but peace, ‘Therefore conducting war in a manner that contributes to the restoration of peace is essential.’” By tracing the history of international law from Xerxes and the Spartans to Augustine and finally to the establishment of the Geneva Conventions and, most recently, the International Criminal Court, Neier defines the principles and laws that are supposed to govern the treatment of civilians and combatants. Under those definitions, he wrote “I am now persuaded that Israel is engaged in genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. What has changed my mind is its sustained policy of obstructing the movement of humanitarian assistance into the territory… Like most of my colleagues in the international human rights movement, I use the term ‘genocide’ sparingly. During my fifteen-year tenure at Human Rights Watch (HRW), which I cofounded in 1978, I applied the term to only one of the many great crimes that we monitored: Saddam Hussein’s slaughter of the Iraqi Kurds in 1988.” And now Netanyahu’s craven political calculations have dragged Israel into that same horrifying category.

As you would probably guess, Christian nationalists are very pro-genocide and claim that withholding the means for Israel to continue killing innocent civilians in Gaza is tantamount to “poking the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob right in the eye.” I wonder how the  God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob feels about deporting pro-peace protestors… since it seems to be the new conservative orthodoxy now that Señor Trumpanzee has proposed it. In fact, Trump’s promises to deport people “come amid Republican-led efforts to brand all anti-war protesters as supporters of terrorism and a continued push to criminalize protest. Last week, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) re-upped an effort he first made last fall to deport protesters who have ‘endorsed or espoused the terrorist activities of Hamas’ or other anti-Israel terrorist organizations. Rubio wrote a letter to the secretaries of the State and Homeland Security departments to initiate ‘expedited deportation proceedings’ for participants in ‘antisemitism and pro-Hamas protests.’ Earlier this month, Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) introduced what her office calls the ‘Hamas Supporters Have No Home Here Act,’ which would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow for the deportation of people ‘charged with any crime related to their participation in pro-terrorism or antisemitism rallies or demonstrations.’” GOP AIPAC puppets Nicole Malliotakis, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro and Ryan Zinke proposed 4 nearly identical bills. Molinaro’s had 3 AIPAC Democrats, Gottheimer and Moskowitz, as original co-sponsors

Julianne McShane wrote that “These efforts seem to ignore the reality on the ground: As my colleagues and I have reported, many protesters and organizers have said they condemn antisemitism and have insisted that gatherings on campuses— including some in which administrators have called the cops— have been peaceful. Some of those on the right condemning all anti-war protesters have gone beyond calling for enforcement. Last month, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) said people ‘who get stuck behind the pro-Hamas mobs blocking traffic’ should ‘take matters into your own hands to get them out of the way.’ … [E]arlier this month, Cotton introduced a bill called the ‘No Bailouts for Campus Criminals Act’ that would make anyone convicted of a crime in connection with a campus protest ineligible for student loan relief. It’s hard not to see these latest measures as more bad faith attempts by the right to criminalize protest… and to dismiss participants as ‘outside agitators’ … efforts that fit squarely within [Trump’s] extremist anti-immigrant agenda.”

I’m sure it was tough for Jeffries and Aguilar to go along with the White House on this but apparently the House Dems will whip against GOP legislation compelling the delivery of genocide weapons to Israel. Yesterday, Nicholas Wu and Anthony Adragna reported that this is “teeing up a fight over an issue deeply dividing the party.” With pro-genocide Democrats, like Jared Golden (ME), Jared Moskowitz (FL), Josh Gottheimer (NJ), Ritchie Torres (NY), Brad Schneider (IL), Debbie Wasserman Schultz and plenty of others, eager to vote with the Republicans, this is just the kind of internal dissension the Republicans were trying to stir up among Democrats. The disgraceful billion dollar military package Biden threw together— which includes the kind of tank and mortar ammo killing civilians— is cover for the AIPAC Democrats who can be weened away from voting for the Republican bill. Hardcore AIPAC whores like Gottheimer, Torres, Moskowitz… will still vote for it, probably as dozen.

“This is not a serious legislative effort. It is another partisan stunt by Extreme MAGA Republicans who are determined to hurt President Biden politically,” Minority Whip Katherine Clark’s (D-MA) office said in a notice sent to Hill offices on Tuesday.

The Republican legislation significantly escalates tension with the Biden White House over its planned holdup of certain weapons to Israel while the U.S. ally's military prepares a push into the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Slated for consideration as soon as Wednesday, the GOP measure will force many Democrats to make a tough choice: Either rebuke their party leader's approach to Israel or leave themselves open to GOP attacks.

The bill freezes budgets for the offices of the defense secretary, secretary of state and National Security Council if Biden doesn’t deliver the weapons being withheld. The House Rules Committee tee[d] it up for consideration during a Tuesday meeting. The Biden administration has publicly said it would oppose the legislation and is likely to issue a statement of administration policy and could threaten a veto, which might help solidify Democratic opposition.

The latest furor over Israel policy came after Biden told CNN last week that his administration would stop deliveries of bombs and other munitions to conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government if it proceeded with a major invasion of Rafah, prompting an immediate condemnation from Republicans in Congress. After his remarks, Republicans accused Biden of abandoning a top ally and hurting U.S. foreign policy. 

House Appropriations Committee Republicans unveiled the legislation over the weekend; it would compel the delivery of defense equipment already approved by Congress. It also includes a section that “condemns the Biden Administration’s decision to pause certain arms transfers to Israel.” 

The Democratic-controlled Senate is unlikely to act on the legislation after it passes the House.

A group of several dozen House Democrats sent a letter last week pushing back on Biden’s decision, but not all 26 Democratic signatories are guaranteed to defect on the House floor. And the whip operation is going into effect with some Democrats still on the fence.

These are the AIPAC stooges who signed the letter to Biden scolding Biden for trying to stop the genocide for holding back some weapons:

• Josh Gottheimer (NJ)

• Jared Golden (ME)

• Brad Schneider (IL)

• Jared Moskowitz (FL)

• Susie Lee (NV)

• Haley Stevens (MI)

• Kathy Manning (NC)

• Greg Landsman (OH)

• Lois Frankel (FL)

• Norma Torres (CA)

• Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL)

• Pat Ryan (NY)

• Ritchie Torres (NY)

• Tom Suozzi (NY)

• Marie Perez (WA)

• Juan Vargas (CA)

• Jim Costa (CA)

• Vicente Gonzalez (TX)

• Jimmy Panetta (CA)

• Don Davis (NC)

• Grace Meng (NY)

• Darren Soto (FL)

• Marc Veasey (TX)

• Steven Horsford (NV)

• Donald Norcross (NJ)

• Frank Palone (NJ)

And these members of the House have each taken at least half a million from the genocide lobby. You'll notice a tremendous amount of cross-over from the two lists... even though they are not identical:

Wu and Adragna wrote that right-wing Democrat and Blue Dog chair, Jared Golden “was the only Democrat to sign onto a letter to Biden, co-signed by 103 Republicans, seeking an explanation for the delayed weapons shipments and asking the president why his administration is “working to prevent Israel from eliminating remnants of an evil terrorist group” in Hamas. ‘Through actions and words, your administration, President Biden, has made our allies unsure about our loyalty to them,’ the mostly GOP group wrote. ‘The U.S. must stand with Israel throughout their conflict and support them until they accomplish their goal of dismantling Hamas.’”

Just I as finished writing the post above, I got this e-mail from Eileen Filler-Corn, the pro-genocide candidate for the open VA-10 seat. The retiring member, Jennifer Wexton, has endorsed Suhas Subramanyam. AIPAC is trying to buy the seat for Filler-Corn, a puppet.

I'm Eileen Filler-Corn, the 56th Speaker of the Virginia House and the leading candidate for Congress in the VA-10 race. As a top fundraiser, and the first candidate to go up with ads and send mail, I have a clear plan and path to win the nomination and keep this seat blue in November, but I need your help to get there.

I wanted to let you know that NORPAC will be hosting a fundraiser for me at the home of Betsy & Ron Gold in Saddle River, NJ, on Tuesday May 21st at 6:00pm. I would love to see you there! Will you please support my efforts with a $1,500 contribution today to help me continue to communicate my message?

… If you would rather contribute via AIPAC or DMFI, you can do so via the following links:

AIPAC: https://candidates.proisraelnetwork.org/page/PCG5842

DMFI: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/dmfipac-filler-corn

…I am a vocal supporter of a strong relationship between the US and Israel, as well as Israel’s right to self-defense, and a tireless advocate for the Jewish community, including currently serving on the Board of the AJC Greater Washington Region. I also sponsored an anti-BDS resolution in the General Assembly, and I led the efforts last year to pass Virginia's adoption of the IHRA definition.

It is important to note that there are many candidates in the race who have either not supported Israel or who voted against the IHRA definition, and anti-BDS legislation.Thank you so much for your time and consideration! Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions. Copied here is my Finance Director, Tyler Javonillo, who can help assist us.

My response was just one line: “Please remove me from your mailing list. I oppose supporters of genocide (and I have a VERY long memory).” If Filler-Corn gets into Congress, we can see who she'll be making common cause with: