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.