Above: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu receives a standing ovation from the majority of lawmakers while speaking to a joint meeting of Congress at the U.S. Capitol yesterday, July 24, 2024. (Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
Palestinian human rights attorney and Rutgers University professor Noura Erakat says it best . . .
[The number of times members of Congress broke into enthusiastic applause for Netanyahu] was probably the most disturbing [aspect of events yesterday] because for those of us who have followed this for 292 days now, we have understood the blatant lies that Israel has said, that all of its apologists have made, [and we watch now as] U.S. Congress jubilantly, jubilantly cheer on, scramble over one another in order to cheer for, essentially, what is a war on children. When Netanyahu says they want to finish the job, the job is annihilation. It is extermination. It is genocide. . . . And the U.S. Congress is applauding this jubilantly, at one point breaking out into a chant of “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” Right now those chants at home echo an entitlement to kill, echo an entitlement to plunder, to destroy lives that are not seen or deemed worthy, and where racism and colonialism is not a dog whistle but is on full display.
So, for those who are concerned about saving their democracy at home, I want to tell them that there is no democracy to save that manifests itself in ongoing genocide in this way.
. . . Shame, shame, shame on the Democratic Party for allowing a president, [one] they didn’t trust to enter into a debate or to make a comment without misnaming world leaders, to make policy on the lives of Palestinians and their futures for 292 days. They are more worried about the optics in this election than they are about the lives of Palestinians, which indicates very well that they are deriving their power from the slaughter of Palestinians, that this machine is functioning on those campaign donations, on those weapons manufacturers, on those Islamophobic institutions who are fomenting this, so that 67% of the Democratic base cannot be represented adequately by their leadership.
My second reaction to [the events in Washington, D.C. yesterday] is salute, salute to the protesters who continue to risk their bodies, who risk their reputation, who risked time and being attacked by police and police brutality. They are the kernels. They are the seed now that can grow, that can ripen into something worth living for in the future. This does not bode well for our future. This is what’s on offer for the rest of the world as we see climate catastrophe being imposed upon us, where the only thing on offer is that only a few shall live. And the model that Israel is creating here is that the racist supremacists, that the colonialists, that they will live and that others must die. And we see in these protesters an alternate future, one that screams we have safety in solidarity, one that says that it is all of us or none of us.
Following is Noura Erakat’s full interview on Democracy Now! earlier today.
Something to Think About – 7/25/24
Related Off-site Links:
A Standing Ovation for Genocide – Danaka Katovich (Common Dreams, July 25, 2024).
“Guilty of Genocide”: Rep. Rashida Tlaib Protests Netanyahu’s Speech to Congress – Brett Wilkins (Common Dreams, July 24, 2024).
U.S. Health Workers Back From Gaza Calculate Death Toll at 92,000 – at a Minimum – Sharon Zhang (TruthOut, July 25, 2024).
Why the World Must Stand Behind ICJ Decision on Israeli Occupation – Richard Falk (Middle East Eye, July 24, 2024).
In Fiery Speech to Congress, Netanyahu Vows “Total Victory” in Gaza and Denounces U.S. Protesters – Ellen Knickmeyer, Farnoush Amiri and Ashraf Khalil (AP News, July 24, 2024).
“Not in Our Name”: Hundreds Arrested at Jewish-Led Protest Ahead of Netanyahu Speech – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, July 24, 2024).
Biden’s Middle East Policy Is Horrific. Trump’s Would Be Even Worse – Bob Dreyfuss (Common Dreams, June 17, 2024).
“Massacre”: Analyst Slams Israeli Military Raid That Frees 4 Hostages, Kills 270+ Palestinians – Democracy Now! (June 10, 2024).
“War Is Not the Answer”: Meet the Israeli Peace Activist Whose Parents Were Killed on October 7 – Democracy Now! (June 10, 2024).
Israel Used U.S.-Made Bombs in Deadly Attack on UNRWA School – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, June 6, 2024).
“Apocalyptic”: 40 Killed in Israeli Airstrike on U.N. School Sheltering Displaced Palestinians in Gaza – Democracy Now! (June 6, 2024).
Children Among Dozens Killed in “Appalling” Israeli Attack on UNRWA School – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, June 6, 2024).
There Is No Moral Argument That Justifies the Sale of Weapons to Israel – Mary Lawlor (The Guardian, March 21, 2024).
Draft U.N, Report Finds Israel Has Met Threshold for Genocide – Brett Wilkins (Common Dreams, March 25, 2024).
“Genocidal Actions” Persist in Gaza as Israel Blocks Aid and U.S. Weapons Flow – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, April 12, 2024).
Journalist Abby Martin Explains Why She Considers Israel’s Actions in Gaza to Constitute Genocide – Middle East Eye (April 3, 2024).
“A War Machine Out of Control”: Israel Keeps Attacking Aid Workers as Gaza Faces Famine – Democracy Now! (April 3, 2024).
UPDATES: Who Is a Terrorist? A Lesson in Semantics – James E. Jennings (Common Dreams, August 4, 2024).
“Beyond Horror”: Israel Kills Mostly Children in Fresh Attacks on Gaza Schools – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, August 5, 2024).
“Welcome to Hell”: Israel Accused of Running “Torture Camps” as Video Emerges of Soldiers Raping Palestinian Prisoner – Democracy Now! (August 8, 2024).
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Phyllis Bennis: “We Can Never Give Up Hope”
• Nina Turner: Quote of the Day – July 24, 2024
• Something to Think About – June 28, 2024
• Kyle Kulinski: Quote of the Day – May 23, 2024
• Judith Butler on the Ongoing Student Protests Against the Gaza Genocide
• Naomi Klein’s Powerful Words on Israel’s and the West’s Ongoing Gaza Genocide
• Outrage and Despair
• “This Is a Genocidal Project”
• “A Genocide Has Been Normalized”
• Voices of Reason and Compassion on the Crisis in Israel and Gaza
• More Voices of Reason and Compassion on the Crisis in Israel and Gaza
• Josh Paul: Quote of the Day – March 28, 2024
• Phyllis Bennis: Quote of the Day – March 28, 2024
• Michael Fakhri: Quote of the Day – February 27, 2024
• Sabrina Salvati: Quote of the Day – January 2, 2024
• Christmas 2023 – Reflections, Activism, Art, and Celebrations
• Jehad Abusalim: Quote of the Day – December 8, 2023
• Ta-Nehisi Coates: Quote of the Day – November 2, 2023
• In the Midst of the “Great Unraveling,” a Visit to the Prayer Tree
• Prayer of the Week – October 16, 2023
• Something to Think About – October 12, 2023
• Eric Levitz: Quote of the Day – October 11, 2023
• Phyllis Bennis: “If We Are Serious About Ending This Spiraling Violence, We Need to Look at Root Causes”
• “Nothing About Today is ‘Unprovoked’”
• “The Mistreatment and Discrimination Against Palestinians Is Not Unprecedented. It’s Baked Into the Foundation of the Political System in Israel”
• Progressive Perspectives on the Ongoing Israeli-Palestinian “Nightmare” (2021)
• Something to Think About – July 29, 2018
• Noura Erakat: Quote of the Day – May 15, 2018
• For Some Jews, Israel’s Treatment of Palestinians is Yet Another Jewish Tragedy
• Remembering the Six-Day War and Its Ongoing Aftermath
• David Norris: Quote of the Day – August 12, 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment