Thousands of protesters plan to demand a “citizen’s arrest” of Netanyahu for committing crimes against humanity.
Thousands of protesters plan to demand a “citizen’s arrest” of Netanyahu for committing crimes against humanity.
Congressional leadership’s invitation for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress on July 24 was an act of political violence.
Since October of last year, the war criminal Netanyahu has ordered the mass murder of at least 39,000 Palestinian people in Gaza, including more than 15,000 children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. In addition, over 21,000 children are thought to be missing.
Rather than holding Netanyahu accountable, top U.S. lawmakers like House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) have given him carte blanche to justify the genocide. It comes as no surprise that their invitation has ushered in a wave of condemnation.
Millions across the world have been out in the streets for months protesting the genocide, the largest mobilization for Palestinian rights in history. Karim Khan, prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, is pursuing a warrant to arrest Netanyahu for war crimes. Criticism over the visit is bipartisan, with 230 anonymous congressional House and Senate staffers signing on to a letter speaking out against it. And a small but growing number of lawmakers, including Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-South Carolina), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), plan to skip the speech. While well-meaning, these politicians have a responsibility to do more than just boycott. They should push harder by demanding an end to the genocide and organizing some kind of protest from the floor, even in the face of Speaker Johnson’s threat to arrest anyone who disrupts Netanyahu.
Beyond boycotting or protesting Netanyahu’s speech, if members of Congress want to truly get serious about stopping the genocide and ending the racist Israeli state’s illegal occupation and colonization of Palestinian land, they must withdraw their votes of financial, military and diplomatic support, and urge their colleagues to do the same. Anything less will be disastrously ineffective.
Meanwhile, a boycott of Netanyahu’s speech by Rep. Jim Clyburn, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Massachusetts) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois) seems rather performative considering they voted in favor of sending aid to Israel.
Criticism over the visit is bipartisan, with 230 anonymous congressional House and Senate staffers signing on to a letter speaking out against it.
But the liberation of Palestine won’t come from the halls of the U.S. Congress, or the growing Israeli protests in Tel Aviv. Instead, Palestinian liberation will be won by Palestinians themselves, who are resisting illegal military occupation, defending their people and land, and fighting for self-determination.
The other piece that will lead to victory is the power of the people: the collective voices of organizers, activists, trade unionists, students, artists, workers and scholars in the U.S. and around the world, who are fervently rejecting not only Netanyahu’s visit, but also Israel’s bombing, murdering, stealing, jailing, unhousing and demolishing — over 75 years of war crimes all intended to rob Palestinians of freedom, justice and a life of dignity.
