Congress welcomes Israeli war criminal to Washington

Just days after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) told United Nation members to stop aiding Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine, members of the U.S. Congress — Republicans and Democrats — welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress on July 24, giving him at least 50 standing ovations during his hate-laden hour-long talk.

In issuing the invitation to Netanyahu to speak, congressional leaders also ignored the May 20 arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Netanyahu for war crimes in Gaza. While Israel and the U.S., which are not signatories to the ICC, have disregarded the warrant, on July 26 U.S. imperialist ally Britain, an ICC signator, issued a notice stating that the government would drop its objection to the ruling – and would restrict arms sales to Israel.

As usual, Congress ignored the voices of the U.S. workers who support an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza by a two-thirds majority. The Washington warmakers, who are eager to give more taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars to weapons manufacturers, ignored objections of other lawmakers and disregarded masses of pro-Palestine protesters who gathered in Washington.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators came to Washington, D.C., even before Netanyahu’s scheduled speech. Members and supporters of Jewish Voice for Peace occupied the Rotunda of the Capitol building on July 23, with many of them arrested.  Despite being confronted by multiple police agencies, some from as far away as New York City, protesters surrounded Congress on July 24 as Netanyahu delivered his address.

With applause from members of both capitalist parties, Netanyahu unleashed his venom against these protesters during his rant to Congress. The lone opposition came from Palestinian Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who sat silently while holding a small sign with “War Criminal” on one side and “Guilty of Genocide” on the other, as Netanyahu spoke.

But where were the rest of the members of Congress, some who claim to oppose U.S. support for Israel’s genocidal war?

Some “progressive” legislators, including “Squad” members Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez boycotted the talk, leaving scores of empty seats. But imagine what a difference it could have made if they had occupied their seats and joined Tlaib in protest — whether silently or, even better, vocally.

What if, instead of just boycotting Netanyahu’s talk, they had joined with the tens of thousands of protesters and had the courage to address the protest rallies? They could have joined Brandon Mancilla, representing the United Auto Workers Union, to tell the audience that the genocide in Gaza is a workers’ issue, because “our very own government is coming after labor unions for standing with the people of Palestine.”

Also on the protest stage was Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, whose convention just passed a resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the U.S. arming of Israel. Dimondstein said, “Our members reflect most of the people in the country and most of the people in the world.”

And what of newly appointed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris?  Harris, who as president of the Senate, would normally have overseen this joint congressional meeting, also skipped the event but made her position clear when she denounced the anti-Netanyahu protesters, calling their demonstrations “despicable acts by unpatriotic protesters and hate-fueled rhetoric.” Harris later met in private with Netanyahu.

With the Democratic Party’s national convention just weeks away, the whole world is watching to see whether Harris will maintain the heinous support that “Genocide Joe” Biden has given to Israel’s occupation of Palestine and war in Gaza that has already claimed nearly 200,000 lives — or if she has the courage to break from the party’s imperialist history. The odds for a break are highly unlikely.

All the more reason to fill the streets of Chicago in August to say that the Democrats and Republicans are one and the same pro-war party of the ruling class.