{"id":35129,"date":"2024-07-26T12:44:55","date_gmt":"2024-07-26T19:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=35129"},"modified":"2024-07-26T12:44:55","modified_gmt":"2024-07-26T19:44:55","slug":"netanyahu-insulted-and-smeared-the-pro-palestine-protest-movement-congress-clapped","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/07\/26\/netanyahu-insulted-and-smeared-the-pro-palestine-protest-movement-congress-clapped\/","title":{"rendered":"NETANYAHU INSULTED AND SMEARED THE PRO-PALESTINE PROTEST MOVEMENT. CONGRESS CLAPPED."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Israeli<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>SUPPORT US<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departs after addressing Congress at the U.S. Capitol on July 24, 2024.\u00a0Photo: Anna Moneymaker\/Getty Images<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organizers say attacks from the Israeli prime minister, who faces charges of war crimes, showed the strength of their movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonah Valdez<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

July 24 2024, 7:19 p.m. (TheIntercept.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AS THOUSANDS OF<\/strong> protesters gathered outside the Capitol, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress \u2014 and spent a significant portion of his hourlong speech attacking the U.S. pro-Palestinian protest movement with insults and misinformation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prime minister went after campus protesters, drawing a false equivalence between students calling on their schools to divest from Israel and antisemitic attacks. He went on to insult protesters\u2019 geographical and historical knowledge of the region, in reference to the protest slogan \u201cFrom the river to the sea,\u201d and belittled the slogan \u201cGays for Gaza,\u201d saying it was the same as \u201cChickens for KFC.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More broadly, Netanyahu claimed that movements for Palestine liberation were choosing \u201cto stand with evil \u2026 to stand with Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prime minister also claimed that the pro-Palestinian movement is funded by the Iranian government, labeling protesters \u201cIran\u2019s useful idiots,\u201d without offering any evidence to substantiate his claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The allegation of Iranian funding drew a standing ovation from many members of Congress who attended the speech but also a spattering of \u201cboos.\u201d The comment likely stemmed from a statement<\/a> released earlier this month from the White House\u2019s head of national intelligence, Avril Haines, who said they found \u201cactors tied to Iran\u2019s government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage protests, and even providing financial support to protesters.\u201d In the same statement, Haines clarified that Americans who protest are expressing their view on Gaza \u201cin good faith\u201d and that her office\u2019s \u201cintelligence does not indicate otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A number of media reports in recent months have found that Netanyahu\u2019s government has been operating a similar influence campaign on social media<\/a>, largely targeting Black members of Congress, in order to shore up support for its war on Gaza. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

TO PALESTINE SOLIDARITY<\/strong> advocates demanding a ceasefire and an end to Israel\u2019s war, Netanyahu\u2019s attacks spoke to the power of their movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The speech was an \u201cattempt to delegitimize a social movement that has a lot of power, that has a lot of clarity,\u201d said Benjamin Kersten, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace, who participated in the rally outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, as well as the sit-in a day earlier<\/a> in the Capitol rotunda. \u201cIt is also a distraction from what should be in focus, which is that over 39,000 people, over 14,000 children, have been killed by the Israeli government and military, making great use of United States\u2019 weapons and funding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A central demand of protests around the Capitol during Netanyahu\u2019s visit was an arms embargo on Israel. Since October 7, the U.S. has sent more than $12 billion<\/a> in military aid to Israel, contributing to more than $141 billion in weapons to the Israeli government<\/a> since the nation\u2019s formation in 1948. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his speech, Netanyahu appealed to lawmakers to fast-track military aid and invoked former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill\u2019s World War II appeal to the United States: \u201cGive us the tools, and we\u2019ll finish the job.\u201d He also said that sending more weapons would \u201chelp keep American\u2019s boots off the ground,\u201d despite the fact that American soldiers in the region have been readied for <\/a>deployment to Gaza, have died in attacks<\/a> related to the ongoing war, and have been actively defending<\/a> Israeli targets from attack.Read Our Complete CoverageIsrael\u2019s War on Gaza<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Netanyahu\u2019s appearance before Congress generated significant controversy among Democratic lawmakers, drawing detractors across the party\u2019s political spectrum, from Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who said the invitation was a mistake, to Sen. Bernie Sanders, who said Israel \u201chas trampled on international law, on American law, and on basic human values\u201d in its war on Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 50 Democratic lawmakers boycotted the address<\/a> in protest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian in Congress and most vocal opponent of the event, was in attendance, wearing a keffiyeh draped around her neck, holding a sign that read \u201cWar criminal.\u201d Her guest at the address was Hani Almadhoun, a Palestinian American and director of philanthropy at UNRWA USA, who Tlaib said had lost \u201cover 150 members of his extended family in Netanyahu\u2019s genocide.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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BUT ROARING APPLAUSE<\/strong> met Netanyahu as he walked onto the House floor, with the ovation lasting for more than five minutes. More clapping came after he dismissed protesters outside the Capitol, and chants of \u201cUSA\u201d broke out after Netanyahu praised members of a University of North Carolina fraternity who went viral for stopping an American flag from touching the ground during campus protests in May. The fraternity members were also honored last week at the Republican National Convention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout his speech, Netanyahu singled guests in attendance out for praise. Israel Defense Forces soldiers were repeatedly highlighted in his remarks, including one soldier who had immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia, and several others who continued fighting despite injuries and bragged about their record of killing \u201cmany terrorists.\u201d Also present in the House chambers was Noa Argamani, who was among four Israeli hostages taken by Hamas and were freed during an IDF operation at the Nuseirat refugee camp<\/a> in Gaza in early June. During the raid, more than 200 Palestinians were killed, including children as well as some of the hostages, Gazan officials said<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some families of hostages have expressed distaste for Netanyahu\u2019s speech, and were critical of his desire to prolong the incursion on Gaza, which they say risks the safety of the hostages. At least six people who were guests at the speech were detained by Capitol Police for holding signs during standing ovations that read \u201cSEAL THE DEAL NOW,\u201d referring to a ceasefire and deal to free the remaining hostages, according to Axios<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among those detained was Carmit Palty Katzir, an Israeli citizen whose father and brother were both hostages killed in Hamas captivity, according to a photo<\/a> posted to social media that showed her wearing a \u201cSeal the deal now\u201d shirt. Other family members of hostages critical of Netanyahu gathered at a rally<\/a> in downtown Washington, arguing that their relatives are paying the price for his war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The International Criminal Court\u2019s prosecutor requested arrest warrants<\/a> in May for Netanyahu and his cabinet member and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on a series of war crimes, including starvation of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the targeting of civilians in its military attacks. The ICC has yet to approve the warrants, which would restrict the politicians\u2019 travel to dozens of countries that are party to the court\u2019s Rome Statute, which governs the enforcement of war crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Congress, Netanyahu openly dismissed the ICC\u2019s case against him, defending his government\u2019s record<\/a> of delivering aid<\/a> to Gaza and avoiding civilian deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe ICC is trying to shackle Israel\u2019s hands and prevent us from defending ourselves,\u201d Netanyahu said, before drawing a connection to the U.S., which, like Israel, is not party<\/a> to the Rome Statute<\/a>. \u201cIf Israel\u2019s hands are tied, America\u2019s next.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[\/newsletter<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PROTEST ORGANIZERS HOPE<\/strong> to shift the focus from individual actors, such as Netanyahu, to the broader catastrophe of Israel\u2019s treatment of Palestinians and war on Gaza. Last Friday, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations\u2019 top court, ruled that Israel\u2019s occupation<\/a> of the West Bank and East Jerusalem is illegal, rife with war crime violations, and amounts to apartheid. A separate ICJ case is considering whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs American taxpayers, we understand that Netanyahu is not the cause \u2014 this is not Netanyahu\u2019s war \u2014 but that he really is the symptom of the larger problem of Israeli occupation, and apartheid, and now genocide\u201d being carried out with American weapons and the support of the American government, said Kersten, the JVP organizer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kersten believes that U.S. lawmakers are wrong to isolate blame to Netanyahu: \u201cWhat that allows is criticism of Netanyahu and no change in policy, or change in behavior.\u201dShare<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CONTACT THE AUTHOR:<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jonah Valdez<\/a>@jonahmv<\/a>on X<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SUPPORT US Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departs after addressing Congress at the U.S. Capitol on July 24, 2024.\u00a0Photo: Anna Moneymaker\/Getty Images Organizers say attacks from the Israeli prime minister, who faces charges of war crimes, showed the strength of their movement. Jonah Valdez July 24 2024, 7:19 p.m. (TheIntercept.com)… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35129"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35129"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35130,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35129\/revisions\/35130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}