Rep. Pramila Jayapal said ‘we’ve been fighting to make it clear that… the Palestinian people deserve self-determination and autonomy, that the dream of a two-state solution is slipping away’ amid growing boycott of Israeli president’s Congress speech
WASHINGTON — Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, on Saturday condemned Israel as a racist state, warning activists that there is an organized opposition against progressive critics of Israel’s policy towards the Palestinians.
The sharp criticism from the lawmaker from Washington state marks among the highest-level condemnations of Israel, as several members of her caucus plan to boycott Israel President Isaac Herzog’s address to a joint session of Congress later this week.
Speaking on a panel at Netroots Nation, an annual progressive activist conference in Chicago, Jayapal was addressing pro-Palestinian attendees interrupting the session.
“As somebody who’s been in the streets and participated in a lot of demonstrations, I want you to know that we have been fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state, that the Palestinian people deserve self-determination and autonomy, that the dream of a two-state solution is slipping away from us, that it does not even feel possible,” Jayapal said to a mixture of applause and chants of “free Palestine.”
Flanked by fellow progressive lawmakers Rep. Jan Schakowsky and Chuy Garcia, Jayapal told the crowd that “while we may have arguments with whether or not some of us on stage are fighting hard enough, there is an organized opposition on the other side – and it isn’t the people that are on this stage.”
“It is people that are literally trying to make sure that we do not take the positions we take, that the rest of the progressive caucus has been pushing and pushing,” she continued, imploring the activists to work with the lawmakers against the organized opposition.
Jayapal has long been a critic of Israel’s creeping annexation of the West Bank, calling upon Congress to condition military aid to Israel should it continue using U.S. taxpayer dollars to violate Palestinian human rights.
“We have to demand that Israel end these acts immediately and move away from annexation and towards a two-state solution again, one that frankly a lot of people seeing Israel’s actions are losing faith in,” she previously said. “That’s why it is so important for us to speak out quickly and immediately and that’s why you’ve seen members of the Progressive Caucus be very vocal on this topic.”
She has also co-sponsored legislation to that effect, further calling for additional U.S. oversight on aid to Israel and recently voted against a bipartisan resolution honoring Israeli Independence Day that broke precedent by omitting any reference to a two-state solution or the Palestinians.
Her comments come as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush have all confirmed they will not be attending Herzog’s speech in protest of Israeli actions. Democratic leadership has attempted to dismiss their boycott as not reflective of bipartisan support for Israel, while Republicans have condemned their move as antisemitic.
“President Bougie Herzog has been a force for good in Israeli society. And because Israel is such an important part of the Middle East, because we have such a special relationship with Israel and because Israel is an important part of the global community,” Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.
“The fact is that President Herzog has been such a force for good in Israeli society, as has his family, his father and his grandfather, his mother and his grandmother, his entire family, including his brother, then I look forward to welcoming him with open arms when he comes to speak before Congress next Wednesday,” he added.