Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, November/December 2018, pp. 61-62

Human Rights

Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) did not mince her words when she addressed the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights’ annual conference in St. Paul, MN on Sept. 29. The nine-term congresswoman, who has introduced legislation (H.R. 4391) that would prevent U.S. taxpayer dollars from being used to support Israel’s detention of Palestinian children, unwaveringly criticized Israel for practicing apartheid and decried the U.S. government’s complicity in Israel’s human rights violations.

In July, the Israeli government passed a law declaring the country to be “the nation-state of the Jewish people,” solidifying the second-class citizenship of the country’s 1.7 million Palestinian citizens. “The world has a name for the form of government that’s codified in the nation-state law,” McCollum said. “It’s called apartheid.” The room erupted into profuse applause, as many were pleased to finally hear a U.S. lawmaker describe Israel as an apartheid state.

McCollum said her legislative effort to protect Palestinian children from Israeli aggression should not be viewed as bold. “It’s not a complicated bill,” she said. “It says that U.S. aid to Israel shall be prohibited from being used to arrest, detain, abuse, torture or otherwise violate humanitarian law and the human rights of Palestinian children. As an American and as a mother, I don’t think it’s particularly controversial or a statement of moral courage to condemn a government that systematically arrests and abuses children.

“Now in Congress, you would think that’s common sense, but yet this is not the case when it comes to protecting Palestinian children, and when the government doing the abusing is Israel,” she continued. “The U.S. government should not spend one dollar of our taxpayer’s funds in supporting a brutal military detention that abuses children.”

McCollum thanked the 29 Democratic members of Congress who have co-sponsored her bill. “I admire their willingness to stand with me, because it’s not easy,” she noted. “We are confronted by a right-wing pro-Israel lobby that supports Israel’s brutality, and groups like Christians United for Israel that work to promote settlement expansion and delegitimize Palestinians to justify their religious extremism.”

Elected officials ought not let fears of being labeled anti-Semitic prevent them from standing up for Palestinian rights, McCollum emphasized. “Let me be clear, holding the Israeli government accountable for its abuses is not anti-Semitic, it is just being responsible and just,” she said. “Why can’t I hold a foreign government accountable for how they abuse an entire population of people under their control?”

McCollum noted that she is able to be a strong voice in favor of Palestinian rights because she has the support of her constituents. “I am a reflection of the people who elect me,” she said. “So my work to promote peace, attack poverty, defend the rights of children and stand in solidarity with the oppressed, including the Palestinian people, is because I have the support of my wonderful constituents.”

Despite the overwhelmingly staunch support for Israel in Congress, McCollum is hopeful that the Palestinian rights movement is making progress. “There’s a truth we’re fighting for, and that is that the Palestinian people deserve freedom, justice and equality, just like people anywhere in the world,” she said. “My goal with H.R. 4391 is to offer an alternative perspective, to force policymakers to think about the $3.8 billion in [annual] U.S. aid to Israel, and how that helps enable, facilitate and enforce a military occupation of Palestinian lands and the repression of the Palestinian people.”

She also noted that young progressives who are not afraid to criticize Israel and support Palestinian rights have enjoyed electoral success this election cycle. “I believe there’s a change coming to Congress in the new year,” she said. “There are strong progressive women and men who’ll be coming to Washington who will certainly have their voices heard and I’m certain these new voices will bring new energy to our movement.”

—Dale Sprusansky