US congressman enraged by 'genocidal war criminal' addressing Congress
5 Min Read
Jamaal Bowman says the enormous will of the American people to pursue peace is being directly undermined by Netanyahu's attendance and his joint address at Congress.
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Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y. speaks during a primary-night watch party Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Yonkers, N.Y. (AP)
US Congressman Jamaal Bowman writes in The Guardian about his outrage ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's expected address to Congress on Wednesday.
Bowman says the US and the federal government feed on presenting themselves as world leaders in human rights, diplomacy, and peace, affirming that they want to be viewed by the world as collaborators and coalition builders, coming together to find solutions to global issues.
But with hosting Netanyahu, Bowman asks, "... how do we want to be represented on the global stage? What do we stand for as a nation if we are inviting an accused war criminal to address a joint session of Congress as he inflicts collective punishment on hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians, mostly women and children? Platforming a war criminal should not be our answer."
The United States representative for New York’s 16th congressional district since 2021 speaks of meeting Sara, a 17-year-old girl from Gaza last month, whose home was bombed by "Israel".
She sustained severe burns over her whole body and two of her brothers, Ahmad and Mohamed, were killed. The Israeli army besieged her home, preventing her from leaving for medical attention for a month. She was fortunate enough to be able to travel to the US for medical care, but she still worries about her family's safety back home.
Bowman expresses, "I am disgusted that we are allowing the man who is responsible for ripping families apart and killing Israeli and Palestinian civilians to be given a platform before Congress to try and win support and funding for his indiscriminate bombing campaign."
The Congressman states that Netanyahu has a history of acting in a fascist and genocidal manner. He states that Netanyahu has overseen the practice of "mowing the lawn" - the senseless killing of scores of Palestinians in horrific military assaults, the illegal expansion of settlements in the West Bank, and the detention of Palestinians without due process. To avoid being held accountable, he has also attempted to undermine the entity's judicial system and allied himself with far-right figures, the likes of Itamar Ben-Gvir, who have advocated for the mass expulsion of Palestinians.
Congress doesn't reflect the people's will: Bowman
Congress is not doing enough to reflect the moral outrage that exists in the American consciousness. The enormous will of the American people to pursue peace is being directly undermined by Netanyahu's attendance and his joint address.
Rather than embracing this, the majority of congressmen are more preoccupied with institutional conventions and their neoliberal foreign policy strategy.
Bowman notes, "Our system is broken if our leaders choose to ignore the will of the people. We should all be outraged about the murder of children, whether at home or abroad. We should all be yelling in the halls of Congress until our leaders have no choice but to listen."
He concludes his piece by calling for a permanent ceasefire and the release of the captives, stressing that criticizing "a state or a leader does not make you antisemitic."
He reveals that "it’s time to re-evaluate where we stand as a democracy and a society and re-examine our alignment and support for Netanyahu and his genocidal government because it is outrageous. For hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, and for our democracy as a whole, the future depends on it."
The Congressman's editorial comes simultaneously as activists have stormed Congress ahead of Netanyahu's speech in protest of the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Inside the US Capitol building, a group named "Jews Say Stop Arming Israel" gathered at the Cannon Rotunda in protest of Netanyahu's visit.
Over 400 American Jews protested at the Capitol building on the day after Netanyahu’s arrival and refused to leave, chanting “Arms embargo now," "Stop arming Israel," and other chants protesting the genocide in Gaza.
Washington, D.C. - A group named "Jews Say Stop Arming Israel" in the Cannon Rotunda in protest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to congress, July 23, 2024. @EWTNNewsNightly pic.twitter.com/89uOiuiI53
— Anthony Peltier (@_anthonypeltier) July 23, 2024
There have also been calls for a mass demonstration on Wednesday in rejection of the Israeli Prime minister's address.
Netanyahu is scheduled to speak to the US Congress on Wednesday and meet with Biden at the White House on Thursday while he is in Washington.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, announced he would meet Netanyahu on Friday at his Palm Beach resort in Florida.
Trump said on Truth Social on Tuesday, "Looking forward to welcoming Bibi Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida."
An initial social media post by Trump said the meeting would be on Wednesday, but it was quickly updated to Thursday, and then minutes later to Friday.
