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ritchie torres
'We Cannot Let the Warmongers Win': US Progressives Reject Calls for Attack on Iran
"We must resist the U.S. becoming embroiled in another costly conflict abroad," said U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee.
Apr 15, 2024
Progressives in the U.S. Congress on Sunday urged the Biden administration to resist calls for an attack on Iran following the country's
retaliation against Israel for the deadly bombing of Tehran's consulate in Syria earlier this month.
The hawkish rhetoric came from both sides of the political aisle in the U.S.—Israel's main ally and weapons supplier.
U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), one of Congress' most fervent supporters of Israel's war on Gaza, claimed Iran is "the single most destabilizing force in the Middle East" and "must be held accountable for the aggression it has long shown toward Israel not only directly but also indirectly through proxies like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis."
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), directing her message at President Joe Biden, was more explicit in demanding an immediate military response from the U.S.
"We must move quickly and launch aggressive retaliatory strikes on Iran," Blackburn wrote on social media.
The number two Republican in the U.S. House, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.),
said Saturday that the chamber would "move from its previously announced legislative schedule next week to instead consider legislation that supports our ally Israel and holds Iran and its terrorist proxies accountable."
"The House of Representatives stands strongly with Israel, and there must be consequences for this unprovoked attack," Scalise added. "More details on the legislative items to be considered will be forthcoming."
"As leaders in Washington jump to call for war with Iran and rush additional offensive weapons to the Israeli military, we need to exercise restraint and use every diplomatic tool to de-escalate tensions."
Iran's launch of hundreds of drones and missiles on Saturday marked its first direct assault on Israel, which has repeatedly engaged in covert attacks inside Iranian territory. On April 1, Israel bombed Iran's consulate in the Syrian capital, killing diplomats and a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander.
Iran said its retaliatory firing of missiles and drones—most of which were intercepted—was in line with international law. One person, a seven-year-old girl, was seriously injured in the attack.
Israeli officials immediately vowed revenge, a pledge that intensified global calls for restraint to prevent the regional war in the Middle East from spiraling further out of control.
As
The Intercept's Ken Klippenstein and Daniel Boguslaw noted Sunday, the conflict "now involves at least 16 different countries," including the U.S., which "flew aircraft and launched air defense missiles from at least eight countries, while Iran and its proxies fired weapons from Iraq, Syria, and Yemen."
U.S. Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), a vocal supporter of a cease-fire in Gaza, issued a statement Sunday condemning both Israel's attack on Iran's consulate and Tehran's response, which she said "threaten civilian lives and regional war."
"I also condemn the calls by members of Congress and others to initiate war with Iran; to do so without congressional authorization is blatantly unconstitutional," Bush said. "We cannot let the warmongers win; our country and our world are calling for restraint, de-escalation, a lasting cease-fire, and diplomacy. Our government must listen. That is how we save lives."
Bush urged the Biden administration to "take immediate steps, including at the U.N. Security Council and G7, to de-escalate and facilitate an immediate, lasting cease-fire in the region."
U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), the lone congressional no vote against the war in Afghanistan, similarly called on the Biden administration to "lead efforts toward de-escalation, diplomacy, and securing a permanent cease-fire in Gaza."
"We must resist the U.S. becoming embroiled in another costly conflict abroad, but rather lead toward peace and security in the region," Lee added.
Axiosreported Sunday that Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly that the U.S. would not "support any Israeli counterattack against Iran." An unnamed official told the outlet that "when Biden told Netanyahu that the U.S. will not participate in any offensive operations against Iran and will not support such operations, Netanyahu said he understood."
Echoing her progressive colleagues, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.)
said Sunday that "as leaders in Washington jump to call for war with Iran and rush additional offensive weapons to the Israeli military, we need to exercise restraint and use every diplomatic tool to de-escalate tensions."
"Civilians in not only Gaza, Israel, the West Bank, and Iran but also Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen are bearing the brunt of this escalation, and there must be a cease-fire on all sides," said Omar. "I will continue to call for de-escalation, restraint, and lasting peace."
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'Price of Defending Apartheid': AIPAC Set to Spend $100 Million Against Squad
"And AIPAC will lose," said the progressive political action group Our Revolution.
Nov 15, 2023
The powerful lobby group American Israel Public Affairs Committee is expected to spend nine figures in a bid to unseat over half a dozen progressive U.S. lawmakers who have been critical of Israeli human rights crimes in Palestine, Slatereported Wednesday.
Slate politics writer Alex Sammon wrote that "close watchers now expect AIPAC to spend at least $100 million in 2024 Democratic primaries, largely trained on eliminating incumbent Squad members from their seats."
Sammon said that Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), and Summer Lee (D-Pa.)—"the most outspoken and unapologetically leftist contingent of the Democratic Party in national office"—are among AIPAC's top targets.
"The price of defending apartheid keeps going up," quipped Palestinian American writer and political analyst Yousef Munayyer in response to the report.
Ohio political activist Nina Turner wrote on social media: "This is anti-Blackness. Period."
Tlaib—the only Palestinian American member of Congress—has accused Israel of genocide for killing and maiming tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza and forcibly displacing nearly three-quarters of the besieged strip's people. Many experts concur with her characterization.
Tlaib, Omar, Bush, and a handful of other Democratic lawmakers have also called Israel an apartheid state, an assessment shared by a growing number of rights groups, international figures, and even former Israeli government officials.
However, the furthest most progressive Democrats have gone in criticizing Israeli policies and practices is endorsing a resolution introduced last month by Bush urging U.S. President Joe Biden to press Israel's far-right government to agree to a cease-fire in Gaza.
On Wednesday, two dozen House members led by Reps. Ocasio-Cortez, Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), and Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) sent a letter to Biden calling for a cease-fire.
As Sammon noted, a recent Data for Progress poll found that two-thirds of U.S. voters, including 80% of Democrats, also back a cease-fire.
Connor Farrell, president of the progressive fundraising group Left Rising, told Sammon that AIPAC wants "to make the statement this cycle that no one is safe from their wrath, that if you speak out, you can be targeted no matter how popular or how many cycles of incumbent you are."
"It's extremely audacious," Farrell added.
Progressive Democrats are no strangers to AIPAC spending big in bids to defame, defeat, or unseat them. As Sammon noted:
In the 2022 midterms, the Israel lobby became the largest single-issue outside spender in Democratic primaries, pouring in nearly $30 million via the super PAC the United Democracy Project, and millions more via the Democratic Majority for Israel PAC. It was an astronomical amount of money, mostly directed at knocking progressives out of the primaries, largely in open and redrawn seats.
AIPAC's heavy spending was blamed for helping Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) defeat incumbent Andy Levin—a self-described Zionist Jew—last year in Michigan's 11th Congressional District Democratic primary.
Conversely, some of the staunchest supporters of Israel in Congress have benefited from AIPAC's largesse. The group was the number one donor to both House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) during the last election cycle.
AIPAC has also been a top contributor to lawmakers like Reps. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), who not only vocally support Israel, but also attack colleagues like Tlaib and Omar for their pro-Palestinian views. AIPAC was by far Gottheimer's largest contributor in the 2022 electoral cycle, donating more than $216,000 to his campaign. The same goes for Torres, who received over $141,000 from the group during the same period.
Some observers also believe it is no coincidence that Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.)—whose third-biggest campaign contributor during the last election cycle was AIPAC—introduced a censure motion against Tlaib last month, baselessly calling her a terrorist sympathizer.
Progressive lawmakers haven't taken AIPAC's attacks laying down. Omar—who, like Tlaib has received death threats after being targeted by the group—has accused the organization of endangering her life. Pocan earlier this month called AIPAC "a cancerous presence on our democracy and politics in general."
"I don't give a fuck about AIPAC," he said after the group falsely accused him and other representatives of "trying to keep Hamas in power."
AIPAC has also come under fire from Democrats of all stripes for endorsing more than 100 Republican U.S. lawmakers who voted to subvert the 2020 presidential election in service of former President Donald Trump's "Big Lie" that Democrats rigged the contest.
Alluding to right-wing support for the group, Bush wrote on social media Wednesday that "AIPAC is attempting to buy blue seats with GOP donor money."
Sammon wrote that AIPAC's effort to oust popular Democrats is fraught with risks for the group:
Toppling an incumbent is not easy. Tlaib, Omar, Bush, Bowman, Pressley, and Ocasio-Cortez are all well-liked, especially in their districts. Some, like Tlaib, are masters of constituent services. Others have shown incredible fundraising chops, and boast massive grassroots networks. There have been previous attempts to take out Tlaib and Ocasio-Cortez that failed spectacularly, and expensively. Omar, who looked vulnerable in her previous race, didn't really campaign that time around. AIPAC may find itself burning money to fight on inhospitable terrain. And if it fails, the group's fearsome reputation in D.C. will be greatly diminished.
"That AIPAC feels the need to spend this much money at all could well be taken as a sign of weakness, not strength," Sammon added. "Already, unlimited Israeli militarism is deeply unpopular; a full year of bombings of Palestinian hospitals and mass casualties of children in Gaza could make the AIPAC line even more unpopular still."
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'I Don't Give a F*ck About AIPAC,' Says Mark Pocan
"It's time to call them out for what they are—a front group for conservative policy here in the U.S.—instead of being afraid of them."
Nov 06, 2023
Progressive U.S. Congressman Mark Pocan pulled no punches in an interview published Monday by Slate, addressing his ongoing feud with the influential lobby group American Israel Public Affairs Committee—a fervent booster of Israel's bloody bombardment of Gaza and a top contributor to the campaign coffers of Democrats and Republicans alike.
"I don't give a fuck about AIPAC—period," Pocan (D-Wis.) told Slate politics writer Alexander Sammon. "I think they're a cancerous presence on our democracy and politics in general, and if I can be a surgeon, that's great."
"The reason I'm poking the bear is because they've become a Trojan bear," Pocan explained. "AIPAC at least pretended to be bipartisan when I first got [to Congress]. Now they're basically a wholly owned subsidiary of the GOP."
"It's time to call them out for what they are—a front group for conservative policy here in the U.S.—instead of being afraid of them," he added.
Pocan was drawn into the fracas between progressive lawmakers and AIPAC last month after the group falsely accused him and other representatives of "trying to keep Hamas in power." The attack came after 10 members of Congress—nine Democrats and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.)—voted against an October 25 resolution pledging unconditional support for Israel's war on Gaza.
Massie joined progressive Democrats in pushing back against AIPAC, posting on social media that "this baseless smear is meant to intimidate me into voting to send $14+ billion of your money to a foreign country."
Pocan—who did not vote against the resolution—wrote: "AIPAC is not good at telling the truth. We don't support Hamas. We just don't support killing kids, which it seems you do."
Palestinian officials said Monday that Israeli forces have killed at least 10,022 people in Gaza, including 2,550 women and more than 4,100 children, while wounding over 25,000 others. At least 155 people have also been killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the illegally occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since October 7, when Hamas-led militants launched surprise attacks in southern Israel that left more than 1,400 people dead.
On Sunday, Pocan responded to an AIPAC social media post that observers said was meant to drive a wedge between progressives who support a cease-fire and others, like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who don't.
"I should be glad to get tagged regularly by the GOP/Netanyahu front group AIPAC," he wrote, referring to far-right Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "Without me, their tags would be all people of color, showing their generally more racial approach to their conservative politics."
"Bluntly, a lot of what they've been doing is just going after women of color," Pocan told Slate. "I believe the reason I'm even thrown into the loop is because I'm a white guy, which gives them a bit of cover."
Indeed, AIPAC has reserved its most vitriolic attacks for lawmakers like Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)—the only two Muslim women and, in the case of Tlaib, the only Palestinian American, in Congress—and Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), who last month introduced a resolution calling on President Joe Biden to push Israel for a cease-fire.
Sanders also entered the fray after AIPAC thanked him for not demanding a cease-fire.
"AIPAC has supported dozens of GOP extremists who are undermining our democracy," the progressive senator said Sunday on social media. "They're now working hard to defeat progressive members of Congress. We won't let that happen. Let us stand together in the fight for a world of peace, economic and social justice, and climate sanity."
AIPAC has spent lavishly on both Republicans and non-progressive Democrats and was the number one donor to both House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) during the last election cycle.
The group has also been a top contributor to lawmakers like Reps. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), who not only vocally support Israel, but also attack colleagues like Tlaib and Omar for their pro-Palestinian views. AIPAC was by far Gottheimer's largest contributor in the 2022 electoral cycle, donating more than $216,000 to his campaign. The same goes for Torres, who received over $141,000 from the group during the same period.
Critics also say it is no coincidence that Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.)—whose third-biggest campaign contributor during the last election cycle was AIPAC—introduced a censure motion against Tlaib last month, baselessly alleging she sympathizes with terrorism.
On Monday, far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.)—who once suggested that a "Jewish space laser" started a California wildfire—reintroduced a resolution to censure Tlaib for alleged offenses including "antisemitism, spreading pro-Hamas propaganda, and inciting an illegal occupation in the Capitol complex."
Pocan responded by calling Greene "dumb and unconscionable."
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