Congress
Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), who co-introduced a resolution last month condemning BDS, denounced the GOP amendment as a political tactic.
Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL who was wounded in Afghanistan, says those who are supporting the BDS movement “are operating in a fantasy world where they actually don’t understand what the Middle East is all about.”
“We’re absolutely supportive of the State of Israel, and I think he [Trump] is setting that up for political reasons, and it is completely unfair and unfounded. We unequivocally support that State of Israel and its right to exist.”
Chairman of the Arab American Caucus of the California Democratic Party Iyad Afalqa demonized Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Facebook, labeling him a “shmuck,” a “traitor” and a member of a “fascist Israel lobby.”
Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) reintroduced the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, which would require the Department of Education to adopt the State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism in evaluating incidents on college campuses.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) came down on Democrats for criticizing the anti-BDS component of the legislation, labeling their aversion as “their allergy to this particular legislation.”
“It’s beyond troubling. It’s devastating. The Tree of Life murders were a punch in the gut for all of us in the Jewish community, not just in Pennsylvania.”
The new political action committee Pro-Israel America, founded by former AIPAC officials Jeff Mendelsohn and Jonathan Missner, has already endorsed 14 Democrats and 13 Republicans.
Looking to Israelis, the congressman says “they are fighting and protecting and advocating for the same ideals, concepts that we believe in, such as democracy.”
It comes as anti-Israel sentiment has affected the 116th Congress with Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) making remarks and issuing tweets that have expressed anti-Israel bias and anti-Semitic tropes.
Staffers for top House Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have been drafting a resolution in response to the situation.
They also sounded the alarm ahead of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s scheduled appearance at Islamic Relief USA, “whose parent organization and chapters have documented ties to terrorist organizations.”
