Democratic lawmakers, led by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), pressed the Trump administration on Tuesday to reverse its opposition to a Gaza-bound flotilla, urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio to rescind calls for allies to deny the vessels port access and to pursue legal action against participants.
In a letter, Tlaib and 18 House Democrats objected to a U.S. State Department statement condemning the “Global Sumud Flotilla,” issued April 30, and criticized U.S. calls for partners to block the vessels. They also called for “an end to the blockade on Gaza” and the release of two flotilla participants detained in Israel.
A State Department spokesman told JNS that the department does not comment on congressional correspondence but reiterated Washington’s condemnation of the flotilla, citing the April statement.
In the letter, the Congress members accuse Israel of “illegally” intercepting vessels that were part of the Gaza-bound flotilla on April 29, framing Israeli action as an attack and accusing the Jewish state of “violently” abusing flotilla members and holding them in abusive and inhumane conditions.
“After all this, it is extremely alarming that U.S. participants in the flotilla may face additional unjust persecution upon their return home,” the letter stated.
It claimed that the flotilla was delivering humanitarian aid due to the “ongoing forced starvation of the Palestinian population in Gaza.”
Reps. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Andre Carson (D-Ind.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.), James McGovern (D-Mass.), Greg Casar (D-Texas), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson Jr. (D-Ga.), Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Al Green (D-Texas), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) also signed the letter.
