by Edgar and Jacob M.
On Wednesday (11/20), the House of Representatives passed a resolution entitled “Condemning the global rise of antisemitism and calling upon countries and international bodies to counter antisemitism” by a vote of 388 to 21. In reality, the resolution has nothing to do with combating antisemitism, but instead attempts to delegitimize criticism of the US-Israel genocide of Palestinians and Lebanese.
The resolution endorses the so-called “working definition” of antisemitism developed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). The IHRA definition conflates anti-Zionism with antisemitism, providing as an example of the latter: “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.”
Additionally, the resolution goes out of its way to falsely label the acts of armed resistance against the Israeli occupation of Palestine on October 7, 2023 as a “terrorist attack against Israel.” It also labels the mass demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine around the world since then as “a significant increase in antisemitic threats [to the Jewish community].”
Zionism, the ongoing political project based on the forced displacement and genocide of Palestinians by European colonists, is indeed a racist endeavor, which imposes the necessity of Palestinians to take up arms against it. Due to the militarized, fascist nature of the genocidal-colonial Israeli state and society, there is no such thing as “terrorism” by those who have been forcibly displaced against their butchers.
The fake “socialist” Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was recently re-elected to represent the 14th district of New York with the endorsement of the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (NYC–DSA), voted in favor of the Zionist resolution. AOC’s vote was part of a broader trend of her increasingly close alliance with liberal Zionism aimed at curbing the Palestine Solidarity Movement and diverting it toward electoral politics.
As late as April 2024, after tens of thousands of Palestinians had already been exterminated, AOC and 18 other members of Congress pledged their support to “strengthening the Iron Dome and other defense systems” and to a “sovereign, safe, and secure future for Israel.” While their statement expressed opposition to further “offensive military aid” to Israel and stated they were only in favor of supposedly “defensive” military aid, in reality this distinction is illusory. As an occupying power, Israel is inherently the offensive party in its conflict with the Palestinians. So-called “defensive” military systems such as the Iron Dome facilitate the occupation of Palestine by preventing Israel from facing retaliation to it.
With the ultra-reactionary Donald Trump assuming office in the White House this coming January, the Palestinian solidarity movement in the U.S. can expect to face harsher and more open repression at the hands of the state. The Democratic Party, headed by the Biden-Harris administration, has already laid the groundwork for this, up to and including the designation of Palestine solidarity organizations as supporters of terrorism. By conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism, the House resolution furthers the efforts to justify the denial of democratic rights to anti-imperialists. This takes on even further proportions with the recent passage of the “Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act” in the House. The bill, which is aimed at the Palestine Solidarity Movement and has the backing of the rabidly Zionist Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) gives the president the power to essentially shutdown nonprofits by labeling them as a “terrorist supporting organization”.
Opportunist elements in the Palestine solidarity movement have long propagated the falsehood that the Democratic Party can be reformed if we simply isolate the likes of Biden and Harris in favor of “progressives” such as AOC. What AOC’s alliance with liberal Zionism proves is that the Democratic Party, even its furthest “left” wing, will always stand with Israel and U.S. imperialism no matter how reactionary and genocidal their actions become. As such, regardless of what their intentions may be, their role is to provide cover for and perpetuate the genocide and the party that heads it.
Photo: During the 2024 Democratic National Convention, AOC met with the parent of an IDF soldier who was taken as a prisoner of war on October 7 by Palestinian resistance fighters. Retrieved from X.
