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OPINION: Ifeoma Ike, who previously worked on the mayoral campaign of Dianne Morales, says as a senior advisor she believes Maya Wiley is the best woman for the job.

A lot of people call this political season messy. I call it a beautiful struggle. When I agreed to be the senior advisor to NYC mayoral candidate Dianne Morales, most of my peers didnt believe I had enough time to help transform a campaign many people still didnt know existed.

What many dont know is that I said yes when both my parents were ill with COVID-19. Both essential workers, I was haunted by the thought that news of effective vaccinations came too late for my working-class, immigrant family. And for full transparency, it took a month for me to commit to any electoral work; not only because of the crowded field, but also because I was disappointed at the lack of our citys investment in educating all communities about rank choice voting.

What motivated me to join was that I knew our people deserved more than the status quo: a platform willing to reach the root causes of race and gender inequity that the majority of New Yorkers are experiencing. As a former City Hall executive deputy director and a lawyer, I also knew that we needed a mayor who truly understood the city and possessed a record of building justice-minded infrastructure, not just using social justice language.

New York City Mayoral candidate Maya Wiley speaks to the media on June 02, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Like many political operatives, early mornings and late nights was my daily campaign routine. Im also the CEO of a social impact startup with a team of nine people; working two full-time jobs requires a lot of coffee. The entire season has been a struggle: some progressive spaces loved our platform, but questioned our viability; the press failed to cover the buildup of our transformative campaign; and for the longest, it was only eight of us building a full operation.

But what we didnt miss was our people.

We remained on the ground, even during a pandemic, supporting mutual aid efforts, providing resources to young mothers in need of childcare and signing up seniors for vaccinations while also competing in a rigorous cycle of forums, fundraisers and events. The thought of running politics as usual never crossed our minds, and the more we met the community where they were, the more we were able to connect them with a vision that put those left behind at the center.

Story continues

This is also why this past week has been so painful to experience. What took other campaigns a year to achieve, our scrappy team accomplished in five months. Endorsements and increased media coverage were welcomed affirmations, but its really the family we built that Im forever grateful for, especially my fellow Black femmes and immigrant and first-gen siblings.

But like so many things began to fall apart in the public eye, and I walked away from a campaign I helped build, I reminded myself that politics, in itself, isnt the movement. People are. No one candidate possesses all of the solutions. And in the most transformative political season of our city, no one can afford to sit on the sidelines, including me.

Exhausted, but still determined, I am proud to join Maya Wileys mayoral campaign team as a senior advisor because the moment calls for the wide tent of progressives to coalesce and model something different. Maya and I dont agree on everything, and recently had a 21-minute debate over how much the NYPD should be defunded. I argued that the police state is pervasive not only in our streets, but in our schools and childcare systems and that defunding by $3 billion is where we need to start.

New York City Mayoral candidate Maya Wiley speaks to the media on June 02, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Maya didnt disagree, substantively, and shared that $1 billion is where shed start, followed by a full audit to determine how and where to divest from. I pushed back, sharing how communities feel betrayed by the current administrations tale of two cities rhetoric that ultimately expanded policing, even while we were quarantined.

And thats why Ive invested so much time into a safety strategy, Ify, and were rolling out our housing platform that I think youd like, she said.

That simple statement revealed two key things: that Maya understands that our communities are not falling for more failed promises; and that we share an understanding of safety beyond policing. And after viewing her recent video reminding us of the brutal tactics employed by NYPD on protesters last summer, I fully believe our city under her leadership can mobilize to fight the police union and confront practices originally engineered to target Black bodies.

Maya is, indeed, our citys best chance at stopping the many special interests that continue to marginalize Black and Brown communities the very communities that kept us alive last year.

Outside of this race, Maya was a mentor to those of us who worked inside City Hall and endured frequent misogynoir as we tried to advocate for our people. Maya helped advance many of my teams projects and she and I co-drafted the citys first-ever Equity Executive Order. When I organized a space for women of color at City Hall just to breathe during the workday, I asked Maya if she had time in her busy schedule to speak. She came in like the rest of us, plopped in the chair, and exhaled Whew, yall I am tired! to which we each chimed in our agreement in our own unique, sisterly way.

That memory is not easily erased from my mind, and with every debate we have on policies, I also know her character and the space she has provided me in moments of stress and frustration. That matters.

Its an honor to advise leaders who dare to be the first; leaders who dare to be bold; leaders who dare to confront systems. Our survival is connected to what happens on June 22. We cannot let the mess of this political season take our eyes off of whats possible for our people. There will be time to analyze what did and didnt work in this political cycle. Until then, lets struggle together with our best chance to reclaim City Hall.

Time for us to get behind Maya Wiley and rank her number one.

Ifeoma Ike, Senior Advisor for Maya Wiley's NYC Mayoral campaign

Ifeoma Ike is an activist, CEO of social impact and equity firm, Pink Cornrows and creator of the Black Policy Lab.

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Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Englewood) has moved her primary campaign into its final stages, her focus falling on door-knocking in an effort to outrun her onetime running mate for Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinbergs (D-Teaneck) Senate seat.

On Saturday morning, her campaign launched 53 canvassers from their Englewood headquarters, the volunteer ranks boosted by union officials from Communications Workers of America Local 1037, Service Employees International Union Local 1199 and members of Healthcare Professionals and Allied Employees.

Thats on top of whatever the New Jersey Working Families Alliance and its state director, anti-line activist Sue Altman, can muster to get out the vote for Huttle, whose campaign intends to continue their door-knocking operation through election day.

This campaign is powered by the people. We are going to win this for the people, not only of district 37 but for the people of New Jersey, Huttle said at the canvass launch. We are going to continue that progressive movement and be the champions for all of us who are here today.

Huttle and her longtime running mate, Assemblyman Gordon Johnson (D-Englewood), are both running to succeed Weinberg, who is not seeking re-election this year.

Johnson moves into the races closing days with a favorable ballot position afforded by the Bergen County line and endorsements from some of the states most prominent Democrats, including Weinberg and Gov. Phil Murphy.

Huttles backers are mainly progressive groups, including Garden State Equality. Steven Goldstein, the groups founder, serves as one of her campaign co-chairs.

But progressives see advantages in the assemblywomans off-the-line campaign unavailable to challengers elsewhere in the state.

Incumbency is the obvious one. Huttle has held her seat in the legislature since 2006, and she served five years on the countys freeholder board before that. The length of that tenure brings name recognition that will likely help offset the boost Johnson gets from his position on the Bergen County line.

She also isnt without financial resources. Nearly half of the $322,269 she reported raising through May 7 came from a $151,000 personal loan she made to her campaign. Thats not far off from the $185,152 Johnson and his running mates reported in 29-day pre-primary reports filed with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.

Its not clear how the fundraising race will shake out in 11-day pre-primary reports due for release on Monday, though Johnson has benefitted from an undisclosed amount of independent spending made by Stronger Foundations, a super PAC with ties to Operating Engineers Local 825.

Each candidate is fielding their own slates for Assembly. Huttle tapped Teaneck Councilwoman Gervonn Romney Rice and Tenafly Councilwoman Lauren Kohn Dayton, while Johnsons team includes former Tenafly Councilwoman Shama Haider and former Englewood Cliffs Councilwoman Ellen Park.

The New Jersey Globe attempted to cover a visit to a Hackensack vaccination site Johnson was set to make at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, but that fell through because the assemblyman was expected to arrive an hour behind schedule, if not more.

His campaign declined to make Johnson available by phone in the evening, citing Saturdays scorching heat and the extent of Johnsons campaigning that day.

Continue reading here:
Unions, progressive groups boost Huttle's ground game - New Jersey Globe | New Jersey Politics

With Nicholas Wu and Brakkton Booker.

FIRST IN HUDDLE: A group of House progressives led by Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) has told congressional leadership that a provision eliminating qualified immunity is a must-have in police reform negotiations, according to our Recast colleagues Brakkton Booker and Maya King, who first got word about this latest push.

The letter, signed by 10 liberals, including all members of The Squad, says that police violence has been used as a weapon of structural racism and continues to have devastating and deadly consequences for Black and brown lives across our country.

The letter didnt threaten to withhold votes if qualified immunity remained intact in a Senate version, but nixing this provision is a top priority for the progressive wing and losing 10 votes could make or break the passage of a bill in the lower chamber.

The House passed its version of the police reform bill in March, which was named after George Floyd, the man murdered last May by Minneapolis police. Qualified immunity, which shields law enforcement from being sued for violating a persons constitutional rights, has been a main sticking point in recent Senate talks. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) signaled earlier this month that he was willing to leave qualified immunity intact to get a bill passed now, then try to chip away at it later. President Joe Biden had called for Congress to get a bill done by May 25, the anniversary of Floyds death, but that deadline is all but impossible now.

You can read the full letter here: https://politi.co/3f5XxC3 And be sure to subscribe to the Recast to see the rest of their awesome work here: https://politi.co/2REnTlv

Related: White House backs off May 25 police reform deadline, by CNNs Betsy Klein and Maegan Vazquez: https://cnn.it/3fAGuXF

GETTING DISTANCE: House lawmakers are back in their districts for committee work weeks and recess until June 14, which gives Republicans in the lower chamber the chance for the turbulent news cycle of intra-party fighting to blow over -- that is, unless another headline grabbing scandal pops up.

One House Republican joked it was almost like their golden rule to have drama dominate their efforts to stick to messaging.

Trouble has found them -- or maybe theyve found trouble -- almost every week this past month, starting on April 26 during the House GOP retreat, when the intra-party rift over Rep. Liz Cheneys (R-Wyo.) opened wide, followed by the lightning-quick campaign to oust her from leadership. Just as Republicans replaced her with Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), news about the Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) spectacle with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) dominated the airwaves. Then this week, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) bucked Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.), who he deputized to negotiate a deal with House Democrats.

Which leads me to this point, about the mighty convenient timing of McCarthy saying yesterday that sure, he is willing to testify before the proposed Jan. 6 commission: Its a statement very easy to make now that the commissions chances of coming to fruition are slim to none. It is one of those split-screen moments: McCarthy is publicly projecting an air of I have nothing to hide after working diligently behind the scenes in his conference to kill off support for the formation of the investigative body.

Still, there could be some more road bumps along the way. We are seeing a steady dribble of news about the federal investigation that is ensnaring Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). Gaetzs longtime ally is cooperating with investigators, who are scrutinizing alleged sex trafficking of a minor. It isnt looking great for him at the moment.

Another thing to keep your eye on: GOP Rep. Brian Mast of Florida, who has been a leading face of the mask resistance on the House floor, suggested to me yesterday that he plans to file a lawsuit challenging the fines issued to members who dont wear masks.

I don't know that they can legally do that -- that's another fight for another day, Mast told me. He noted that he just received notification of his first fine on Wednesday, which he noted will be deducted from his salary. When I asked what the fight for another day is, if he planned to file a lawsuit, he replied: Yeah, I don't plan to pay them.

He added: Look, I'm gonna do what makes sense to just not wear a mask. Ive been vaccinated. The CDC says I shouldn't have to wear one. But beyond that I don't make it a goal to sit there and, like, pay Pelosi money -- that's the last goal that I have in life is to give her any kind of penny. So lets see how this plays out.

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HAPPY FRI-YAY! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill on this May 21, where we are all just trying to be accommodating in our email sign offs.

THURSDAYS MOST CLICKED: Rich Lowrys story in Politico Mag about why Republicans still have the upper hand for 2022 was the big winner.

DID SOMEONE DROP THE F BOMB? No, no one has dropped the F bomb -- the congressional one at least -- but Senate Republicans appear likely to change that with an expected filibuster of legislation to create a bipartisan commission to probe the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

They are all but expected to use the procedure, which comes nearly four months into the Biden administration. BUT, if Republicans block the commission from coming together -- and they are hardening by the day against a potential investigative body that would be talking about Trump for months on end -- then we will see another spark over the filibusters very existence, Burgess reports.

I dont think there will be 10 votes on our side for it, said Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind). At this stage, Id be surprised if youre gonna get even a handful.

And if Republicans hit go on the bill-buster, then you can expect Democrats to also make their case to their reluctant colleagues that the 60-vote status quo is unsustainable.

More here from Burgess: https://politi.co/3yqW7tn

Related: Bidens bank-shot strategy to win GOP support for his infrastructure bill, by Christopher Cadelago and Natasha Korecki: https://politi.co/3oJuyao

GOING SOLO: With the Jan. 6 commission bill heading towards a filibuster in the Senate, House Democrats have a backup plan to launch a sweeping investigation into the mob attack at the Capitol without Republicans. Theyre just not sure if they will use it.

Some Democrats said they could move forward with a Democrat-led investigation into the insurrection. But Republicans could more easily dismiss a select committee's work as political theater, and some Democrats wonder if such a panel is needed on top of existing investigations.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated her position yesterday that she wanted a bipartisan probe, and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said on MSNBC he preferred a bipartisan commission but Democrats reserved the right to pursue "other options." Another option, Hoyer said, would be to "establish a select committee in the House, similar to the Republicans that had eight different investigations of Benghazi.

Armed Services Chair Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said a select committee "might make sense" given the potentially overlapping nature of other investigations. Much of the current investigation of the insurrection has been ad-hoc and hasnt been coordinated, Smith added. BUT other top Democrats disagree and say their committees are already putting in enough work.

More from Nick and Sarah: https://politi.co/2RtuEXw

WOO-WE...There was a moment of panic for House Democrats yesterday when it appeared that they almost didnt have the votes to pass their $1.9 billion emergency funding bill after a group of progressive members revealed last-minute that they planned to oppose the proposal because it would appropriate more cash for Capitol Police.

It was tight as a shrunken sweater, with a 213-212 vote -- a margin so narrow that House Pelosi and other Dem leaders were scrambling to get the Squad to support the bill that lacked GOP support. The progressives argued that they wanted to know more about whether some officers were indirectly complicit in the Jan. 6 attack and they wanted it to include new accountability measures.

Three progressives signaled their discontent by voting present -- Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) and Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.) -- while three voted no, including Reps. Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Cori Bush (Mo.) and Pressley. I am frankly tired of any time where there is a failure in our system of policing, the first response is for us to give them more money, Omar said in an interview.

More here from Sarah and Nick: https://politi.co/3f2IQQa

Related: House Ethics panel to drop $5K metal detector fines against Clyburn, Rogers, by The Hills Cristina Marcos: https://bit.ly/3oC9CSz | Warren, Moulton want Walsh to disclose more on Dennis White controversy, by The Boston Globes Jim Puzzanghera: https://bit.ly/3bIh9dr | Sisters in Congress: Katherine Clark and Grace Meng talk about their bond and the importance of allyship, by 19th News Errin Haines: https://bit.ly/3fzWrgP

MOBILIZING IN MISSOURI: The Senate primary in Missouri is shaking out to be very interesting, at least in its early days, with candidates that can be divided into into two early lanes: the ambitious and the indicted, James Arkin and Melanie report.

There are the traditional candidates and then there is former Gov. Eric Greitens, who resigned from his governorship two years ago amid allegations he sexually assaulted and blackmailed a woman. But there is also Mark McCloskey, an attorney who gained a celebrity-like status on the right when he and his wife brandished firearms at Black Lives Matter protesters.

Some have yet to formally jump into the race, and four members of the Missouri congressional delegation are considering jumping into the warm waters. This includes Reps. Billy Long, Jason Smith, Ann Wagner and Vicky Hartzler.

My colleagues write: It all sets up a messy and character-filled primary that the party will need to survive with enough unity and electability to keep retiring Sen. Roy Blunts seat in the GOP column next November.

More here from James and Melanie: https://politi.co/3wnFcpU

Campaign Related: Dont sleep on Asian American voters, The Atlantic: https://bit.ly/2SXtF1V

CAN WE MAPQUEST THIS? Democrats are trying to learn how to navigate Bidens foreign policy doctrine as it takes shape. Biden isnt like Trump -- if they voice their disagreements, they wont wake up to find a politically damaging tweet sending them into a tailspin. But they arent sure their vocal criticism will move the Dem president, either.

Per Andrew: The presidents latest foreign policy moves have rankled lawmakers on both ends of his partys ideological spectrum. Progressives and moderates alike are struggling to gain leverage over a commander-in-chief guided by his decades of experience and his long-standing view that leaders should conduct diplomacy out of the public eye.

He has faced pressure on how he responded to the Israel-Hamas conflict. He also waived sanctions against an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, handing Republicans a talking point and curtailing a months-long push by Democrats for sanctions that could rein in Russias new multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline to Germany.

President Biden will be his own secretary of state, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who criticized Biden's sanctions waiver, said bluntly. I cant define what is the Biden view, but he has a global view. And I think hes going to call it as he sees it from his experiential factor and his [own] view.

Andrew has the deets: https://politi.co/3v93F1Z

PARKS AND VAX: Actor Nick Offerman, a.k.a. Ron Swanson from NBCs Parks and Recreation, will testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee next Wednesday to encourage people to get vaccinated.

QUICK CLICKS: As pandemic spread pain and panic, congressman chased profit, by the APs Brian Slodysko: https://bit.ly/3oAdyTI | Cawthorns internal poll measures job performance, approval, by Smoky Mountain News: https://bit.ly/3wnu38t

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TRANSITIONS

APPROVED: The Senate Commerce Committee approved Biden nominee Eric Lander to lead the Office of Science and Technology Policy yesterday in a bipartisan voice vote.

TODAY IN CONGRESS

The House meets at 9 a.m. No votes.

The Senate is out.

AROUND THE HILL

Pretty quiet.

TRIVIA

THURSDAYS WINNER: Liam Burke was the first person to correctly guess that the last two nominees for President who came directly from the House were James Garfield and William Jennings Bryan.

TODAYS QUESTION: From Liam: Two presidents served as soldiers and as postmasters at some point in their careers before becoming commander-in-chief. Who were they?

The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answer to [emailprotected].

GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each morning.

Follow Olivia on Twitter: @Olivia_Beavers

A message from SoftBank Group:

Entrepreneurs of color are vastly underrepresented in the tech industry. Thats why SoftBank Group launched a new $100 million venture fund for outstanding Black, Latinx and Native American entrepreneurs that use technology to reimagine traditional business models and create new ones.

We are committed to demonstrating there is no tradeoff between diversity and excellence. Learn more at TheOpportunityFund.com.

See the original post:
Progressives dig in their heels on cops' qualified immunity - Politico

Rashida Tlaib is going viral at least once a day.

Whether its a photograph of the the Michigan Representative confronting President Joe Biden on an airport tarmac moments after he arrived in Detroit, or a video snippet of her choking up on the House floor as she asks her colleagues to recognize Palestinian humanity, Tlaib is the face of an emerging faction of progressive Congressmembers willing to challenge Washingtons decades-long status quo of unconditional support for Israel.

Palestinians in the United States generally have been among the first to stand with Indigenous activists at pipelines and to stand up against police violence in Ferguson and Minneapolis.

Tlaib, the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, frequently speaks of her sitty, her maternal grandmother who lives in the Occupied West Bank, weaving personal anecdotes together with damning statistics that illustrate the devastating reality of life under Israeli occupation.

When #SaveSheikhJarrah began trending across social media earlier this month, Tlaib created a petition, which urges U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to uphold international law by demanding an end to Israels evictions of Palestinians in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah and elsewhere. The petition, which has garnered nearly 70,000 signatures, also calls on the U.S. to pressure Israel to halt demolitions of Palestinian homes and the theft of Palestinian land in the Occupied West Bank.

Tlaib and the five other members of The Squad, as well as a handful of other Democrats in both the House and the Senate, have harshly criticized Israels use of force in Gaza and urged the Biden Administration to pressure Israel to end its ongoing operation, which has so far killed 230 Palestinians.

On May 12, twenty-five U.S. Representatives signed a letter to Blinken, demanding that diplomatic pressure be exerted to keep Israel from evicting the families in Sheikh Jarrah. Additionally, legislation introduced by Minnesota Representative Betty McCollum in June would prohibit Israel from using U.S. taxpayer dollars to carry out several specific human rights violations in the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. These issues have achieved newfound traction in the national discourse occurring around the Israeli occupation.

While the shift in popular opinion on Israel may seem sudden, this movement has been gaining momentum for years, according to Sandra Tamari, the executive director of the Washington-based Adalah Justice Project.

We cant just sit here and talk about ceasefires. We need to deal with the real problem and not just the symptoms. We need to talk about the occupation.

What we are seeing is the result of years and years of grassroots advocacy and a growing Palestine movement that has developed relationshipsnot only with staffers and members of Congress, but by building wide support across communities in the United States, Tamari tells The Progressive. Theres no progressive or leftist coalition organizing in any city that doesnt include Palestinian liberation on its agenda.

Tamari describes Adalah as a Palestinian-led organization that is working to change the conversation and place Palestine on the progressive agenda using a collective liberation framework, both at the local and national levels.

Palestinians in the United States generally have been among the first to stand with Indigenous activists at pipelines and to stand up against police violence in Ferguson and Minneapolis, Tamari says. These arent just photo-ops. Its a deep feeling of our liberation being connected. We fight for all of us.

This inter-movement solidarity has manifested as more members of Congress publicly advocate for Palestinian human rights. In the same House floor session at which Tlaib spoke, Missouri Representative Cori Bush recalled that when she organized against police brutality in Ferguson, Missouri, a Palestinian immigrant was one of the most committed activists with whom she had worked. She noted that the activist, Bassem, often drew from his own childhood experiences in East Jerusalem to advise others on how to deal with tear gas and rubber bullets.

What the conversation about police violence has taught us is that you cant reform a system of violence; you cant dialogue away a system of violence, Tamari says. People are understanding more and more that theres an asymmetry between Palestinians and Israelis. There is a system of violence that is structural and is the root cause of what is happening. Its many things that have come together to help give people a deeper understanding.

Mairav Zonszein, a senior analyst on Israel/Palestine with the International Crisis Group, credits the shift among some in Washington, D.C., to the success of advocacy organizations and progressive politicians in reframing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a human rights issue above all else.

The go-to talking point in Washington has always been, Oh, if Israel is doing something harmful against Palestinians, it hurts its ability to be Jewish and democratic. It prevents the two-state solution, Zonszein says. The Trump years exposed how U.S. foreign policy has been complicit in a lot of destructive Israeli policies. Now, this specific spike in violence and Israeli air strikes on Gaza are an opportunity for Congress members who had already been working on this issue to come out full throttle.

The U.S.-based American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) is one of the advocacy organizations that can be credited with pushing the discourse surrounding Israel and Palestine further to the left. In addition to organizing Americans to lobby their representatives on Capitol Hill and at local levels, AMP organizes national campaigns and supports educational initiatives across the United States.

Taher Herzallah, AMPs Director of Outreach and Grassroots Organizing, says that when he first moved to Washington, D.C., at the end of Barack Obamas second term, the stances that some members of Congress are taking now wouldve been unthinkable.

The dynamics and discourse have changed dramatically over the last five years, Herzallah says. The Biden Administration and any administration after his will need to realize that the voter base and the donor base has shifted on this issue, and they will need to catch up to it.

For U.S. policy regarding Israel to change, Herzallah says the discourse still needs to be pushed forward.

Now is the time to take advantage of the momentum that we have to build better alliances, to organize our community and to force policy change, Herzallah says. We cant just sit here and talk about ceasefires. We need to deal with the real problem and not just the symptoms. We need to talk about the occupation. We need to talk about the siege on Gaza. We need to talk about Israels violation of Muslim sacred spaces and its erasure of Palestinian identity and heritage. These are things that need to be addressed if we are going to provide justice for people in the region.

As Palestinian rights becomes a more normalized part of leftwing priorities, Tamari encourages citizens to remind their Representatives and Senators that the funds earmarked for aid to Israel can be redirected to fund progressive domestic initiatives, such as Medicare for All or student loan forgiveness.

We have everything we need, and we have learned from Bidens bold moves in his first few months that its possible to redirect funds, Tamari says. We need to start by backing up our values with our budget priorities and go from there. What we see is that if you give a values statement to a member of Congress and insist that they be consistent with their values, not only on domestic issues but across borders, then we can make headway.

Excerpt from:
How Progressives Are Changing the Conversation on Israel-Palestine - Progressive.org

Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty

Israel has finally agreed to a cease-fire, but this months violence has sparked a standoff between congressional liberals and President Joe Biden that is just getting started.

On Thursday, after an 11-day military campaign, the Israeli Security Cabinet approved a cease-fire after increasing pressure from the international community and, eventually, Biden.

But Biden didnt start out there. At the beginning of the week, the president made it clear he wasnt calling for a cease-fire so much as saying hed support one, if Israel reached that decision. Biden blocked a United Nations Security Council resolution three times calling for a cease-fire, and he repeatedly said he supports Israels right to defend itself.

When White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked about some of the criticism the administration has fielded from lawmakers like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Psaki was emphatic that political pressure from progressives wouldnt affect Bidens decision-making.

The president doesn't see this through the prism of domestic politics, Psaki said.

Perhaps not. But Bidens support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government has put a number of Bidens Democratic allies in an awkward position. They want to support the president. But many progressives are increasingly uncomfortable with the new administrations accommodation of Israels more bellicose tendenciesand the latest burst of conflict, these lawmakers say, has opened up space for them to reexamine all the ways in which Congress has backed Israel.

There is more and more interest in conditioning aid to Israel, given what's been happening, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told The Daily Beast on Wednesday. Whether or not that happens this year, that would be a tectonic shift right now.

This is a serious crisis, and I think the President had an opportunity to reset the dial from the last administration's relationship with Israel, Jayapal continued, labeling Bidens decision to block United Nations Security Council calls for a cease-fire unacceptable.

Story continues

Over the course of the week, Biden did get sterner with Israel, as the country continued its bombing campaign of Palestinian territories. By Wednesday, Biden finally did call for a cease-fire. But by the time Israel finally announced an end to its missile strikes, more than 200 Palestinians were dead, including 63 children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, and 58,000 Palestinians had been displaced. Meanwhile, 12 Israelis have died from Hamas missile attacks and civil unrest.

Jayapal, for one, was unimpressed with Bidens changing tone, telling The Daily Beast that Bidens eventual decision to call for a cease-fire was too little, too late.

That kind of talk has been rare in recent decades, when a consensus of automatic support for Israel dominated the Democratic Party. The fact that this dialogue is happening now reflects a leftward shift within the party on Israeland a rightward shift within Israel that has alienated many Democrats. Netanyahu, for his part, has all but buried the idea of a two-state solution in the Middle East, and done all he could to elect Republican candidates in America. Meanwhile, movements like Black Lives Matter and leftwing stars like Bernie Sanders have helped push progressive sympathies toward the Palestinian side.

In the eyes of many on Capitol Hill, however, Biden has remained as loyal as ever to Israel. During his 36 years in the U.S. Senate, he forged close ties with Israeli leaders as the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee. Hes called Netanyahu his friend for more than 30 years.

The president, one progressive aide told The Daily Beast, is seen as to the right of even the Senates two most pro-Israel DemocratsMajority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), the current chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

But thanks to the outrage over Israels actionscivilian casualties, leveled refugee camps, destroyed medical facilitiesas well as the sense that Biden wont act the way progressive lawmakers want without significant pressure, congressional Democrats are taking inventory of all the different ways they might use their power to shift U.S. policy.

One is fundingthe key power that Congress retains. Traditionally, both parties have supported generous aid packages to Israel, and the notion of putting conditions on that aid has been a red line for most lawmakers. Even progressives havent dared cross that threshold.

But on Wednesday, before the cease-fire was announced, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) said the old way of handling Israel wasnt acceptable.

Weve got to start figuring out ways to put some pressure points, said Pocan, a former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. And one of those is deciding whether or not the assistance that we giveif it continues to go there with no strings attached.

The current chair of the CPC, Jayapal, was just as emphatic.

Our main leverage is around the aid that we give, and our diplomatic relations, Jayapal said. She added that greater support for conditioning U.S. aid to Israel would represent a massive shift in the party. And though she doesnt yet see widespread movement to that policy, she does see some.

Jayapal was one of eight Democrats on Thursday who signed a letter to Biden calling for an indefinite hold on a $735 million arms sale to Israel.

We have a special obligation to scrutinize the actions of our close ally Israel, given our provision of weaponry and other military and diplomatic support to the Israeli government, these Democrats wrote in their letter to Biden, calling the sale antithetical to any efforts to try and de-escalate violence.

The arms sale became a flashpoint this week when news broke that the U.S. had approved the exchange to Israel and planned to move ahead with it despite the continued bombings. While lawmakers on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over arms sales, do not have to be notified about these sorts of transactions, the chairman and ranking member of the committee do.

In this case, Foreign Affairs chairman Gregory Meeks (D-NY) wasnt notified of the sale until it came out in the media. The deal was approved months ago, but became public during the tensest point of U.S.-Israel ties in recent years.

Liberal Democrats were outraged. Committee Democrats called an emergency meeting. And Meeks and Democrats on the panel decided to request that Biden delay the sale, according to Politico. Ultimately, Meeks backed down, saying hed secured a classified briefing for members on the arms sale.

But in the wake of that dust-up, leaders have confirmed to rank-and-file members on the Foreign Affairs Committee that they, too, will be notified of U.S. arms sales, according to one aide, who described it as a small, but welcome, change.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), a leading progressive on the House Armed Services Committee, said that a goal of lawmakers should be expanded enforcement of arms control laws that require the U.S. to sell weapons only if used for legitimate self-defense.

What I'm going to be pushing for, and I think others as well, is a broader enforcement of the Arms Export Control Act in all situations around the world where our aid is available, to make sure that none of it, to any country is being used knowingly to violate human rights, Khanna said.

On Thursday, Sanders said he would introduce a resolution to block the U.S. arms sale to Israel, and a House companion was introduced on Wednesday by Pocan, Ocasio-Cortez, and Ilhan Omar (D-MN). The odds of success on that legislation, however, are long. Both chambers would need to vote to approve it, and then also override a likely veto from Bidenall in the brief timeframe that is required when it comes to disapproval of weapons deals. But the resolutions ensure that the arms sale will remain front-and-center in the dialogue, even after the cease-fire.

Biden Tells Bibi U.S. Expects Significant De-escalation Today

The public relations campaign illustrates the biggest power progressive lawmakers may have in this debatethe bully pulpit.

This week, many liberal lawmakers became convinced that their rafts of letters and comments, both public and private, had pushed Biden toward a tougher line on Israel, even if it was still far from what they wanted.

He's listening, Khanna said of Biden.

Khanna brought up Bidens impromptu and emotional exchange this week in Michigan with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), a member of Congress of Palestinian descent. Who knows what makes someone decide something, Khanna said, but I think it's having an impact.

And liberals are convinced that the changing politics of Israel within their party, combined with their advocacy, will have a measurable impact on Biden.

It is very clear that the political environment and debate about the Middle East here in the United States has shifted since Joe Biden was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, told The Daily Beast. Those shifting dynamics are going to continue to be felt in the ensuing months and years.

There are, of course, still a number of influential pro-Israel Democrats in the traditional mold. And they hold sway, even if progressives have defined the debate and key leaders have had to change their rhetoric.

One of those Democrats, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), told Jewish Insider that its a small group of loud voices who were pressuring Biden, and that the overwhelming majority of Democrats in the nation, and Democrats in Congress, are strongly supportive of Israel, of the U.S.-Israel relationship, of Israel remaining a Jewish and Democratic state.

This supposed silent majority may exist within the Democratic caucus, but even if its less robust than Wasserman Schultz asserts, the inertia of U.S. policy toward Israel may still mean that nothing changes.

Take the issue of Iron Domethe U.S-funded missile defense system that intercepted so many of the rockets fired into Israel over the past two weeks. Even Pocan said he has always supported the Iron Dome because the idea is when a missile comes in, if you take it out, no ones been killed on either side and there's de-escalation. If you use it for that purpose, and then you still send 20 times the number of missiles back, thats not the intention.

House Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA) acknowledged to The Daily Beast that there wasnt a whole lot members of Congress could do to move Israel policyat least not immediately.

Smith oversees the sprawling defense authorization bill which sets Pentagon policies for the year. Iron Dome is always a hot-button issue. And judging by a procedural vote Republicans forced on Thursday, the political ramifications are only going to get more heated.

As the House voted on an emergency supplemental for increased security after Jan. 6, Republicans introduced an amendment that would have made an additional $500 million available to Israel for the Iron Dome and various ballistic missile programs.

A senior GOP aide predicted to The Daily Beast on Thursday that the House may soon vote on similar legislation, potentially even during the upcoming three-week recess, as a concession to Israel agreeing to a cease-fire.

As this aide said, cease-fires arent cheap.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Fight Between Progressives and Biden on Israel Just Starting - Yahoo News