The only Palestinian American in Congress, Rashida Tlaib, reportedly said Netanyahu “shouldn’t come to Congress, he should be sent to the Hague.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could face a boycott from congressional progressives should he accept a planned invitation to address a joint sitting of the US Congress, according to a report from the news website Axios.
This could be “a sign of how strained relations between some Democrats and Israel have become” since Tel Aviv launched its genocidal assault on the besieged Gaza Strip, the report said.
Axios cited prominent figures within the Democratic Party, including Jamaal Bowman, who said “I’m not going,” adding there is “nothing Netanyahu can tell me that can help my district at all.” Also, “that his constituents are ‘pissed’ at the Israeli war effort,” the report said.
‘Most Extreme Government’
Maxwell Frost told Axios he will not attend “because Netanyahu ‘is a bad person’,” the report added.
Others, like Chuy García, reportedly said “he would ‘probably not’ attend because Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition is ‘the most extreme government in the country’s history’.”
Greg Casar told the news website it will be “important symbolically for people to show and express our disagreement with him.”
Meanwhile, the only Palestinian American in Congress, Rashida Tlaib reportedly said Netanyahu “shouldn’t come to Congress, he should be sent to the Hague.”
“He has no business coming to” the US, Tlaib reportedly added.
Schumer’s Criticism
The suggestion to invite Netanyahu was made on Wednesday “as a way to hit back” at US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer for his criticism of Netanyahu when he called on Israeli PM to be replaced, saying he had “lost his way”.
Schumer reportedly said he was willing to agree to an address by the Israeli leader.
“I will always welcome the opportunity for the Prime Minister of Israel to speak to Congress in a bipartisan way,” the report quoted him as saying in a statement.
Despite the opposition, US House Speaker Mike Johnson reportedly said on Thursday that “we’ll certainly extend the invitation.”
Close to 32,000 Killed
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 31,988 Palestinians have been killed, and 74,188 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire.’
(The Palestine Chronicle)