Many Americans now know that Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar—two members of “the squad†of far-left congresswomen so much in the news—were recently barred from traveling to Israel to agitate for the anti-Israel boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement. Fewer know all four members of “the squad,†including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, have co-sponsored a bill that accuses the Jewish state of torturing children. Fewer still know the claims made in the bill originate mostly from a group that could be described as the propaganda arm of a terrorist organization.
The so-called “Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act“ was re-introduced in the House by Rep. Betty McCollum, whose congressional district neighbors Omar’s in Minnesota. Until recently, McCollum was considered a supporter of Israel, but a critic of its government.
In February, however, she condemned “[t]he right-wing, extremist government of Benjamin Netanyahu and its apartheid-like policies,†adding “there are now members of Congress who are not willing to ignore the Israeli government’s destructive actions because they are afraid of losing an election.â€
McCollum’s invective prompted Mark Mellman of the Democratic Majority for Israel to respond that Netanyahu “came to office in a fair and democratic election in which every Arab citizen of Israel had the same right to vote as any Jewish citizen.†Mellman added that “by suggesting that Jews have disproportionate influence on U.S. elections, the Congresswoman exploits an anti-Semitic trope widely used by far right forces from Czarism to fascism.â€
McCollum’s bill, while not directly exploiting the anti-Semitic trope of blood libel, trades on the accusation that Israel treats non-Jewish children cruelly and inhumanely. The bill claims Palestinian children detained by Israeli defense forces suffer torture and physical violence, are deprived of lawyers and parents, not informed of their legal rights, and so on.
It ultimately aims to prohibit “U.S. assistance to Israel from being used to support the military detention, interrogation, or ill-treatment of Palestinian children in violation of international humanitarian law.†As federal law already bars U.S. aid to foreign security forces who commit gross human rights violations, the bill is an exercise in singling out the Jewish state.
The accusations presented as “findings†in the bill are cribbed—occasionally verbatim—from inaccurate claims made by several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that lead BDS campaigns in the United States and abroad. The bill’s claims largely come from Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P). Historically, DCI-P officials, employees, and board members have had links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which is considered to be a terrorist group by Israel, the United States, the European Union, and Canada.
The PFLP has a long record of terror attacks, dating back to the Lod Airport massacre, which killed 28 people in 1968. The PFLP may be best known for the 1976 hijacking of an Air France plane, which was ended by the Israeli raid on Entebbe Airport. In 1980, PFLP attacked a kibbutz, seizing a nursery and murdering a two-year-old. Since 2000, PFLP has executed more than a dozen suicide bombings, shootings, stabbings and even ax attacks, notably in the 2014 Jerusalem synagogue massacre that killed four and injured seven.
Shawan Jabarin, a member of DCI-P’s board from 2007-14, was convicted in 1985 for recruiting and arranging training for members for the PFLP. Mahmoud Jiddah, a DCI-P board member from 2012-16, was imprisoned for 17 years after launching grenade attacks against Israeli civilians in 1968; he is also alleged to be a member of PFLP. Mary Rock, elected to the board in 2014, was a PFLP candidate for the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2006.
https://thefederalist.com/2019/08/26/squad-co-sponsors-bill-claiming-israel-tortures-children-terrorist-propaganda/
