The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning and opposing the movement that aims to boycott Israel on July 23, with the few voting against the resolution including radical Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)
Only 17 lawmakers opposed it.
The bill stated, "The BDS [Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions] Movement does not recognize, and many of its supporters explicitly deny, the right of the Jewish people to national self-determination."
It also said, "The BDS Movement targets not only the Israeli government but also Israeli academic, cultural, and civil society institutions, as well as individual Israeli citizens of all political persuasions, religions, and ethnicities, and in some cases even Jews of other nationalities who support Israel."
A number of Democrats said that the bill was important because of the rise of anti-Semitism in the United States. Others noted that the so-called BDS movement seems inherently anti-Semitic.
Some congressmembers alluded to anti-Semitic statements that Omar had made in the past, including accusing politicians of having loyalty to Israel because of money and Israel "hypnotizing" the world with its "evil policies." Omar apologized for some of the statements earlier this year.
“There is of course nothing wrong about having a robust debate about our foreign policy, as I said, but that debate veers into something much darker when there is talk of dual loyalty or other ancient tropes,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) said. “These are not legitimate opinions about our foreign policy. We have often seen such anti-Semitic tropes and rhetoric when it comes to the global BDS movement.”
Tlaib and Omar both spoke out against the resolution; Tlaib earlier in the day compared Israel to Nazi Germany while arguing that Americans should be able to protest against Israel's "racist" policies against Palestinians.
“I stand before you as the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, parents who experienced being stripped of their human rights, the right to freedom of travel, equal treatment,” Tlaib said. “So I can’t stand by and watch this attack on our freedom of speech and the right to boycott the racist policies of the government and the state of Israel.”
At a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing last week, she added: “We should condemn in the strongest terms violence that perpetuates the occupation, whether it is perpetuated by Israel, Hamas, or individuals. But if we are going to condemn violent means of resisting the occupation, we cannot also condemn nonviolent means.”
Schneider disagreed, telling CNN: "It does not stop any speech about Israel or anything else. It recognizes the legitimate purpose and just ends of boycotts through our history. But not every boycott is legitimate or just."