The House of Representatives passed resolutions on Nov. 28 affirming Israel’s right to exist and calling for the Hamas terrorist group to release its hostages.
The resolutions come as Israel has come under its latest round of terrorist attacks by Hamas since Oct. 7, when Hamas committed the largest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
The resolution stating the Jewish state’s right to exist—introduced by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.)—passed 412–1. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a libertarian, was the sole vote against the resolution.
In a post on X, Mr. Massie said he agrees with the Jewish state’s right to exist but said that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism—a claim rejected by the mainstream.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who has a history of anti-Semitism and hostility toward the Jewish state, was the one who voted “present.” All other members of the far-left group “The Squad,” including Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), voted in favor of the resolution.
The resolution briefly summarizes the Jewish history of persecution, including the Holocaust, and the meaning of Israel to the Jewish people.
It states that the House “reaffirms Israel’s right to exist; recognizes that denying Israel’s right to exist is a form of antisemitism; rejects calls for Israel’s destruction and the elimination of the only Jewish state; and condemns the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Israel.”
Anti-Zionism, which includes denying the Jewish state’s right to exist, is anti-Semitism, according to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, whose working definition of anti-Semitism has been adopted by dozens of countries including the United States.
The bipartisan resolution calling on Hamas to free all hostages—introduced by Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.)—passed unanimously.
Hamas took more than 200 hostages and has since released a handful, including some Americans.
Hamas has released one American among dozens of hostages amid a six-day pause in the fighting that can be extended an extra day if the terrorist group releases a minimum of 10 hostages each day. The initial pause was four days but on Nov. 27 was extended two days. There are still nine Americans being held hostage by Hamas, according to the White House.
The resolution states that the House “condemns Hamas for its brutal attack on Israel; condemns Hamas for the taking of hostages; condemns Hamas for threats made against hostages; demands that Hamas immediately release all hostages and return them to safety; recognizes that the taking of hostages is a violation of international humanitarian law; and expresses sympathy to the hostages, wounded, deceased, and their families for this travesty to justice and personal hardship.”
One of the American hostages is Hersh Goldberg-Polin. He attended the Nova Music Festival near the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked it. His arm was blown off. Whether he got treatment for the arm—which would increase the chances that he is still alive, or not, which would have led to his bleeding to death—is unknown.
At an event at a Washington synagogue on Nov. 13, Mr. Goldberg-Polin’s mother, Rachel Goldberg, called on attendees to persistently call on the U.S. government to push for the release of her son.
“Be that mosquito,” she said.
Since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks, the House has passed resolutions related to the latest conflict.
Shortly after Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) became House speaker on Oct. 25, the lower congressional chamber overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning the attacks and standing with Israel.
In between votes on the resolutions, Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-Utah) was sworn in by Mr. Johnson, bringing the House back to full strength with 435 members—though that is expected not to last long ahead of Rep. George Santos’s (R-N.Y.) possible ouster.
Ms. Maloy was sworn in after the vote on the resolution calling to free the hostages. Her first vote, therefore, was on the resolution stating Israel’s right to exist, voting in favor of it.
From The Epoch Times
