Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-Progressive Except on Palestine)
Last Tuesday was the first day of the 115th Congress. Congressmembers and Senators who just won their elections were sworn in and took their seats. Here in Montgomery County, MD, liberal superstar State Senator Jamie Raskin became a Congressman.
On Thursday Jamie was asked to vote on House Resolution 11, a purely-symbolic resolution condemning the Obama administration for allowing the passage of United Nation Security Council Resolution 2334 which identified the illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied West Bank as a "flagrant violation" of international law and "having no legal validity".
Leading up to the vote on HR 11, many people were wondering how Jamie would vote on this resolution. He was a Constitutional Law professor at American University. He had positioned himself as possibly the most liberal member of the Maryland Legislature. He has been battling Republican and right-wing forces all his life. Meanwhile Trump, the Republican Party and some Democrats had been pulling out all the stops against Obama/Kerry calling UNSC 2334 "shameful" and a "betrayal of Israel" all the while pointedly refusing to acknowledge the harm these settlements cause to Palestinian lives. Surely Jamie would side with liberal supporters of human rights and international law over Trump and the Republicans? He's no supporter of the illegal Israel settlements, right?
Wrong! Although 76 Democrats stuck with Obama, Jamie joined the Republicans (and a majority of Democrats) in rebuking the administration by voting in favor of HR 11. The 76 included outspoken liberals like Nancy Pelosi, Keith Ellison, Raul Grijalva, Jan Schakowsky, Don Beyer and Pramila Jayapal.
All seven other Congressmen from Maryland also voted for HR11. But the two new Congressmen Jamie Raskin and Anthony Brown (from Prince Georges County) were the ones whose votes were most in question. Rep. John Delaney took the extra step of adding his name as a co-sponsor of the resolution, but that's not that much of a surprise since he had already expressed his hostility towards human rights for Arabs/Muslims with his craven vote against Syrian refugees.
So we have this weird situation where Raskin presents himself as a progressive innovator on all issues from gay rights to gun control to immigration reform yet he votes in favor of well-known violations of international law by a racist, right-wing Israeli government. What's going on here?? Why is Jamie to the right of Obama and many other Democrats on the issue of Israeli settlements?
Ladies and gentlemen, what is going on here is a textbook case of "Progressive Except on Palestine" (PEP). PEP is an archetype of someone who is liberal on every issue under the sun -- but takes hawkish right-wing positions against Palestinians. This archetype is especially common amongst Congressional Democrats. It's a testament to the power of the anti-Palestinian lobby (AIPAC, Christians United for Israel, Zionist Organization of America and others) and to the weakness of those who stand for Palestinian rights. This power imbalance is largely due to the importance of big campaign donations and to the anti-Arab/Palestinian racism widespread in American society but especially pronounced among conservatives.
Within the Democratic Party, however views on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict are rapidly shifting in favor of the Palestinians. And Jamie's vote has provoked a bit of a backlash amongst liberals (shown below). Let's hope these liberals can hold Jamie's feet to the fire and make sure he doesn't vote against human rights again in the future.
