A Democrat-led bill condemning Israel’s so-called military occupation of Palestinian lands relies on research from an Israeli-designated terrorist organization.
Rep. Betty McCollum (D., Minn.), along with nearly 30 of her Democrat colleagues, introduced earlier this year the "Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act." The legislation accuses Israel of wrongfully detaining Palestinian children and subjecting them to interrogation and imprisonment.
But the bill relies heavily on research and statistics produced by Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCIP), a nonprofit group that Israel designated in 2022 as a terrorist organization. The Israeli government says the group is controlled by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a militant organization that has killed Americans and is a U.S.-designated terror outfit.
House Republicans say legislation like McCollum’s bill—which is co-sponsored by a who’s who of anti-Israel advocates in Congress, including Reps. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), Cori Bush (D., Mo.), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.)—is par for the course among House Democrats, where anti-Semitism has become commonplace. Tlaib, for instance, attempted to organize an event in May mourning the "catastrophe" of Israel’s creation, prompting last-minute intervention by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.). And a July speech by Israel’s president sparked boycotts among many Democrats, with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D., Wash.) calling Israel a "racist state."
Rep. Jim Banks (R., Ind.) pointed to the disturbing trend among Democrats, saying McCollum’s recent legislation crosses the line into a partnership "with a known terrorist organization."
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