1. Bills, Resolutions
2. Letters
3. Hearings
4. Israel/Palestine in 2024 Elex/Politics
5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

Of note:

• New episode of FMEP’s Occupied Thoughts podcast 8/23/24: The Accountability Archive, ft. FMEP non-resident Fellow Nour Joudah speaking with Philip Proudfoot and Mahdi Zaidan from the Accountability Archive (@archivegenocide), which describes itself as a “crowdsourced record of journalists, politicians, and public figures endorsing or encouraging the ethnic cleansing of Gaza and/or defaming pro-Palestinian activists.”  The trio discuss  how the archive came about, how it is coming along, and plans for the future, as well as what it has been like to undertake both such a massive project as well as the experience of wading through such incredibly graphic material.
• New CRS report 8/20/24: Possible U.S.-Saudi Agreements and Normalization with Israel: Considerations for Congress

1. Bills & Resolutions

(WE STAND WITH ISRAEL AGAINST THE EVIL UN) HR 9374: Introduced 8/16/24 by Lawler (R-NY) and 28 cosponsors (including 3 Democrats – Gottheimer, D-NY, Moskowitz, D-FL, and Landsman, D-OH),  “To amend the United Nations Participation Act of 1945 to provide for a prohibition on contributions to the United Nations relating to Israel,” aka the “Stand with Israel Act.” Per Lawler’s press release, the Act “will require the withholding of U.S. funding to UN agencies that expel, downgrade, suspend, or otherwise restrict the participation of the State of Israel. The bill is modeled after the current prohibition of funding to any UN entities that elevate the status of the Palestinian Authority to a member state.” The press release also notes that the bill is “endorsed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), FDD Action, Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), Christians United for Israel (CUFI), and Heritage Action. Also see: Bipartisan lawmakers put UN on notice over ‘rampant anti-Israel bias’ – “GOP Rep Mike Lawler, Dem Rep Jared Moskowitz are leading the bill” (Fox News 8/19/24)

COMING SOON: Reps. Carson (D-IN), Jayapal (D-WA), and Schakowsky (D-IL) are reportedly getting set to lead the introduction of the “UNRWA Funding Emergency Restoration Act of 2024.” From Carson’s website: “Congressman Carson will soon introduce the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Emergency Restoration Act of 2024 to restore funds that were blocked earlier this year to the critical humanitarian agency that provides food, shelter, and healthcare to refugees in Gaza. In September of 2023, Congressman Carson led a letter to Senator Risch of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee requesting the Senator to immediately release his hold on funds for food assistance to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. These funds were blocked even after Congress approved the funds in December of 2022. Congressman Carson’s efforts, supported by 63 of his Congressional colleagues in the House and Senate, provided $75 million in food assistance to over one million Palestinian refugees. Prior to the current war, over 40 percent of people in Gaza were severely food insecure – that number is expected to dramatically increase.”

2. Letters

Targeting Free Speech/protest/academia

• 8/22/24: Ernst Skewers IRS for Indifference to Antisemitic Violence [letter text] [from press release – “Today, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) demanded Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Daniel Werfel explain why his agency blew off her request to investigate whether pro-Hamas groups that broke the law or encouraged others to do so should lose their tax-exempt status.” from letter – “The tone and brevity of your interim response is troubling, leaving us questioning the value of the information you provided and how serious your office takes oversight inquiries.”]
• 8/22/24: Smith, Foxx Demand Universities Detail Preparations to Prevent Disruptions, Antisemitic Harassment, and Intimidation on Campus this Fall [letter(s) text]
• 8/21/24: Chair Foxx Subpoenas Columbia University in Ongoing Antisemitism Investigation [subpoena letters & subpoenas] [Foxx: “Columbia should be a partner in our efforts to ensure Jewish students have a safe learning environment on its campus, but instead, university administrators have slow rolled the investigation, repeatedly failing to turn over necessary documents. The information we have obtained points to a continued pattern of negligence towards antisemitism and a refusal to stand up to the radical students and faculty responsible for it. The goal of this investigation has always been to protect Jewish students and faculty, and if compulsory measures are necessary to obtain the documents the Committee requires, so be it.”] The extremely expansive subpoenas were sent to: Columbia Interim President Katrina Armstrong; Abigail Black Elbaum, Vice Chair of The Trustees of Columbia University; Mark Gallogly, Vice Chair, The Trustees of Columbia University; David Greenwald, Co-Chair of The Trustees of Columbia University; Wanda M. Holland Greene, Vice Chair, The Trustees of Columbia University; and Claire Shipman, Vice Chair, The Trustees of Columbia University. As a reminder, both Greenwald and Shipman – alongside then-Columbia president Shafik – testified before Foxx’s committee back on 4/17/24 — a hearing in which, as a group, they appeared to follow a strategy of pandering shamelessly to the committee members and throwing Columbia’s own students and the right to free speech and academic independence/integrity under the bus. Unsurprisingly, it only egged on further attacks against them, the students, and the school. Also see: Congress subpoenas Columbia University officials in ongoing antisemitism investigation (Fox News 8/21/24); House Committee Drops Subpoena on Columbia as Part of Anti-Semitism Probe (Washington Free Beacon 11/21/24); House Education Committee subpoenas Columbia for antisemitism docs (Jewish Insider 8/21/24)
• 8/21/24: Comer, Foxx Renew Information Request to Treasury Related to Suspicious Activity Reports Associated with Antisemitic Groups [letter text]. This is follow up to the letter they previously sent on 5/14/24, targeting 20 organizations involved in work advocating for or supporting Palestinian rights/lives. The new letter focuses in on 4 of those groups: Westchester Political Action Committee Foundation (WESPAC Foundation), Samidoun, Jewish Voice for Peace, and The People’s Forum. As noted in my 5/14/24 X-thread: “The targeting of US orgs that support Palestinian rights/lives is escalating. See prior thread re: bill empowering TreasSec to strip orgs’ tax-exempt status w/o due process, & House Oversight letter targeting tax-exempt status of orgs for objectives counter to “public policy” 1/ New today: House Oversight Cmtee & House Education/Workforce Cmtee send letter to TreasSec Yellen targeting a list of orgs they link to what they describe as “pro-Hamas, antisemitic, anti-Israel, & anti-American protests with illegal encampments on American college campuses” 2/…Targeted groups include not only those active in current student protests, but groups unrelated to the protests which support Palestinian rights/lives, including funders & a legal defense org. 4/ The clear message of this letter: attenuated claims of ties to terror — based on the mere fact that orgs support Palestinian lives/rights — will now be used to harass & delegitimize (if not criminalize) any/all orgs working in this space. /end“. Also, as reported in the 5/17/24 edition of the Round-Up, “This letter appears to be based on a report issued by NGO Monitor (issued 4/25/24, updated 5/8/24), The NGO Network Orchestrating Antisemitic Incitement on American Campuses. Also see 5/9/24 article in the Jewish Journal citing NGO Monitor’s Gerald Steinberg, ‘Who’s Funding It?’. As a reminder, NGO Monitor is a Jerusalem-based organization that historically has close ties to the Israeli government and is largely funded by U.S. donors, and that has worked for years to build the case that virtually all work by and with Palestinians, and funding for such work, is tainted by links (for the most part attenuated, six-degrees-of-terrorirst-contamination links) – to terror. Also see: NGO MONITOR: SHRINKING SPACE – Defaming human rights organizations that criticize the Israeli occupation (Policy Working Group, September 2018).” Also see: US Lawmakers Prod Treasury Department for Reports on Anti-Zionist Groups Behind Campus Protests (The Algemeiner 8/22/24)

Other stuff

• 8/22/24: Sen. Rick Scott & Colleagues Call on President Biden to Deny Evil Dictators’ Visa Requests for UN General Assembly [letter text] NOTE: This letter calls on Biden to take an action that directly contradicts (and would require the U.S. to once again violate) U.S. explicit obligations under the Headquarters Agreement that governs the U.S. as host to the UN’s headquarters.
• 8/21/24: Allred, Green Lead Effort Urging for Administration to Use Every Tool It Can to Bring Texan Austin Tice Home from Syria [letter text]
• 8/20/24: Congressman Biggs: The Radical Biden-Harris Regime Refuses to Hold Illegal Aliens Accountable [letter text, dated 8/19/24] – “In early May, Hasan Yousef Hamdan (who is on a terror watchlist) and Mohammad Khair
  Dabous attempted to enter the Marine Corps base…” Also see: GOP lawmakers probe DOJ for cutting loose illegal Jordanian migrants who ‘tried to breach’ Quantico (New York Post 8/19/24)

3. Hearings & Markups

None.

4. Israel/Palestine in 2024 Politics/Elex

Members of Congress & the DNC

• Washington Free Beacon 8/22/24: ‘Squad’ Members Rally Around Uncommitted Delegates Staging DNC Sit-In Over Lack of Speaker Slot [“Omar and Lee join protest outside of United Center, while AOC calls to offer support“]
• The Nation 8/21/24: AOC’s DNC Speech Was a Betrayal of the Gaza Movement [“Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s decision to lend her credibility to the Biden-Harris administration’s false narrative around Gaza was a stinging slap in the face.“]
• The Intercept 8/21/24: Ilhan Omar Takes Swipe at AOC for Praising Kamala Harris’s Gaza Ceasefire Push [“Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez came under fire from her closest allies on the left — including a fellow Squad member — after a raucous reception at the DNC.”]
• Slate 8/21/24: I Went to a Zionist Democrats Party at the DNC. What I Saw Made Me Think There’s a Policy Shift Coming. [incl comments from a number of members of Congress]

Primaries

• Detroit Free Press 8/23/24: Detroit council member Mary Waters attack ads, mailers linked to pro-Israel PAC
• Jewish News Syndicate 8/22/24: Pro-Israel progressive Democrat wins Arizona nomination by 39 votes [“Yassamin Ansari, an Iranian American, is favored to win the general election in what DMFI PAC describes as a ‘deep-blue’ congressional district.“]
• Bridge Michigan 8/21/24:Pro-Israel AIPAC offshoot spent $2.3M to help Shri Thanedar in Michigan primary
• Matthew Kassell (Jewish Insider) X-thread 8/20/24: “New FEC filings show AIPAC’s United Democracy Project gave nearly $1 million to a new super PAC, Blue Wave Action, that funded attack ads targeting Detroit Councilwoman Mary Waters, Rep. Shri Thanedar’s top rival in a Michigan primary earlier this month. [link to FEC filing] AIPAC opposed Thanedar in 2022, but he won the group’s endorsement this cycle [link to Kassell’s 2023 – In 2022, AIPAC opposed Shri Thanedar. This month he went to Israel with the group.]
• Jewish Insider 8/20/24: Pro-Israel Democrat prevails in closely contested Phoenix House race [“Yassamin Ansari claimed victory over Raquel Terán by just 39 votes, according to recount“]
• Jewish Insider 8/16/24: The biggest political bellwether on the House battleground map [“The Omaha-area race pits one of the most pro-Israel lawmakers in the House against a repeat Democratic challenger calibrating his views on the Middle East”]

Elex – general

• Middle East Monitor 8/22/24: US congresswoman: ‘Black & Palestinian liberation are tied’ [“Summer Lee was one of the few members of Congress to address pro-Palestine activists outside the Democratic National Convention. She said that part of fighting for her black liberation is fighting for Palestinian liberation. She encouraged the activists who had been outside the convention for days, telling them that they are on the right side of history, that none of the Gaza solidarity protests have been in vain and joked that the issue had been going on much longer than ‘AIPAC have been after me’.”]
• Newsweek 8/22/24: Is ‘The Squad’ Suddenly Falling Apart?
• Komono News 8/22/24: Bush backs Bernie Sanders’s call to get ‘big money’ out of politics: ‘Speak on it’
• Jewish News Syndicate 8/22/24: Latimer talks AIPAC, ousting the ‘Squad,’ Dem divide on Israel
• Jewish Insider 8/22/24: Pascrell’s death opens up frantic scramble for his seat, to be decided by party leaders [“The longtime New Jersey representative held strong ties to the Jewish community and was a leader on increasing Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding”]
• Times of Israel 8/22/24: Bill Pascrell, NJ congressman who played balancing act on Israel, dies at 87 [“Democrat, whose district included ‘Little Ramallah,’ had weathered pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian primary challengers in his 14 terms: ‘I’ve tried to get the communities together’“]
• Risch (R-ID) 8/20/24: Risch: Democrats Continue to Turn their Backs on Israel
• American Prospect 8/19/24: Sanders Urges Ban on Super PACs in Democratic Primaries — The Vermont senator says money in politics is out of control, Democratic Party should limit expenditures when choosing nominees.
• The MediaLine 8/19/24: Is Omar’s Re-election a Wake-up Call for Jewish Voters?
• The Free Press 8/18/24: John Fetterman Has No Regrets [“Once a party darling, the senator’s pro-Israel stance has led to protests outside his home and detractors inside his office. Now, he tells Peter Savodnik, he’s skipping the DNC…”]. Also see: Fetterman spokeswoman tells reporter she doesn’t agree with her boss on Israel, Gaza (Jewish News Syndicate 8/19/24);  Political operatives from both parties stunned by Fetterman spox’s intransigence (Jewish Insider 8/19/24 – Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) is facing bipartisan calls to fire his communications director for distancing herself from her boss’s positions on Israel to a journalist…’)
• Morelle (D-NY) 8/19/24: Top House Democrat Calls on FCC, FEC to Tighten Political Communications and Campaign Ad Monitoring Amid Iranian U.S. Elections Influence Campaign
• The Arab American 8/17/24: Rep. Debbie Dingell addresses Israel’s War on Gaza in Washtenaw County town hall
• The Guardian 8/16/24: US political financing Five things we learned from our reporting on the US’s pro-Israel lobby [“The Guardian followed key congressional races affected by Aipac and similar groups for the past few months”]

General

• Haaretz 8/22/24: Trump Accuses Schumer of Being a Hamas Member, Blames Democrats for Israel Losing PR Battle [“Former president also bemoaned ‘Jewish lobby’s’ loss of influence, in comments Republicans would have likely condemned as antisemitic if they came from a Democratic critic of organizations such as AIPAC”]
• Jewish News Syndicate 8/19/24: Trump to Jewish supporters: ‘Schumer is like a Palestinian’
• The New York Post 8/17/24: Ousted NY Rep. Jamaal Bowman now begging for cash to pay off campaign debts

5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

Never-ending (and ever-escalating) witch hunt targeting academia

• Times of Israel 8/20/24: Columbia ends suspensions of most students disciplined for anti-Israel protests [“Almost all students arrested over encampment, break-in and occupation of academic building restored to good standing, university says, after inquiry from US Congress”] NOTE: The ADL is NOT happy that Columbia has apparently elected to not permanently destroy students lives for protesting over Gaza –screenshot from ADL email sent to its list on August 22, 2024.
• Foxx (R-NC) 8/19/24: Foxx: Columbia’s Refusal to Enforce Rules Against Antisemites is Disgraceful
• Jewish News Syndicate 8/19/24: Foxx: Columbia provided criminal protesters a ‘get-out-of-jail-free card’

Other stuff

• eJewish Philanthropy 8/21/24: Combat antisemitism pin that Schumer touted in DNC speech was given by Robert Kraft himself [“Senate majority leader recently met with the philanthropist, who presented him with the symbol of the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism’s campaign“]
• The Intercept 8/19/24: Senator Calls U.S. Support for Saudis a “National Disgrace” After Intercept Reveals Unpaid Debt to Pentagon [“Saudi Arabia won’t pay the U.S. back for fueling its warplanes as it bombed Yemen, but the U.S. recently resumed weapons sales to the kingdom.”]
• Fox News 8/18/24: Christian father imprisoned in Egypt over Facebook comments declares hunger strike [“‘News of his hunger strike makes it more urgent than ever that he be released,’ Republican Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey told Fox News Digital”]. Also see: U.S. Lawmaker Highlights Plight of Christian Man Imprisoned in Egypt Over Facebook Posts (Foundation for Defense of Democracies 8/21/24]
• CBS News 8/18/24: House Intelligence Committee chairman says Iran could “declare itself a nuclear weapons state by the end of the year“; also see: FDD 8/20/24: Iran Could Declare Itself Nuclear Weapons State by Year’s End, Top U.S. Lawmaker Says
• Lawler (R-NY) 8/18/24: Congressman Mike Lawler Condemns Violent, Antisemitic Rhetoric from Speaker at Islamic Center of Rockland; also see: Upstate New York mosque issues apology for guest imam’s anti-Jewish rant – Historically, the Islamic Center of Rockland has enjoyed a congenial relationship with the Jewish community. [Jewish News Syndicate 8/20/24]
• The Guardian 8/17/24: Israel feared legal trouble over US advocacy efforts, leaked files suggest [“Exclusive: officials concerned by foreign agent law proposed creation of American nonprofit to avoid scrutiny”]