Clare Proctor
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO â A couple of thousand people gathered Sunday afternoon in the Loop, waving Palestinian flags and donning kaffiyehs â Palestinian head scarves â calling for an end to bloodshed and âethnic cleansingâ in the Middle East.
Chicago justice activists â Palestinian, Puerto Rican, Black and others â called for an end of Jewish occupation of Palestinian land.
The violence and aggression over the past week display desperation and need for a just, two-state system, said U.S. Rep. Jesus âChuyâ Garcia, D-Chicago.
One poster read: âWe havenât been able to breathe since 1948,â referencing the year when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were evicted from their homes during the Palestinian War, as well as the common protest refrain âI canât breathe,â the last words of George Floyd, Eric Garner and others who died at the hands of police.
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May. 14, 2021 4:40 AM
WASHINGTON - Two blocs of Democratic lawmakers gave a series of remarks on the House floor on the current flare-up between Israel and the Palestinians, with one offering staunch defense of Israel amid Gaza rocket fire with the other offering unabashed support for Palestinians.
It is perhaps the most staunch example to date of the growing rift within the party concerning the longstanding U.S. stance toward Israel, with prominent lawmakers growing increasingly emboldened in their support of Palestinians and offering unprecedented criticism of Israel within the halls of Congress.
America stands with our ally Israel & against the Hamas terrorists.
Watch my House floor speech: pic.twitter.com/mt3GuQ9lXv
The moderate Democrats spoke in front of a map of Israel full of pinpoints representing where rockets had targeted in recent days.
Florida congresswoman Wasserman Schultz offered “unwavering and steadfast support for the state of Israel” and says Hamas is “single-handedly responsible” for the ongoing violence. She calls for a two-state solution and laments the loss of life to both sides.
“Even though we may not always agree about Israel’s policies, we should be very clear that nothing, nothing justifies a terrorist organization firing rockets at our allies,” said New Jersey congressman Gottheimer.
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel s US correspondent based in New York
Israeli security forces clash with protesters outside a home of a Jewish family in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah on May 8, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
Twenty-five House Democrats have signed onto a letter calling on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to condemn the looming evictions of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah.
The letter was co-sponsored by Illinois Rep. Marie Newman and Michigan Rep. Mark Pocan. It gained the signatures of Reps. Pramila Jayapal, Betty McCollum, Rashida Tlaib, Raul Grijalva, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Andre Carson, Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, Cori Bush, Judy Chu, Ayanna Pressley, Bobby Rush, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Gerald Connolly, Jared Huffman, Peter Welch, Judy Chu, Alan Lowenthal, Veronica Escobar, Jackie Speier, Anna Eshoo, Chellie Pingree, Debbie Dingell and Hank Johnson.