Milwaukee activists protest at U.S. Representative Moore’s office over blind support for Israel
Milwaukee, WI – On July 26, the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee (MAC) joined with members of the Milwaukee chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace to protest outside of U.S. Representative Gwen Moore’s district office downtown. A week before, Representative Moore and 194 of her Democrat colleagues sided with House Republicans to pass a resolution of blind support for the state of Israel.
The resolution came on July 18 after a series of events initiated when Representative Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, made comments to a crowd of pro-Palestine protesters in Chicago where she identified Israel as a racist state and that Palestinians have the right to self-determination. The next day, her Democrat colleagues in the House immediately penned a statement condemning her. The Republican-introduced resolution on Israel came two days later and passed with a vote of 412-9.
The resolution itself consisted of three statements, claiming the state of Israel is not a racist or apartheid state; that Congress rejects all forms of antisemitism and xenophobia; and asserting the United States will always be a staunch partner and supporter of Israel.
Speakers from both MAC and JVP condemned the resolution and Moore’s vote, while expressing solidarity and support for Palestine.
“These are the facts: Israel has been brutalizing, displacing and murdering Palestinians – including women, children and the elderly – for 75 years. They have enacted policy after policy which explicitly target Palestinians, creating an apartheid state while they actively pursue genocide,” said Remi Schueler of the MAC, adding that Representative Moore’s “blind support for Israel in spite of its flagrant and repeated violations of human rights does not speak well of her character. To side with Republicans now, on an issue of racism of all things as they attack DEI and affirmative action, is absurd.”
“Nothing the American government does in our name makes us safe – not murdering children, not bombing refugee camps, not hooding journalists and making them sit in the sun for hours. None of that makes us safe,” said Rachel Ida Buff of JVP. “Not using our tax dollars to buy materials of war while we need food and shelter and jobs for our people. None of that makes Jews safe.”
Buff continued, “The problem here is America, the problem here is the military-industrial complex with its ceaseless need for victims. They know it’s over. They know that most American Jews, and most young people in general, believe in the rights of Palestinians to be free.”
Both MAC and JVP are circulating a petition demanding that Gwen Moore sign on to HR 3103, also known as the Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act. They vowed at the end of the action to continue applying pressure to Representative Moore until she joins her Wisconsin colleague Representative Mark Pocan in signing onto HR 3103.