House Dems Praise Designated Terrorist Groups for ‘Courageous Work’

Lawmakers urge Biden admin to support Palestinian groups designated as terrorist organizations by Israel

Matthew Foldi • October 29, 2021 2:30 pm

A group of House Democrats will propose a resolution urging the Biden administration to condemn Israel and support six Palestinian groups that were designated as terrorist organizations by the Jewish state.

In response to Israel’s terrorist designations, Rep. Betty McCollum (D., Minn.) plans to introduce a resolution celebrating the designated Palestinian groups for the “value and importance” of their “courageous work,” according to Haaretz. The resolution will be cosponsored by several House Democrats, including Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), and Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.).

Among the groups backed in the Democratic resolution are the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is designated as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union. Also included is the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, which had funding cut from it in 2020 after the group’s leadership was arrested for murdering a 17-year-old Israeli.

Rather than condemn the terrorist organizations, the group of House Democrats chose to attack Israel for its “repressive act designed to criminalize and persecute important Palestinian human rights organizations.” The resolution demands that President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemn Israel’s “authoritarian and anti-democratic act of repression” and support the six terrorism-tied organizations.

The other Palestinian groups in question are Addameer, Al-Haq, Defense for Children Palestine, and the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees.

This isn’t the first time House Democrats like Tlaib have sided with terror-tied organizations. Tlaib has fundraised multiple times this year for Baitulmaal, which pays money to the families of Palestinian terrorists. The leader of Baitulmaal, Mazen Mokhtar, has been accused of raising money for the Taliban and Chechen Mujahideen.

The resolution is also supported by Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D., Mass.), Cori Bush (D., Mo.), Chuy García (D., Ill.), Marie Newman (D., Ill.), Raúl Grijalva (D., Ariz.), and Andre Carson (D., Ind.). It is unlikely to get support from other lawmakers.

Due to new congressional district lines in Illinois, two of the anti-Israel lawmakers, García and Newman, are now in the same district, meaning they will have to fight it out in a primary to hold onto their seat.

Israel says the evidence used for the terrorist designations is “ironclad.”