These people are no different than the settlers that gather in lawn chairs, eat popcorn, and cheer when the Israeli military drops bombs on apartment complexes in Gaza, writes Danaka Katovich.
Netanyahu receives standing ovation as he enters joint session of Congress on Wednesday. (C-Span Screenshot)
By Danaka Katovich
Substack
There’s no mention of their duty to the people in the oath of office that members of the U.S. Congress take. It says they will support and defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic.
Maybe, in some regard defending the Constitution would mean doing their job: representing the people that elected them. But on Wednesday, the architect of the genocide against the Palestinian people walked in and out of the “people’s house” to a standing ovation.
He was given more time with American lawmakers than any American will ever get in their lifetime and he used it to insist he was a good man that was commanding a moral army — insisting they have not killed anyone who did not deserve to have their life ended in the blink of an eye.
There are one thousand indications that the U.S. government has no obligation to Americans. This moment was just one — but it was one I will never let slip my mind.
These people are no different than the settlers that gather in lawn chairs, eat popcorn, and cheer when the Israeli military drops bombs on apartment complexes in Gaza.
For as long as they’ve been in office, they’ve had a front row seat to the carnage and all they do is gawk and cheer from the sidelines. Every once in a while, someone they are supposed to work for pesters them about their complacency and we are swatted away like flies.
The majority opinion in the United States is against continued support for Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza. Stories come out every week that push the needle further.
Last week, the story of Muhammad Bhar surfaced and was circulated around the world. Muhammad was my age, 24, and had Down Syndrome.
The Israeli military raided his home and let their dog attack him, tearing his arm to shreds. They separated him from his family, and left him in a room all by himself. They ordered his family to leave the house and left Muhammad to die — alone, bleeding, and scared.
His family found Muhammad starting to decompose in the room the soldiers left him in. He still had a tourniquet on his arm from when they tried to stop the bleeding. And they just left him there, like he was nothing.
The Israeli military confirmed this story days later and Netanyahu gets a round of applause for his courage and leadership.
They don’t even feel the need to lie to the world about their atrocities anymore — letting babies suffocate to death in incubators months ago was the litmus test for what the United States would let slide.
Ordering an attack dog on a man with Down Syndrome and locking him in a room to die without his loved ones there to console him wasn’t the red line — because there will never be one.
They gave a standing ovation.
Mohammad Bhar. (Family pictures, published on the National on 17 July 2024/Fair Use/Wikipedia)
If a man like Benjamin Netanyahu had walked through their home and mangled their children’s bodies so much that they could never forget the way they looked afterward — I wonder if they would still applaud.
I wonder if the screams of their family members burning alive in tents would potentially interrupt the thought that told them to clap, the thought that told them to give the man a standing ovation for his perfectly executed slaughter of thousands of human beings.
Some part of me still wanted to believe that these people may still be completely misled — that perhaps they don’t know about the 15,000 children that have been killed.
Maybe they haven’t seen what I’ve seen — the little girl with her face falling off, the boy with a missing head, the child with no legs, the mother unwilling to wash her children’s blood off her hands because it is all that is left of them.
Maybe they haven’t seen it at all. As thunderous applause rang out for the murderer, there were thousands of people outside trying to signal to the millions of people in Palestine that their turmoil isn’t being ignored. They were pepper sprayed, beaten, and arrested by cops that were trained in Israel.
When I saw the video of the standing ovation, something sunk in me — this is where I was born. This is where both of my parents were born. I have no nation to be loyal to but a nation tripping over themselves to kill my friends’ families.
There is bloodlust in the U.S. Congress — and bloodlust seems like the only thing they are loyal to. If there are “enemies” foreign and domestic, I fear they view us as the latter.
I clap for my friends at their comedy shows. I clap for people after they finish a speech at a community event. I sometimes clap when the plane lands, if someone else does it first. To clap for an executioner of children, mothers, fathers and friends — how much did they sell their souls for?
Danaka Katovich is CODEPINK’s National Co-Director. Danaka graduated from DePaul University with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science in November 2020.
This was originally published on Danaka’s Substack, Proof That I’m Alive. You can subscribe here! Republished with permission.
The most politicly powerful lobby group is indeed Israel, far more powerfull than either Democratic or Republican party leadership combined.
It’s power is expressed in many ways throughout the whole American existence, from Religious organizations, all educational institutions, over 300 tax free NGOs that exist on US dollars, media and yes the Jewish religious and racial populations within that society.
To end one’s careers no matter ones occupation all one needs do is be critical of Israel, not Judaism but Israel, and no matter wealth, political power, education instructors, doctors to veterinarians, open criticism is a career killer
This article should be required reading for everyone Congress Person and all of their aides.
It is very odd to me that these “elites” stand out as the most deplorable on earth, most deplorable even as they say we are, because deplorably, they cannot find their own faces in the mirrors they hold up and look into, but we can.
One hundred congress people did not attended and did not applaud this most horrible war criminal. That is a beginning and we best grab ahold and hang on tight. We definitely do need to vote in others like them.
Paula, I disagree. The Congress Representatives and Senators who did not attend SHOULD have attended and PROTESTED as did the lone stalwart Rashida Tliab, one person to stand against that brutal murderer. How much more disrespect for AIPAC and Israel would that have shown if the absent folks hadn’t been afraid of standing up for Palestinians. The people there who cheered, stood and clapped all be shunned in the next election.
Yes…every newspaper should print and every TV and radio station should broadcast the name, party affiliation and bailiwick of everyone who stood, so every American knows who these monsters are. I bet they wouldn’t like that a bit.
Many of those standing and applauding were not even members of Congress. Most of the seats of the 120+ lawmakers who did not attend were filled with compliant non-member stand-ins, a further offense to the voters for whom those seats were meant to provide representation, even if by boycotting an abhorrent use of that hallowed venue.
One commentator wrote that some Congress Critters invited their AIPAC handlers to enjoy BB’s rant.
If he media actually were publishing the names of these monsters the monsters would not exist. Strange paradox. But that is not how the system works. The monsters and the media are but two views of the same problem
To think of Mohammad sitting alone and scared, bleeding to death in his destroyed room is more than I can bear … can any nation that conducts such cruelty openly survive?
The US legislators who applauded this mass murderer Netanyahu are as vile as Netanyahu! It is sickening to see these bought and owned politicians by the Zionists!
There is no shame in “the people’s house”.
It reminds me of Winston Smith’s diary entry for April 4, 1984 in which he described the audience’s reaction to the previous night’s movie showing the carnage in the war between Oceania and Eurasia (or was it Eastasia – they changed so often it was hard to keep track).
1984 may be 40 years late, but it has finally arrived.
OTOH. It’s not the first time that Netanyahu has ‘addressed’ congress, is it ?
Let’s not forget that the atrocities have been going on since 1948, people are slowly waking up, but this is not new. Similarly, zionist influence and infiltration of government and MSM is not new. It’s just got worse to the point that some people now ask: “Who runs America ?”
And in addition to standing ovations to Netanyahu’s gaslighting, some of the folks in Congress
chanted “USA! USA! USA! …………… Such B.S.!
As the saying goes…shit always rises to the top! Does it ever!
These people have an inherent sickness. I doubt even counselling would be of benefit to them.
What is the basis for surprise when one considers that nations such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have unjustly established their territories on lands that were not rightfully theirs? These nations have deliberately disseminated diseases as a form of biological warfare to undermine indigenous populations and have engaged in conflicts against civilizations that were inadequately trained and armed. Did one truly believe that how the wealth was accrued by these “illegitimate nations” would not be mirrored in future? that it would be forgotten, like the piles of dead bodies upon whom these governments have built their foundations?
If Consortium News aims to alleviate the tragedies occurring in Gaza, it must confront analogous issues present within these so-called democratic and civilized colonies. The reservations designated for Native Americans represent a form of segregation intended to weaken these indigenous communities, to break their will, thereby compelling them to relinquish their cultures and ancestral lands. Alarmingly, the average life expectancy in certain reservations in US parallels that of some of the most impoverished countries globally.
While discussions surrounding reparations for slavery are prevalent in the United States, there seems to be a conspicuous lack of discourse regarding compensating Native Americans who have endured injustices comparable to those currently faced by Palestinians.
There are many many awful sins in all nations’ pasts … we must first concentrate on fixing what can be fixed for the living, or at least ensure we are not contributing to suffering and pain.
Native Americans are now full citizens of the US and can live anywhere in its territories with the same rights and privileges as any other citizen. Palestinians are persecuted NOW and are being bombed and tortured and destroyed and dispossessed NOW using American provided arms and diplomatic support. This must stop.
Indigenous populations, including Native Americans and Aboriginal peoples, predominantly seek autonomy and the restitution of their ancestral lands. Until these grievances are addressed, it is unjustifiable for nations such as the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom—nations that are collectively part of the Five Eyes alliance—to admonish Israel regarding its actions. These countries have historically benefited (still today) from injustices perpetrated against Indigenous peoples without facing accountability or undertaking meaningful reparative measures.
What rationale underpins this double standard? The only viable path forward is one of exemplary leadership; as long as these nations fail to rectify past injustices by providing compensation and restoring land to Native Americans, giving them independence, they inadvertently legitimize similar acts of brutality and injustice elsewhere in the world.
Moreover, should we disregard the transgressions committed by the Five Eyes merely because they occurred a few centuries ago? This narrative often comes from individuals who display little intention to rectify historical injustices. They may invoke examples such as the Roman Empire, suggesting that contemporary Italians should be held accountable for those ancient misdeeds. However, it is crucial to recognize that Italy no longer embodies the Roman Empire nor does it maintain possession of territories acquired through conquest. In contrast, countries such as the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom continue to occupy lands obtained through injustice while reaping ongoing benefits.
These colonial nations must acknowledge their historical responsibilities before they can credibly implore others to refrain from similar injustices. Israel is acutely aware of this hypocrisy; it knows that nations like the United States lack moral authority when addressing its conduct while simultaneously neglecting internal injustices.
The global community requires coherence in its principles and actions rather than hypocrisy.
It’s not a matter of “moral authority” and “addressing its (Israel’s) conduct. Its about being co-perpetrators, actively arming Israel to continue its ongoing, as we speak, genocide. The idea that we are talking about something as abstract as “hypocrisy,” seems to have entirely missed the salient aspects of our current situation.
Jamie, right, and don’t forget the current horror of France in the south pacific, forcing indigenous people off their islands with the help of the US and friends, the Five Eyes, I believe now Fourteen Eyes. Horror abounds under western leadership and Israel.
A very convenient whataboutism by Israelis … as long as the west has unaddressed sins from the past, it can’t admonish Israel for its currently ongoing ones. Sorry I don’t play that game. I care for the living today.
I’ve spent the last day trying to find a person to vote for in my district that doesn’t have this stink on them.
My congressman was “proud to stand with Israel” on July 24th. So he has to go.
If he doesn’t get primaried July 30th by a cookie cutter christian fascist proud of her Boeing VP husband. My choices are a democrat neocon lawyer ready to mix it up with China and Russia, and a green party write in hedge fund lawyer.
I’d be better off going down in the wash out back and flipping over a rock and voting for whatever I find crawling around.
We don’t have any choices, even down ballot.
The system has to go.
Thank you Danaka for this insightful piece! I am so ashamed of the US government and their part in the massacre happening in Gaza and sickened that they listened to and applauded the architect of that massacre. Every single person in that room should be voted out of office – if our system for voting actually worked…
The name of each Congress person who stood to clap for this butcher should be made known in the press for the whole world to see their betrayal of us the American people who voted them into office.
I say the exact same thing: EVERY politicial who stood to applaud Netanyahu needs to be identified and suffer the consequences .