Earlier tonight, the House of Representatives passed a resolution objecting to the UN Security Council resolution on Israeli settlement construction.
The UN resolution, passed two weeks ago, reaffirmed that Israel’s construction of settlements in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, had no legal validity, constituting a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to a two-state solution. The UN Security Council called on Israel to halt all settlement activities and made clear that it would not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by both sides via negotiations. The Council further called for immediate steps to prevent acts of violence against civilians as well as acts of provocation and property destruction. It condemned all acts of terrorism, called for the avoidance of inflammatory rhetoric, and endorsed the strengthening of cooperative efforts to combat terrorism.
Rather than vetoing the resolution, the US (Ambassador Power) abstained from the vote, allowing the resolution to pass 14-0. This infuriated the right-wing government of Israel as well as its ardent supporters in Congress. Donald Trump and many Congressional Republicans have sought ways to punish the UN because of the resolution.
Ironically, given the vitriol of its opponents, the resolution itself is rather toothless.
But now on to the House’s resolution.
The House’s resolution against the UNSC resolution is, of course, filled with inaccuracies, as explained by CODEPINK:
H.Res.11 contains many inaccurate statements about the content of UN Security Council Resolution 2334. The UN resolution does not enforce binding parameters for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian issue on the parties and does not seek to supplant direct negotiations between them. Nor is the UN resolution one-sided: it also calls for “immediate steps to prevent all acts of violence against civilians, including acts of terror, as well as all acts of provocation and destruction,” and calls on both parties “to observe calm and restraint, and to refrain from provocative actions, incitement and inflammatory rhetoric.” The UN resolution does not break new ground by reaffirming that East Jerusalem is included in the West Bank for purposes of defining Occupied Palestinian Territory. Nor does the resolution include any language supporting the Palestinian civil society-led call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions.
Americans for Peace Now likewise targeted the resolution’s inaccuracies:
It mischaracterizes longstanding U.S. policy both in the Security Council and vis-à-vis settlements. And it misleadingly portrays President Obama’s abstention in the Security Council as a betrayal of Israel and harmful to peace efforts…..This resolution reflects the false/mistaken argument that the U.S. has had a longstanding policy of preventing passage of resolutions in the Security Council critical of Israel. The truth is that the opposite is true: every U.S. president since 1967 has abstained on or voted in favor of multiple resolutions critical of Israel, including resolutions to which Israel strenuously objected, when those resolutions were consistent with U.S. policy.
The House’s resolution passed by a large bipartisan majority of 342 to 80. 233 Republicans and 109 Democrats voted for it. 76 Democrats and 4 Republicans voted against it. 4 Democrats abstained: Mike Capuano (MA-07), Dwight Evans (PA-01), Zoe Lofgren (CA-19), and Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01).
In other words, the majority of the Democratic caucus sided with Trump over Obama and the Geneva Conventions.
Rather than highlighting the YES votes, I’ll focus on those who should be COMMENDED for their NO votes.
Here are the 76 Democrats:
Karen Bass (CA-37)
Don Beyer (VA-08)
Sanford Bishop (GA-02)
Earl Blumenauer (OR-03)
Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE-AL)
Cheri Bustos (IL-17)
G. K. Butterfield (NC-01)
Salud Carbajal (CA-24)
Andre Carson (IN-07)
Joaquin Castro (TX-20)
Judy Chu (CA-27)
Katherine Clark (MA-05)
Lacy Clay (MO-01)
James Clyburn (SC-06)
Steve Cohen (TN-09)
Gerry Connolly (VA-11)
John Conyers (MI-13)
Danny Davis (IL-07)
Pete DeFazio (OR-04)
Diana DeGette (CO-01)
Rosa DeLauro (CT-03)
Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11)
Debbie Dingell (MI-12)
Lloyd Doggett (TX-35)
Mike Doyle (PA-14)
Keith Ellison (MN-05)
Anna Eshoo (CA-18)
Bill Foster (IL-11)
Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02)
John Garamendi (CA-03)
Al Green (TX-09)
Raul Grijalva (AZ-03)
Luis Gutiérrez (IL-04)
Denny Heck (WA-10)
Jared Huffman (CA-02)
Pramila Jayapal (WA-07)
Hank Johnson (GA-04)
Eddie Johnson (TX-30)
Marcy Kaptur (OH-09)
Robin Kelly (IL-02)
Ruben Kihuen (NV-04)
Dan Kildee (MI-05)
Annie Kuster (NH-02)
Joe Larson (CT-01)
Barbara Lee (CA-13)
John Lewis (GA-05)
David Loebsack (IA-02)
Alan Lowenthal (CA-47)
Stephen Lynch (MA-08)
Betty McCollum (MN-04)
Jim McGovern (MA-02)
Jerry McNerney (CA-09)
Gregory Meeks (NY-05)
Gwen Moore (WI-04)
Rick Nolan (MN-08)
Beto O’Rourke (TX-16)
Donald Payne (NJ-10)
Nancy Pelosi (CA-12)
Chellie Pingree (ME-01)
Mark Pocan (WI-02)
David Price (NC-04)
Jan Schakowsky (IL-09)
Bobby Scott (VA-03)
Jose Serrano (NY-15)
Louise Slaughter (NY-25)
Jackie Speier (CA-14)
Eric Swalwell (CA-15)
Mark Takano (CA-41)
Bennie Thompson (MS-02)
Mike Thompson (CA-05)
Paul Tonko (NY-20)
Niki Tsongas (MA-03)
Maxine Waters (CA-43)
Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12)
Pete Welch (VT-AL)
John Yarmuth (KY-03)
The four Republican NO votes were Justin Amash (MI-03), Jimmy Duncan (TN-02), Louie Gohmert (TX-01), and Walter Jones (NC-03). Gohmert does not deserve to be commended for his vote; indeed, he opposed the House resolution because he deemed it not extreme enough. The other three have a history of defecting on foreign policy.