Things You Could Say
Last Friday, congressional hopeful Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sat down with Margaret Hoover on PBS's Firing Line. As a candidate in her primary campaign against Democratic incumbent Jim Crowley, Ocasio-Cortez voiced a refreshing candor, mostly unheard in US politics, about the injustices Palestinians face from Israeli forces. Well-circulated online and within progressive and activist circles, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted about her opposition to moving the US embassy to Jerusalem and called the killings by Israeli forces of peaceful protesters in Gaza in March 2018 a "massacre."
This kind of commentary from the young candidate led a slate of commentators to commend her "moral courage." Among other positions, Ocasio-Cortez's ability to connect colonial dynamics in Puerto Rico to those Palestinians face encouraged commentators to wonder if her win was a "new bellwether" in American politics.
So, in last Friday's interview, networks of hopeful activists and political observers were dismayed to hear Ocasio-Cortez touting the same tired lines the Democratic Party establishment has trotted out for years.
Relevant segment starts around the 18-minute mark.
Told her tweets calling the murders of protesters in Gaza a "massacre" were "a little controversial," Hoover asks Ocasio-Cortez, "what's your position on Israel?" In response, the 28-year-old seems to fumble, considering her earlier clarity and confidence on the issue, admitting, "I am not the expert on geo-politics on this issue." (Read the transcript here.)
Activists and commentators that at first celebrated the moral courage of Ocasio-Cortez have observed that the change in her discourse may be the result of increased pressure from special interest groups, now that she has won the primary in a dramatic upset. But the kind of political stuttering Ocasio-Cortez voiced in the PBS interview is a problem Palestinian allies themselves must address in making sure our representatives are confidently versed in other ways to answer these questions. The situation in which Ocasio-Cortez found herself is likely to happen again and again. With luck and organization, we will see other progressive candidates of color upsetting the political establishment. As they do, they will be asked to clarify "their position on Israel." Are these aspiring leaders really unversed and unaware of the situation in Palestine/Israel? Are they really unsure of the stakes in the conflict in the Middle East in which the US has been most intimately involved over the past century?
It is more likely that the political vacuum (and special interest pressure) is such that political hopefuls are not sure how to answer these questions other than the ways they have always been answered. Ocasio-Cortez's responses on Firing Line are not unique to her, nor to aspiring politicians, nor to people of color. Across industry, race, ethnic background, religion, gender, the most ready answer among non-Palestinians to the question "what about Israel?" is "I am no expert." There are good reasons for this but there are also good reasons to move debate past this roadblock.
Being an expert is not a requirement for having an opinion. It's not a condition for entering debate. It's not a prerequisite for disagreeing, asking questions, voicing concern.
There is much to read and learn (some suggestions for more reading in a following post) but in the meantime, how might an aspiring leader who thinks of herself as a Palestinian ally articulate, debate, and voice positions critical of Israel?
Here are 8 Things You Could Say:
1. I decry the occupation. I think Palestinians deserve the right to control their borders, their roads, their currency, their imports and exports, and their security. It doesn't make sense to talk about a "two state solution" as long as these basic elements of Palestinian sovereignty are denied and withheld by the Israeli occupation.
2. I consider settlements illegal. I am in accord with several rulings by the UN and the general position of the international community who have for years asserted the illegality of Israeli settlements past the Green Line. The continuous expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank demonstrates the settler-colonial nature of dynamics in Israel/Palestine.
3. I condemn the siege on Gaza. The Gaza Strip is the most densely populated piece of land on the planet. It is a humanitarian disaster that is entirely manmade, where the responsibility falls on Israel, as the occupying power, to ensure that all citizens have access to food, medicine, shelter, education, and so on.
4. I denounce Israeli policies of administrative detention. I believe Palestinians and Israelis have the right to a fair trial, to representation in a court of law, to be free from torture and the threat of torture, to be made aware of charges leveled against them, and to see a fair trial timely. Israeli policies of administrative detention which allow Israeli forces to arrest and detain prisoners indefinitely without trial violate these rights.
5. I think that all citizens of Israel, regardless of creed, religion, ethnicity, country of origin, or political belief, deserve equal rights. Just today, the Israeli Knesset approved a controversial bill that states that Jews will have the "exclusive right to self-determination in Israel." Israel risks pitting its Jewish nature against a democratic one. Israeli state policies deny freedom of movement, access and resources, and representation under the law on the basis of creed, ethnicity, religion, and origin. I recognize that these policies are fundamentally un-democratic and I affirm the right to critique and renounce them as such.
6. I support the Palestinian call for the Right of Return. The creation of the state of Israel in 1948 resulted in the displacement of 750,000 Palestinians; patterns of displacement have continued since then. They and their families live in exile and have a right to return. I support them in their call for the right of return to their homeland after 70 years of displacement and exile.
7. I reprove the policies of regional governments, including Arab governments, that have penned-in, discriminated against, and denied freedom of movement, education, and work to four generations of displaced refugees.
8. I differentiate between Judaism, a religion, and Zionism, a political project. My support of Palestinians and my condemnation of Israeli policies that deny them basic humanity as well as human rights acknowledges that Judaism and Zionism are not interchangeable. I join with sisters and brothers of many faiths, including Judaism, and many nationalities, including Israelis, in denouncing the injustice and brutality of the Zionist occupation.
Update: Corey Robin offers his own version of "things you could say" rooted in larger Leftist arguments about US military spending. Read it!