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Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) has denounced a bill advancing through the House that threatens sanctions on South Africa over its genocide case against Israel in the Hague and other actions against Israel, calling it an “extremist disgrace.”
Last Tuesday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee overwhelmingly voted to advance a bill that requires the U.S. to reexamine its relationship with South Africa and proposes sanctions on South African officials, specifically naming leaders of the African National Congress party. The legislation advanced 34 to 13, with bipartisan support.
It’s unclear if House or Senate leaders would put the bill to a full chamber vote. However, the advancing of the bill, introduced by Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson (Texas), is yet another show of U.S. lawmakers’ willingness to bend over backwards to please Israel in a time when it is committing genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing in the occupied West Bank.
“Congress is threatening to sanction South Africa for their courageous leadership against the Israeli regime’s genocide in Gaza,” said Tlaib in a statement on social media on Monday. “H.R. 2633 is an extremist disgrace. Republicans and any Democrats who vote for this should forever keep [Nelson] Mandela’s name out of their mouths.”
The bill effectively says that the U.S. should punish South Africa for its criticism of Israel’s genocide, including its genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and referral of Israeli officials to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes in Gaza. The bill also names cooperation with China and Russia as a reason to reexamine ties — though South Africa also maintains close ties with U.S. allies.
Other Democrats have criticized the bill as counterproductive, saying that it would only push South Africa closer to adversaries by cutting ties with the U.S. They also criticized the Trump administration’s decision to establish a supposed refugee program for white Afrikaners that was reportedly explicit in only welcoming white people who already experience privilege in the country compared to the majority Black population.
Israel was once close with South Africa, in the apartheid era. Since the fall of South Africa’s apartheid regime, however, leaders have been critical of Israel and its apartheid against Palestinians.
Trump administration officials and U.S. lawmakers have taken numerous steps to retaliate against international figures and institutions in order to shield Israel from any shred of consequences for its genocide.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration sanctioned UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese for her continued advocacy for Palestinian rights.
This follows the Trump administration’s sanctions on ICC officials like chief prosecutor Karim Khan, after the House overwhelmingly passed a bill calling for the measure, over the ICC’s issuing of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former military leader Yoav Gallant — warrants that the U.S. has openly flouted.
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