The House passed a bill on Wednesday to label products from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank as originating from “Israel,” essentially recognizing Israel’s annexation and ethnic cleansing of the region in what opponents of the bill say is a “hateful” attempt to erase the very existence of Palestinians in Palestine.
The bill would make permanent an extremist Donald Trump-era policy to mislabel products from Palestine. Under the proposal, products from areas encompassing the majority of the West Bank would be labeled as a “Product of Israel” or “Made in Israel.”
Meanwhile, the bill would also mandate that products from the occupied West Bank and Gaza no longer be labeled in conjunction as being from “West Bank/Gaza” or “West Bank and Gaza” — a labeling scheme recognizing their unity as Palestine — but rather, be labeled only as being from the “West Bank” or “Gaza.”
The bill is a way to advance the U.S.’s recognition of Israel’s annexation of the West Bank, even as the occupation and states’ recognition of it has been declared illegal by the International Court of Justice; even the bill’s title, the Anti-BDS Labeling Act, referring to the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, takes a swat at advocates for Palestinian rights.
When the Trump policy was announced by then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2020, it was considered by some to be even more extreme than Israel’s own stances in advancing its annexation of the West Bank at the time. Now, it has taken a step toward becoming permanent U.S. law.
The bill passed 231 to 189, with 16 Democrats joining Republicans in voting “yes.” The Democrats who voted in favor represent some of the most extremist pro-Israel Democrats in the House, as well as some of the most conservative in the caucus, including Representatives Ritchie Torres (New York) and Josh Gottheimer (New Jersey).
The bill is the latest move by Congress to erode Palestinian rights and grant power to Israel as it carries out massive attacks in Lebanon, an assault of the occupied West Bank, and a genocide in Gaza.
“Let’s be clear. A vote for this bill would further support the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. A ‘yes’ vote for this bill is erasing the existence of Palestinians,” said Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) in a speech on the House floor ahead of the bill’s passage. “Yeah, that’s right — Palestinians also have a right to exist.”
Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, noted that conservative members of Congress have been concertedly stoking hatred against Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians — including in a hearing on Tuesday in which Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) parroted racist talking points and told an Arab American expert who was testifying, Maya Berry, that she deserved to “hide [her] head in a bag.”
“The provisions of this bill, Mr. Speaker, has hateful and discriminatory implications,” said Tlaib. “We must stand against it and vote no.”
The bill, if passed, would also make it harder for advocates for Palestinian rights to support Palestinian-made products and boycott Israeli-made ones.“You should have the right to know whether a product is made in an illegal Israeli settlement before you buy it,” wrote the Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
Last week, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment. We are presently looking for 242 new monthly donors in the next 2 days.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy