Despite the growing calls for a ceasefire, Rep. Scholten remains committed to the brutal Israeli assault on Gaza

It has been a month since Israel began to exact revenge for the October 7 attack by Hamas. During the past four weeks, Rep. Scholten has remained committed to her unconditional support for Israel, which means she supports the bombing of Gaza, the Israeli push to de-populate Gaza of all Palestinians and to allow Israeli settlers to engage in more violence against Palestinians in and around the West Bank. 

On October 17, GRIID posted an article entitled, Rep. Scholten endorses Israeli War Crimes in Gaza, because of her silence on the Israeli assault and her endorsement of President Biden’s call for an additional $14.3 billion in US military aid to Israel. On October 24th, I posted another article about how Rep. Scholten was perpetuating misinformation about what Israel was doing against the Palestinians, along with her contradiction to support some humanitarian relief, while simultaneously endorsing the Israeli assault on Gaza, which is the root cause of the need for humanitarian relief. 

Then on October 26th, I posted an article, which included AIPAC-produced videos featuring Rep. Scholten, while she was on an AIPAC funded tour of Israel in August.

In Rep. Scholten’s most recent weekly newsletter (November 4), she states the following:

As the Israel-Hamas war raged into its 4th week, the United States is feeling mounting pressure from around the world to pass an international aid package that provides military aid to our democratic ally, Israel, along with humanitarian aid to innocent civilians caught in the path of war. Though Speaker Johnson has already proven capable of putting bipartisan legislation on the floor regarding this war, he chose to prioritize petty partisan politics instead this week with his Israel package. You can read my statement here.

I want to acknowledge again my gratitude for your continued engagement on this challenging and divisive issue. As we continue to work towards peace, and elevate the protection of human life, hearing from you helps guide my actions forward.

Regarding Rep. Scholten’s weekly newsletter comments, she presents only half-truths on what the international community are asking for. Yes, the global community is calling for humanitarian aid, but they are equally emphatic about demanding a ceasefire. Second, while she wants to put them blame on House Speaker Johnson for playing partisan politics, she fails to mention that what she and most of her Democratic colleagues want in their “Israel package,” is an additional $14.3 billion in US military aid. Lastly, it is worth mentioning that no where in her newsletter nor the linked statement Rep. Scholten makes, does she mention Palestinians or the number of dead, which is roughly 9,000 civilians, including 3,600 Palestinian children. 

Now, let’s take a look at the linked statement that Rep. Scholten included in her weekly newsletter.

“Just last week, more than 400 bipartisan members of the House came together to condemn Hamas and show our strong support for Israel, underscoring how united this body is in our support for our democratic ally. Instead of putting a bipartisan emergency Israel aid package on the floor, Speaker Johnson, in an unprecedented move, chose to prioritize an extreme Republican policy wish list item. 

Not only that, this package fails to include much-needed humanitarian aid for innocent civilians in Israel and Gaza, and has no chance of becoming law. These theatrics are further delaying our ability to provide critical assistance during this time of crisis for our strong ally. This sends a false and dangerous signal that we are not committed to supporting our democratic partners around the world.

Also, of deep concern to me, as someone who prioritizes fiscal responsibility with our taxpayer resources, is that this bill ADDS $12.5B to the deficit. Republicans are showing once again that they need a math lesson–this is not a budget cut, it takes our deficit in the wrong direction.

Speaker Johnson needs to immediately work with Democrats in Congress and the White House on a package that meets this critical moment. The world is watching. We have no time to waste.”

In her statement Rep. Scholten:

• Reminds people of her signing on to the bipartisan resolution affirming the US unconditional support for Israel. This is no surprise, considering how much money Pro-Israel PACs give to federal candidates and how much money they spend on lobbying in recent decades.
• Scholten talks about humanitarian aid, but this is misleading, since the humanitarian aid that the US might provide would be miniscule compared to the additional military aid that the US would provide to Israel, which is currently $14.3 billion.
• Rep. Scholten once again want to blame House Speaker Johnson for creating a deficit, which he would with his proposal. However, wouldn’t it equally be a deficit if the US sends an additional $14.3 billion in military aid to Israel, an amount that Scholten conveniently omits in her statement. The $14.3 billion that the Biden administration wants to send to Israel should be used to provide critical support for families in the US for housing, food and healthcare, not for war crimes, which is reflected in a recent statement by the National Priorities Project.
• Lastly, Rep. Scholten ended her statement by saying, “The world is watching. We have no time to waste.” I agree, the world is watching, and if Rep. Scholten, the majority of the US Congress and the Biden Administration continues to support the Israeli assault on Gaza, the murder of 10,000 Palestinian civilians, of which 3,600 are children, then they will be on the wrong side of history.