Always Follow the Money: Campaign contributions from the Realtors Political Action Committee of Michigan
Over the next week or so, GRIID will be posting articles about campaign financing, since the most recent deadline for filing was October 25. Most of the campaign contributions are for the 2024 Elections, but it is never too early to think about which organizations and which members of the Capitalist Class are seeking to influence both the outcome of the 2024 Elections and public policy that will be proposed by those elected.
Realtors Political Action Committee of Michigan
With all of the new housing bill proposals, the Realtors Political Action Committee of Michigan is contributing a sizable amount of money for the 2024 Election.
The Realtors Political Action Committee of Michigan lists 181 separate political contributions, based on the data from the Michigan Secretary of State’s Campaign Finances portal.
Some of the largest contributions are as follows:
- Senate Republican Campaign Committee $22,875
- House Republican Campaign Committee $22,875
- Building Bridges PAC (Gov. Whitmer) $10,000
- National Realtors PAC $9,645
- Michigan House Democratic Fund $7,373
- Michigan Senate Democratic Fund $6,875
- Greater Regional Alliance of Realtor $5,006
- Committee to Elect Joe Tate $5,000
- Jackson Area Association of Realtors $4,531
- Matt Hall for State Representative $2,500
- Michigan Association of Realtors $2,100
- Nesbitt Majority Fund 2 $1,500
- Friends of Justin Fischer $1,500
- Committee to Elect Joe Tate $1,500
You can see from this list that it is fairly bi-partisan, which is how corporate PACs often operate. Corporate PACs contribute to both parties, which is a way of covering all bases, so that no matter who is elected, they will have greater access to politicians and greater influence over public policy.
When it comes to campaign contributions for candidates/incumbents that are in West Michigan, here is a list from the data:
- Kristian Grant Leadership Fund $1,000
- Huizenga for Michigan Leadership Fund $1,000
- Winnie Brinks Victory Fund $1,000
- Carol Glanville for State Rep. $550
- Committee to Elected Rick Outman $500
- Phil Skaggs PAC $200
In this case, Huizenga and Outman are the Republicans, and Grant, Brinks, Glanville and Skaggs are all Democrats.
Housing policies will be a hot topic for years to come, especially considering how expensive housing is, but also because the housing sector does not want anything more than market based proposals and solutions for future housing development. While there might be some mild differences between the Republicans and Democrats, it is clear that both major political parties in Michigan fundamentally embrace market-based solutions to the current housing crisis. Market based housing solutions will automatically mean that thousands of families across Michigan will be priced out of the housing market.
Since the Hamas attacks against Israel earlier this month, the 3rd Congressional Representative, Hillary Scholten, has been very vocal about her unconditional support for the State of Israel.
The unconditional support for Israel has recently translated into a call for increased military aid to Israel (as if $3.8 Billion a year isn’t enough), as well as another resolution re-affirming the US commitment to Israel. In a GRIID post from last week on the zealous support of Israel by Rep. Scholten, I made it clear that the increased US military aid and the diplomatic alliance with Israel has resulted in thousands of Palestinians deaths, mostly in Gaza. I entitled last week’s post, Rep. Scholten endorses Israeli War Crimes in Gaza. The same continues this week, based on the actions of Rep. Scholten, which I will discuss here.
The first action I want to discuss is based upon a Press Release from Rep. Scholten, dated October 19. In that Press Release, Scholten, along with other members of Congress, urged Egyptian Ambassador to the United States Motaz Zahran to encourage the Egyptian government to help protect innocent civilians in Gaza. Part of the text reads as follows:
In order to protect noncombatants and civilians in Gaza from Hamas’s brutality, we call on the Egyptian government to urgently work with the United States, Israel, and relevant international stakeholders to take all measured and appropriate steps to support and facilitate safe zones in southern Gaza and enable a steady supply of humanitarian assistance to flow from Egypt towards those in the safe zones until the civilian population is able to return to the north of the Strip.
First, it must be stated that Hamas does not make it a practice to brutalize other Palestinians, especially in Gaza. Rep. Scholten provides no evidence of “Hamas’s brutality,” nor does she provide any sources to support this claim. The other major problem with this Press Release is the fact that nowhere does it acknowledge the decades-long Israeli occupation of Gaza, the ongoing brutality by the Israelis against those living in Gaza – See Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappe’s book, Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on the US-Israeli War Against the Palestinians or the numerous reports by the Israeli Human Rights group, BTselem. This decades long Israeli brutality against those living in Gaza, along with the current Israeli bombing and the demand that the Palestinians living in Gaza must leave are the real reasons why Palestinian civilians living in Gaza are at risk. Also, it must be said that the longstanding Israeli occupation and the ongoing Israeli brutality against those living in Gaza could only happen with US government consent and complicity in those crimes.
In Rep. Scholten’s weekly newsletter for October 23rd, she devotes a fair amount to what the Congresswoman refers to as, “the Israel-Hamas war.” Hamas is not a nation, so they cannot be at war with the State of Israel. More importantly, Rep. Scholten continues to NOT acknowledge the decades-long Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, which includes Gaza and the ongoing Israeli assaults on Gaza.
Rep. Scholten then goes on to say, “at the heart of what drives my foreign policy–is our desire for lasting peace.” This is a nice sentiment, but there can never be real or lasting peace between Israel and Palestine, especially when the US is complicit with the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, the massive amounts of US military aid to Israel, and the US complicity in the expansion of Israeli Settlements – which includes the bulldozing of Palestinian homes and the occupation of additional Palestinian lands. For Rep. Scholten to say she wants lasting peace, while simultaneously agreeing to send more military aid to Israel is flat out hypocrisy.
Lastly, Rep. Scholten mentions on her Facebook page for October 23rd, “I joined over 100 of my Democratic colleagues in thanking the Biden admin. for its strong response to the crisis and urging POTUS to provide continued aid to Gaza.” As I pointed out yesterday with Senator Gary Peters, when the US provides only a few million in humanitarian aid to those fleeing Gaza, while simultaneously planning on sending $14 billion in Military Aid to Israel – which will be used to brutalize more Palestinians – one can see the deception in supposed US concern over the fleeing Palestinians.
In a recent article on the site Electronic Intifada, we see a more robust argument and analysis for the so-called humanitarian aid for the US in an article entitled, Biden’s Gaza “aid” plan a fig leaf for genocide. The article states:
Even if aid does start trickling in from Egypt, this would not be much more than a public relations exercise. It would not significantly alleviate the enormous harm and suffering that Israel is deliberately inflicting on the civilian population as collective punishment.
The 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza are without water, food, fuel and medicine – life essentials – because Israel has deliberately cut them off. This a crime against humanity of the highest order against people the Israeli government has labeled “human animals.”
Unfortunately, this is not the sort of astute and passionate analysis coming from Michigan’s 3rd Congressional Representative, even though this is what we demand.
A letter from Senator Peters claims to care about the humanitarian crisis in the West Bank and Gaza, but it is filled with deception and hypocrisy
On Thursday, Michigan Senator Gary Peters, along with 30 other Senators, sent a deceptive request to President Biden for humanitarian aid for the West Bank and Gaza. Here is the text of that request from Senator Peters, which was sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken: 
As a result of the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza prompted by Hamas’ horrific terror attacks, more than 1.2 million people are in urgent need of lifesaving humanitarian assistance. More than one million people have fled the violence, stretching the already strained ability of the United Nations and humanitarian partners on the ground to provide the food, medical treatment, and shelter they need to survive. In this context, the UN has released an emergency appeal for $294 million to address these humanitarian needs, help protect displaced people and save countless lives. We urge you to uphold our country’s proud tradition of leading the international community in providing lifesaving relief by contributing funding for international humanitarian assistance toward this UN appeal.
We support Israel’s right to defend its people against the brutal attacks carried out by Hamas. Hamas knew that the Israeli government would have to respond to the unconscionable murder and hostage-taking of its citizens and thus bears the blame for initiating this conflict. We also know there are many innocent Palestinians in Gaza who do not support Hamas and urgently need help as they seek to flee the fighting. More than one million people in Gaza have fled their homes in search of safety, with nearly half of those taking shelter in UN facilities. The United Nations estimates that Gaza will run out of food and water within days. Healthcare facilities are overwhelmed, running desperately short on supplies and impacted by the lack of electricity. The humanitarian needs on the ground have dramatically increased over the past week, and conditions will likely continue to deteriorate in the days and weeks ahead.
Displaced people around the world depend on lifesaving humanitarian assistance from the UN and its partners to feed their families, receive medical treatment, and secure shelter. The United States should continue its steadfast support for Israel while also doing our part to help the UN assist innocent civilians as they flee the violence. We therefore urge you to join the international community in answering the call from the United Nations by contributing toward this lifesaving $294 million appeal, and ask that you work with the UN and its partners to ensure that the assistance reaches the intended recipients without diversion or delay.
I stated earlier that this statement was deceptive, plus it is highly problematic. Let’s look at the reasons why.
First, the statement from Peters and his colleagues uses language that is deceptive. It begins by saying, “the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza.” What is happening and what has been happening since the late 1940s in not a conflict, it is a one-sided dynamic, where Israel displaced thousands of Palestinians during the Nakba, the 50 years illegal Israeli occupation, the Apartheid State of Israel and the ongoing brutalization of Palestinians, particularly those that live in Gaza.
Second, the statement clearly wants to lay all of the blame at the feet of Hamas, using phrases like “Hamas’ horrific terror attacks” and “unconscionable murder and hostage-taking of its citizens.” This statement was written after Israel started dropping thousands of bombs on Gaza, which is made up of civilians and a high number of children. In addition, Israel announced before this statement was written that the 1.2 million Palestinians living in Gaza needed to leave. Bombing Palestinian civilians, including children is an act of terrorism. Forcibly displacing and relocating the more than 1 million living in Gaza is a form of ethnic cleansing and it meets the definition of genocide, as stated in the 1948 Genocide Convention.
Third, the US Government announced before the statement written by Senator Peters and his colleagues, that they would be sending several billion dollars in US military aid to Israel, which is in a addition to the already $3.8 billion in US military aid that Israel automatically receives on an annual basis. The New York Times reported that the Biden Administration is asking for $14 billion for Israel in responses to the Hamas attacks. The new US military aid to Israel, along with the annual $3.8 billion the US provides, is the root cause of the humanitarian crisis in the West Bank and Gaza.
Fourth, since the massive amounts of US military aid to Israel is part of the root cause of the humanitarian crisis in the West Bank and Gaza, this letter from Senator Peters and his colleagues is complete hypocrisy. In their statement, they refer to the humanitarian aid as, “lifesaving humanitarian assistance.” This further demonstrates the hypocrisy of their actions, because if the US really wanted to take action to provide “lifesaving humanitarian assistance,” they would stop sending Israel $3.8 billion in military aid every year. In fact, the hypocrisy of the US is reflected in the last paragraph of the statement from Sen. Peters and his colleagues, when it says, “The United States should continue its steadfast support for Israel while also doing our part to help the UN assist innocent civilians as they flee the violence.”
Lastly, it is worth pointing out that Senator Peters and his colleagues, along with the rest of Congress and the Biden Administration are well aware of the violence that the Israeli government perpetrates against the Palestinian people. US leaders are not in denial, they are ideologically compromised on this issue, partly because the pro-Israel Lobby makes significant contributions to most members of Congress.
Let us not be deceived by the hypocritical statement from Senator Peters and his colleagues and recognize that if the US really cared about the well being of Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza, they would stop sending billion in US Military Aid to Israel.
State Legislators are dragging their feet on adopting demands of the Rent is Too Damn High Coalition
People may remember that in early September there was a sizable rally at the Lansing State Capitol, organized by the coalition know as The Rent is Too Damn High!. GRIID attended that rally and wrote about it.
At the September 5th rally there were four overall demands by the housing justice coalition, which included:
- Rent Control – Remove the state-wide ban on rent control so municipalities can take action to stabilize rents and protect tenants.
- Social Housing – $4 billion for social housing in FY25 state budget.
- Housing First – $1 billion for people experiencing and at risk of homelessness in FY25 state budget.
- A Renter’s Bill of Rights – Renters around the country are insisting on more protections against landlord abuse and empowerment of renters as a class
Ten days after the rally, there was legislation proposed to undo the existing state ban on rent control. The proposed legislation was introduced by Rep. Carrie Rheingans, known as HB 4947, which GRIID also wrote about.
Since mid September, people from the statewide Rent is Too Damn High coalition have been pressuring elected officials, both in their respective communities and by attending Committee meetings in Lansing. Unfortunately, the Housing committee meeting in the House of Representatives, has been cancelled for the third time in the past 6 weeks. previously. At this rate, the legislature might not achieve much of anything this year to help renters, despite the worsening cost-of-living crisis that we are all facing. This is because it is unlikely that any action will be taken after the Thanksgiving break and possibly even the week before, meaning that there are only a few weeks for committee meetings that could move proposed legislation on renters rights and rent control to be adopted immediately.
We have also heard that there are two Democrats in the State House that are on the ballot for November 7, running for local Mayoral seats. If they both win, there will be 2 less Democrats in the State House, thus removing the slim majority they currently hold. Next year, in 2024, it is an election year and State Legislators who are hoping to get re-elected will spent more time on their campaigns than they will making policy changes that the public wants to see happen, especially around issues like housing.
Therefore, the Rent is Too Damn High coalition is calling on people to contact the two representatives listed below, to insist that the Housing committee do its job and push through renters right, rent control bills before the House adjourns.
Committee Chair, Representative Kevin Coleman: (517) 373-2275
House Speaker, Representative Joe Tate: (517) 373-0857
Demand that they do the following three things:
1. Pass the Homeless Bill of Rights (HB 4919) through committee and through the full chamber
2. Pass the Fair Chance Access to Housing Act (HB 4878) through committee and through the full chamber
3. Hold a committee hearing on the Rent Control Preemption Repeal (HB 4947)
There is also an Action Alert that people can sign onto, which will send messages to the State Representative for your area. Just click on this link to send that Action Alert.
However, even if the state efforts to win Rent Control won’t happen through legislation, that doesn’t mean we can’t be working on Rent Control right now on a local level. Rent control campaigns have been won by getting tenants from specific Landlords or Property Management Companies, when tenants are organized.
What a landlord/Property Management Company rent control campaign would look like, is to organize tenants in a particular community who all rent from the same landlord or Property Management Company. If we begin to identify Landlords and Property Management Companies that own multiple properties, we could also connect with other communities in the state to see if these same Landlords and Property Management Companies have tenants in their cities. Building a statewide movement for rent control could also happen like this.
In fact, no tenant movement should put all their eggs in the basket of getting governments to adopt rent control, since we can do the work directly in our own communities right now. We can work on a rent control strategy that is 2 pronged, both government and landlord/Property Management Company as targets. Plus, the advantage of targeting Landlords and Property Management Companies is that you can demand more than just rent control, thus tackling multiple demands that would make any tenant movement more robust.
If you are a renter and this is something that you want to be involved in, then please contact the Grand Rapids Area Tenant Union by sending an e-mail to gratunion@gmail.com or leaving a message on their Facebook page.
We could stop funding the Israeli assault on Gaza and fund real community needs right here in Grand Rapids
We know that the US Government has been providing $3.8 billion in military aid to Israel on an annual basis. $3.8 billion in US military aid to Israel makes Israel the largest recipient of US military aid, which has been the case for decades.
We also know that the $3.8 billion of US military aid to Israel is primarily used to bomb Gaza and to arrest, detain, torture and kill Palestinians, as the human rights group B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, has methodically documented.
Now, according to the fabulous tool that the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights has created, which allows you to type in your city or state, which provides an amount of the $3.8 billion annually in US military aid to Israel that could stay in your community. On top of that, this tool provides an example of how the money that leaves Michigan or Grand Rapids on an annual basis, how that money could be used in our communities.
For example, when I type in Michigan, it says that of the $3.8 billion of US military aid that goes to Israel, $89,397,606 of it comes from Michigan. If that amount of money were to stay in Michigan on an annual basis it could fund:
- 10,627 households with public housing for a year.
- 31,105 children could receive free or low cost healthcare.
- It could cover the salaries of 976 elementary school teachers
- 254,512 households could be powered by solar electricity for a year.
- 2,365 students could have their loan debt cancelled.
- 77,737,049 N95 respirator masks could be provided to the public.
If we type in Grand Rapids, we find that on an annual basis, $2,815,720.00 of the $3.8 billion in US military aid to Israel could stay in our community. That is almost 1 million more than is currently being used for the Grand Rapids Participatory Budgeting project ($2 million). Again, this tool provides a breakdown of how $2,815,720.00 could be used in Grand Rapids:
- 334 Households with public housing for a year.
- 979 children could receive free or low-cost healthcare.
- It would cover the salary for 30 elementary school teachers.
- 8,016 households could be powered with solar electricity for a year.
- 74 students could have their loan debt cancelled.
- 2,448,452 N95 respirators masks could be provided for the community.
This is what we call Radical Imagination. If we can imagine it, we can then organize to win these kinds of transformative campaigns. This is what Rep. Scholten, Senators Peters and Stabenow, what State Legislators, County officials and Grand Rapids City Commissioners need to embrace. However, we k ow they won’t unless that are pressured into doing so. By not sending $2,815,720.00 in federal tax money from Grand Rapids to fund the Israeli occupation, we would not only stop being complicit in Israeli war crimes, we would re-direct that amount on an annual basis to fund vitally important community needs right here in Grand Rapids. Sounds like an organizing campaign to me.
On Tuesday, there was coverage of former’s GOP Gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley’s sentencing, for his role in the January 6th riot/insurrection in Washington, DC.
MLive and all three Grand Rapids TV stations ran stories on Ryan’s sentencing. However, the three TV stations all used the same Associated Press (AP) article that appeared on their websites. Here is a link to the WOODTV8 story, so you can read what the AP article had to say.
The MLive article was actually written by an MLive reporter, with the headline, Ex-Michigan gov. candidate Ryan Kelley gets 60 days in prison for Capitol riot role.
The MLive article talks about the sentencing, some comments from the judge, Kelley’s Gubernatorial candidacy in 2022 and the day that the FBI arrested him. MLive also promoted some previous posts they had done about Kelley, but only after the January 6, 2021 riot/insurrection and his candidacy in 2022.
What is unfortunate about this coverage, it that it omits Kelley’s role with the American Patriot Council that came into existence in 2020 at the same time that the COVID pandemic was happening. I understand that Ryan Kelley was just sentenced for his role on the January 6, 2021 riot/insurrection in Washington, DC, but his involvement in Far Right Politics beginning just 10 months before then laid the groundwork for him to participate in the January 6, 2021 riot/insurrection.
In April of 2020, Ryan Kelley and the American Patriot Council were involved in the protest at Gov. Whitmer’s home and they were the lead organizer for the large protest at the Lansing State Capitol a week later.
In May of 2020, Ryan Kelley and the American Patriot Council announced protests in Lansing and in Grand Rapids that same month. The American Patriot Council referred to the May 14th rally as Judgement Day at the Lansing State Capitol. In the GRIID May 12 post, we acknowledged that Ryan Kelley was in communication with State Senator Mike Shirkey during the April 30th protest in Lansing, while the protest was happening. However, you will notice that in our GRIID article some of the hyperlinks no longer work, because the American Patriot Council had removed some of their posts at the same time that several people were charged in a plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer.
On May 18, I attended and wrote about the American Patriot Council rally in Grand Rapids, where Ryan Kelley spoke and advocated again for the arrest of Gov. Whitmer, the Attorney General and the Secretary of State. Another important thing about that rally was the fact that there were several armed men who were on stage with Kelley for the rally, men who were initially charged in the plot to kidnap the Governor.
Later that summer, Ryan Kelley was involved in efforts to keep the Civil War Statue in Allendale, and used that issue as a rallying point for the American Patriot Council, which also organized a rally in Allendale in October of 2020, claiming that there would be freedom protests happening all over the country.
A few weeks later, the American Patriot Council urged people to go to Detroit to the site of a one of the election polling centers to contest the validity of the vote count process, primarily through intimidation.
All of this backstory to Ryan Kelley’s participation in the riot/insurrection on January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC, not only is relevant information regarding Kelley’s political evolution, but it is information that should have been included as part of the legal case against him for his participation on January 6, 2021. Ryan Kelley, like so many others who participated in the January 6, 2021, riot/insurrection, did not do so in a vacuum, the January 6th action was merely the culmination of what they had been hoping for several years prior.
When you use an I Stand with Israel flag on social media, what are you really standing for?
When Hamas attacked Israel earlier this month, US President Joe Biden stated that he stands with Israel. Soon after that, I started seeing several people using an I Stand with Israel flag that was part of their Facebook identity.
I get it, the attack by Hamas took innocent Israeli lives, so we often want to respond to acts of violence by standing with, supporting or being in solidarity with those who have been victimized. I get it.
However, what those who now have I Stand with Israel flags or symbols on their social media sites are actually doing is omitting 75 years of history, where the Palestinians have been victimized by the Israelis, beginning with the Nakba, where thousands of Palestinian families were displaced from their land. See Ilan Pappe’s book, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine.
Having an I Stand with Israel flag or symbol on your social media means that you endorse and support the internationally recognized illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, an occupation that has lasted 55 years.
Having an I Stand with Israel flag or symbol on your social media means that you support Israel’s oppression of Palestinians, which meets the definition of the crime of Apartheid that is set out by the 2002 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. For more on the Israeli system of Apartheid, go to this link.
Having an I Stand with Israel flag or symbol on your social media means that you support the decades-long detention, torture and killing of Palestinians by the Israeli government. See the numerous reports and publications on these issues that has been methodically documented by B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories.
Having an I Stand with Israel flag or symbol on your social media means that you support the Blockade imposed by Israel on those living in the Gaza. The Blockade limits the movement of people and goods to and from Gaza. There have been numerous Israeli initiated blockades of Gaza, but the most recent one began in 2008.
Having an I Stand with Israel flag or symbol on your social media means that you support the expansion of Israeli settlements, which happens in part because the Israeli government promotes settlement expansion that happens on Palestinian lands and often means the destruction of Palestinian homes. For more information see the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD).
Having an I Stand with Israel flag or symbol on your social media means that you support the ethnic cleaning of Palestinians by the Israeli government. The most recent mandate that all Palestinians living in Gaza must leave is a clear form of ethnic cleansing and a War Crime.
Having an I Stand with Israel flag or symbol on your social media means that you support the Israeli murder of Palestinian children. Since Israel began bombing Gaza after the attacks against Israel by Hamas, there have been at least 1,000 Palestinian children that have been killed.
Having an I Stand with Israel flag or symbol on your social media means that you support the US decision to provide $3.8 Billion in military aid to Israel on an annual basis.
There is certainly more that I could add to this list, but I think you probably get the point. I also understand that some of this information might be new to you, considering that the US commercial news media has never really questioned US policy when it comes to Israel and Palestine, as the group Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting has documented since the 1980s.
Most people have been led to believe that the US has always tried to be a peace negotiator between Israel and Palestine or even a broker of peace. This is complete non-sense, as is well documented in Nassar Aruri’s book, Dishonest Broker: The Role of the United States in Palestine and Israel.
Therefore, if you don’t want to be a supporter of war crimes, ethnic cleansing, the murder of Palestinian children, Apartheid or the illegal Israeli occupation, you might want to remove the I Stand With Israel flag or sign on your social media page(s) and start investigating for yourself why the US government has unconditionally supported the Israeli government.
Rep. Scholten endorses Israeli War Crimes in Gaza
In that same article, I wrote that Rep. Scholten had planned to visit Israel with other US politicians, so I suggested that she do the following, when I stated:
Also, if Rep. Scholten is planning on visiting Israel, they should meet with the Israeli Human Rights group, B’Tselem, along with spending time at Israeli check points, Israeli prisons and the Israeli Settlements, which the United Nations have deemed as illegal. In fact, the only two countries that consistently vote against claiming that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, are the US and Israel. The rest of the world supports the claims of the Palestinians.
At the end of that article, I noted that even though Rep. Scholten had only been in Congress for the past 10 months, she had already been the recipient of $95,728.00 from Pro-Israel PACs, based on data collected by OpenSectrets.org.
Therefore, it was no surprise that after the Hamas attack on Israel some 10 days ago, Rep. Scholten has been a zealous supporter of Israel. In her weekly newsletter of October 7, here is what Rep. Scholten wrote:
As I write this, Israel has declared that it is going to war following an attack by Hamas. This is no time for the U.S. House to be in disarray. I stand ready–as I have been–to work with my Republican colleagues on a way forward.
In her October 14 newsletter, Rep. Scbolten made it clear how she ready to work with the Republicans to do the following:
I co-sponsored a bipartisan bill to allocate an additional $2 billion in funding for the Iron Dome defense system to help protect the region.
-I signed a resolution reaffirming the United States’ strong allegiance with and support for Israel.
-Both in DC and through the team back home, we attended vigils to mourn the victims and acknowledge that their loss is what propels us to seek a resolution to lasting peace in the region.
To be clear, what Rep. Scholten considers to be a move towards “lasting peace in the region,” is to provide Israel with $2 Billion for the Israeli Iron Dome, which is on top of the already $3 Billion they have received from US taxpayers for 2023 already. In addition, signing a resolution re-affirming the US support for Israel really means that Rep. Scholten affirms:
- The 50 year Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, which has been determined to be illegal by the international community.
- The detainment and torture of Palestinians who are in Israeli jails,
- The expansion of Israeli Settlements, which have been deemed illegal by the United Nations,
- The decades long Israeli economic blockade of Gaza, which has created tremendous hardship and suffering amongst the Palestinians,
- The existence of the Apartheid Wall in Israel,
- And now, the retaliation by the Israeli military, which is bombing Gaza. On Thursday, the Israeli Air Force announced that over the last five days it had dropped 6,000 bombs, hitting more than 3,600 targets in Gaza. That’s more than the United States dropped during any month of the five-year-long US air campaign against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
- Plus, the Israeli government wants the the roughly 2 million Palestinians who live in Gaza to leave, which is essentially forced displacement and would legally be a form of genocide, as was recently stated by Raz Segal, an Israeli expert in modern genocide, who wrote a piece entitled, A Textbook case of Genocide.
If one looks at Rep. Scholten’s Facebook page, since October 7 she has made 16 different posts about either the Hamas attacks on Israel or how US citizens can get out of Israel, but not one word condemning the 50 year illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, the apartheid system in Israel and nothing on Israel’s bombing of Gaza and their call to forcibly remove nearly 2 million Palestinians from Gaza!
It is unacceptable that Rep. Scholten unconditionally supports Israel. People should be challenging her on her unconditional support for war crimes and the ongoing brutalization of the Palestinian people. At a minimum people should call her at (616) 451-8383 or send her message via Facebook, but other actions are warranted.
Yesterday several hundred people turned out for a rally in solidarity with the Palestinian fight against the Israeli occupation.
The only commercial news agency to report on the rally, was WOODTV8. Channel 8 posted the story they broadcast during the evening news yesterday, but they also included a written story, which was a more accurate reflection of the rally’s message.
There were numerous things about the WOODTV8 story that were deeply problematic. First, the graphic that channel 8 used as a backdrop to the story about the rally was inaccurate. Above is a still frame of the graphic used by WOODTV8, which frames the issue as a war between Israel and Hamas. Israel is a country and Hamas is not, even though the graphic suggests otherwise. It is true that Hamas carries out the attacks against Israel on October 6th, but the issues between Israelis and Palestinians is much older. In fact, you could say that the root causes of the problem between Israel and Palestine are the 1948 Nakba, when the Israeli military displaced thousands of Palestinian families from their homeland. In addition, the historical context is rooted in the longstanding Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and the Apartheid system that Israel imposes on Palestinians.
Second, the channel 8 newsreader begins the narrative about the rally by saying “dozens of people marched throughout downtown Grand Rapids.” By my estimate there were at least 200 people, which is a far cry from “dozens of people.” The newsreader goes on to say that many people carried Palestinian flags and signs. The newsreader quotes some of the signs, but the signs they quote were the more vague signs, as if to avoid talking about the signs that included words like End the Israeli Occupation or Stop US Military Aid to Israel.
Third, the newsreader then talks about the number of Israelis who dies because of the Hamas attacks, then juxtaposes that number with the number of Palestinians that have died since Israel started bombing Gaza a few days ago. However, the noticeable difference in the numbers of dead that were provided is that there was no source offered in the number of Israelis killed, but they did cite the Gaza Health Ministry as a source on Palestinian deaths.
The WOODTV8 story then shift to talking with people who attended the rally. The newsreader stated, “we questioned people who attended the rally about their thoughts on the ongoing conflict.” Framing the issue as a conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is disingenuous, since the real issue is the Israeli occupation. By calling it a conflict, you automatically frame it as two groups of equal standing, which is definitely not the case between Israelis and Palestinians. As Jeffrey St. Clair stated in a recent article on CounterPunch:
Yes, there are two sides to this war. But only “one side” has an air force. Only “one side” has a Navy. Only “one side” has guided missiles. Only “one side” has phosphorous bombs. Only “one side” has tanks. Only “one side” has an air defense system. Only “one side” has nuclear weapons. Only “one side” controls the water supply, electrical power and food supplies of the other. Only “one side” has freedom of movement. Only “one side” gets $3 billion a year from the US government and an “unwavering” pledge to refill their stockpiles of depleted munitions.
We then get to hear from 2 people that channel 8 interviewed, someone who identifies as Irish and a white woman, both of who have important things to say. However, it would have been better the hear from the Palestinians who attended the rally, not just because they are Palestinians, but because they and their families have a direct lived experience of living under the Israeli occupation and the Israeli system of Apartheid.
The newsreader then ends the story by saying that, “the US has pledged its support to Israel as the conflict continues.” This is a gross misrepresentation, since it again provides no historical context. The US government has always supported Israel, since it was created in 1948. More importantly, the US has provided $124 Billion in Military Aid to Israel since the early 1970s, averaging a little over $3 Billion a year in the past few decades. In addition, the US is continually passing resolutions in support of Israel, like the resolution it adopted in July, which states that Israel is a racist or apartheid state.
Lastly, it is worth noting that what WOODTV8 aired during the newscast, doesn’t even acknowledge the group that organized the rally, the Grand Rapids Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, which was mentioned in the print version of the story on their website. The bottom line is that this kind of news coverage is not only misleading, it perpetuates a larger narrative that is in step with US foreign policy, which GRIID believes is a propaganda narrative.
Pro-Israeli PACs fund members of Congress and influence US Policy on Israel/Palestine
When US President Joe Biden said in a statement on October 7th, “In this moment of tragedy, I want to say to them and to the world and to terrorists everywhere that the United States stands with Israel. We will not ever fail to have their back,” he demonstrated that money influences policy.
Since 1990, the group OpenSecrets.org has been tracking how campaign contributions and lobbying has influenced public policy. On the matter of almost unanimous US support for Israel, the collective group of Pro-Israel Political Action Committees (PACs), have contributed a total of $227,209,019 to members of Congress or those running for seats in Congress.
When it comes to President Joe Biden, who has been a member of Congress since before 1990, the Pro-Israel PACs have contributed $4,228,614 to Biden’s coffers, making him the number 1 recipient of Pro-Israeli PACs since Open Secrets started tracking campaign contributions in 1990.
In the graph above, you can see the top 20 recipients of Pro-Israel PAC money since 1990. Notice that there are 14 of the top 20 Pro-Israel PAC campaign contributions are Democrats. In fact, for every election cycle since 1990, Democratic Party candidates have garnered more contributions from the Pro-Israel PAC groups that the Republican, as you can see in the graphic here below.
Now, the influence of Pro-Israel PACs are not the only reason that the US Congress unconditionally supports Israel, but it is a major contributing fact. In their seminal work on the Pro-Israel Lobby, John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, authors of the book, The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy, make it clear that the role of the Pro-Israel Lobby is an integral part of why US policy not only supports Israel, but makes Israel the number one recipient of US Military aid on an annual basis. Other, more recent books on this topic, which are well worth reading are How Israel Made AIPAC: The Most Harmful Foreign Influence Operation in America, by Grant Smith, and Architects of Repression: How Israel and Its Lobby Put Racism, Violence and Injustice at the Center of US Middle East Policy, by Walter Hixson.
The next graph to look at here below, shows that since 1990, the Pro-Israel PAC groups have only increased their contributions to those running for Congress, with a significant increase beginning in 2020. Part of this increase is due to the Pro-Israel PACs funding candidates that are challenging the most progressive members of Congress, BIPOC members known as The Squad. The Squad currently includes Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush.
One last graph shows that since the late 1990s, the Pro-Israel Lobby has been spending millions annually to influence US foreign policy. This is due in part to the growing foreign and domestic opposition to the ongoing illegal Israeli occupation, the ongoing brutalization of Palestinians by the Israeli Military and the system of Racial Apartheid that Israel has created against the Palestinian population.
Like any issues that the US Congress deals with, whether it is energy policy or US Foreign Policy, we all need to get in the habit of following the money. Politicians don’t act independently, they often do the bidding of those who contribute the most money to their campaigns. And this is certainly a major contributing factor in the near unanimous US government support of Israel.
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 