House Republicans Pass Draconian Measure Censoring Public Data
The House of Representatives voted Thursday to bar the State Department from using funds from the international affairs budget to cite any number of Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza.
The House voted 269–144 to add an amendment mandating the change to an appropriations bill for the State Department. The amendment was co-sponsored by representatives across party lines, although the votes in favor were overwhelmingly Republican. The appropriations bill still needs to pass the Senate, and it is unclear how it will fare in the second chamber. But if it passes, then the Orwellian move will effectively make the denial of Palestinian deaths U.S. policy.
Representative Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, tore into her colleagues for putting forward the measure.
“Since 1948, Mr. Speaker, there has been a coordinated effort, especially in this chamber, to dehumanize Palestinians and erase Palestinians from existence,” Tlaib told the chamber prior to the vote. “My colleagues want to prohibit our own U.S. officials from even citing the Palestinian death toll.”
Tlaib went on to read the latest casualty figures of Palestinian deaths from Israel’s brutal war in Gaza into the congressional record: 37,718 killed, including more than 15,000 children, with more than 86,377 injured.
“Six children, Mr. Speaker, six are killed in Gaza every single hour. But Palestinians are not just numbers. Behind these numbers are real people—mothers, fathers, sons, daughters who have had their lives stolen from them and their families torn apart, and we should not be trying to hide it,” Tlaib said.
“There is so much anti-Palestinian racism in this chamber that my colleagues don’t even want to acknowledge that Palestinians exist at all. Not when they’re alive, and now, not even when they’re dead. It’s absolutely disgusting. This is genocide denial.”
It’s disgusting that my colleagues would support legislation to prohibit U.S. officials from even citing the Palestinian death toll.
— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) June 27, 2024
They want to erase the Palestinians who are living, and now they are trying to erase the Palestinians who are dead. This is genocide denial. pic.twitter.com/ZY3x0BIlQ0
It appears that many in Congress, their financial backers, and maybe even President Joe Biden want to hide what’s going on in Gaza. Some lawmakers have said that they supported a ban on TikTok because it was a major source of advocacy for Palestine, while others want to ship college students protesting for Gazans to Gaza itself. The House voted to censure Tlaib in November, even though many in Congress have used inflammatory, violent, and racist rhetoric in supporting Israel’s attacks on Palestinians.
Their goal seems to be for Israel to continue the war indefinitely with U.S. support, which only perpetuates the human rights crisis in Gaza. Perhaps these politicians don’t want a peaceful end to the conflict. After all, they refuse to say no to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even though he is accused of war crimes, and they refuse to end weapons shipments to Israel to force an immediate cease-fire.