[Peace-discuss] How can we “break the blacklist” in Congress on Palestinian rights?

[Robert Naiman]

I read an interview once with an old Hollywood lefty who had lived through
the period of the Hollywood Blacklist. He said that during the blacklist,
whenever two left-liberal people in Hollywood met each other for any
reason, whether at a party, for dinner or drinks, at a wedding or a
funeral, in the grocery store, after they got “how are you, how’s the
family” out of the way, there was one question they always asked each other:

“How can we break the blacklist?”

Here’s what I want to be the case: every time two Americans who care about
Palestinian rights meet, they ask each other:

“How can we break the blacklist in Congress on Palestinian rights?”

Not _*whether*_ there’s a blacklist. Not _*why*_ there’s a blacklist. Those
questions are a waste of time. _*How can we break it?*_.

Congress is now consistently voting against the Saudi war in Yemen. But
that’s not how it was in early 2016. The war started in March 2015. The
spectacular war crimes started immediately. But virtually nobody in
Congress said boo about it for a year. The first vote was in June 2016.
Which we lost. The second vote was in September 2016. Which we lost. The
third vote was in June 2017. Which we lost. The fourth vote was in March
2018. Which we lost. The fifth vote was in December 2018. Which we won.
Now, three years after the first vote, Congress is voting consistently
against the Saudi war in Yemen. We haven’t ended the war yet. But Congress
is voting against it.

There was a blacklist in Hollywood. Then there wasn’t. There was a
blacklist in Congress on the Saudi war in Yemen. Then there wasn’t.
Somebody had to be first on the beach.

The first step to answering the question is to ask it.

How can we break the blacklist in Congress on Palestinian rights?

===

Robert Reuel Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
(202) 448-2898 x1
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