Rep. Huffman signed a letter released February 13, 2025, penned by Rep. Casten and Rep. Sherman (Sherman has one of the worst records in Congress on Palestinian human rights) in mid-February decrying Trump’s comments supporting ethnic cleansing of Gaza. I was incorrect to write previously that Huffman has been silent on Trump’s nightmarish vision for Gaza, and I regret the error. However, this letter, while signed by 145 Democrats, ends with reaffirming support for the Israeli military, even though it is implementing the ethnic cleansing of Gaza that they supposedly oppose. The letter also supports Trump’s “Abraham Accords” that seeks to isolate the Palestinian cause of liberation and justice by making deals with authoritarian Arab regimes to make “peace” with Israel and rewarding them with military deals. In short, this letter is critical of Trump’s clumsy wording, not a commitment to prevent ethnic cleansing that it nonetheless promises to fund as it is carried out by Israel. It is no wonder that more progressive members of the House (including Rep. Tlaib, Rep. Omar, Rep. Ocasio-Cortex, Rep. Summer Lee and more) did not sign this.
The better part of the letter gives us this: “…we are alarmed that an American president would advocate for the forcible removal and permanent displacement of two million people. Such an act would not only be morally indefensible, but it would also violate the Geneva Convention…”
The letter ends with “our commitment to Israel’s security is unwavering”, which for most of the signees (not all, I think a few members signed on to promote the better part of the letter) endless and unquestioned funding of the Israeli war machine- that provides only security for an apartheid regime. In the end, providing security for no one.
Most importantly, this letter fails in any way to way to even mention that the current government of Israel is fully supportive of Trump’s vision. If the intention of the letter is to really stop ethnic cleansing, this is a fatal flaw. See for example this from MSNBC, Israel all but admits it is pursuing ethnic cleansing in Gaza.
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