(Connor Freeman, Antiwar.com) Colorado GOP Congressman Gabe Evans introduced a non-binding resolution on Friday that labels ‘Free Palestine’ as “an antisemitic slogan.” The bill seeks to limit immigration of people who oppose Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine and Tel Aviv’s genocidal onslaught in the besieged Gaza Strip. The bill is expected to be voted on some time next week.
The bill reads, “Whereas, while shouting ‘Free Palestine,’ an antisemitic slogan that calls for the destruction of the state of Israel and Jewish people, Mohammed Sabry Soliman attacked the peaceful demonstrators with homemade Molotov cocktails.”
The term “Free Palestine” refers to the desire to end the nearly 60 -years-long brutal Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, illegal per international law. It also implies support for ending Israel’s apartheid regime, replacing it with either a two-state solution or a single state with equal rights, including the right to vote, for all citizens currently living under the rule of the Israeli government.
The introduction of the bill follows a terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado by 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national who was living in the United States on an expired nonimmigrant visa. He had applied for asylum subsequent to his visa’s expiration. Over a dozen people were injured after the assailant threw Molotov cocktails at attendees at a small pro-Israel demonstration.
The attendees were calling for the release of the hostages taken during the October 7th Hamas attack in southern Israel. Hamas has repeatedly offered to release all hostages in exchange for a permanent ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza including the end to the blockade on the Strip which has pushed the population closer to full-scale famine amidst constant bombardment. Both Tel Aviv and Washington strongly oppose a ceasefire despite the fact that it is the only way to secure the hostages’ release and safety. Top Israeli officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are committed to continuing the war and finishing its ethnic cleansing campaign.
“Whereas the case of Mohammed Sabry Soliman highlights the need to aggressively vet aliens who apply for visas to determine whether they endorse, espouse, promote, or support antisemitic terrorism or engage in other antisemitic or anti-American activity,” the bill continues. Given the bill’s broadly applied definition of “antisemitism,” this would likely include people who oppose Israel’s illegal activities and US support for the mass slaughter in Gaza with billions of taxpayer dollars and at least 90,000 tons of weapons and other military equipment.
Evans’ bill also appears to raise support for overriding sanctuary states’ ability to constrain the federal government’s efforts to remove illegal immigrants living in the United States. However Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been unconstitutionally targeting legal citizens over the last several months for participating in antiwar activism including against people who have merely written op-eds critical of Israeli and US policy.
“Whereas Colorado is a sanctuary State that prohibits law enforcement and other government entities from sharing information about illegal aliens with Federal immigration authorities, prevents U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel from accessing certain public areas, and otherwise hinders immigration enforcement,” the bill reads. Concluding, “[this bill] affirms that free and open communication between State and local law enforcement and their Federal counterparts remains the bedrock of public safety and is necessary in preventing terrorist attacks.”
The language of Evans’ bill appears to leave no room for distinction between Jewish culture or the religion itself and the Israeli government’s crimes in Palestine, including the slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.
Some of the most prominent activist groups in the United States opposing Israel’s wars and treatment of the Palestinians are either Jewish in name, such as Jewish Voice For Peace, or led by Jews including If Not Now and Code Pink.
This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.
Connor Freeman is the assistant editor and a writer at the Libertarian Institute, primarily covering foreign policy. He is a co-host on the Conflicts of Interest podcast. His writing has been featured in media outlets such as Antiwar.com, Counterpunch, and the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity. He has also appeared on Liberty Weekly, Around the Empire, and Parallax Views. You can follow him on Twitter @FreemansMind96
