Rep. Carson Statement on Israel Resolution and Joint Session.

WASHINGTON, DC--Today, Congressman Carson made the following statement: 

“Israel has long been an important strategic partner for the U.S., and I have voted many times to support this partnership.  I am a strong supporter of a democratic state of Israel and a democratic state of Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security. Yet, as I listened to yesterday’s speech, unfortunately I did not hear any words that address the concerns of Palestinians. There was no commitment to address the root issues, such as the existing two-tier system that enables and emboldens discrimination, the expansion of illegal settlements, settler violence, the brutal military occupation, the blockade on Gaza, and the daily dehumanization imposed on the Palestinian people by the Israeli Occupation Forces. I agree with President Herzog that true peace cannot be anchored in violence. But as a descendent of enslaved people, I have to ask:  How much subjugation can anyone be expected to endure before they try to break their chains?

I have long been an advocate of calling out oppression in any form. This includes xenophobia, antisemitism, homophobia, islamophobia, and more. I join Jewish Voices For Peace, Amnesty International, the United Nations and every major human rights organization around the world in calling for an end to the systematic oppression of Palestinians. The persistence and expansion of legal segregation and discrimination against Palestinians cannot be ignored, and that’s why I voted against the non-binding resolution, H. Con. Res. 57, which condones the separate and unequal treatment of Palestinians. My North Star is fairness for everyone, and ending oppression wherever it exists. The blindness of some to the inhumane situation on the ground in Palestine, and their willingness to ignore what the rest of us see so clearly, will not deter me from calling for change."

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