John Lewis Tells D.C. Crowd He Will Not Attend Netanyahu Speech

posted on: Feb 6, 2015

John Lewis, the longtime Georgia congressman who is portrayed as a hero in the new film “Selma” and known as the “conscience of the U.S. Congress,” said last night that he won’t attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s scheduled speech to Congress in March, according to Medea Benjamin. From the twitter feed of the Code Pink leader:

Exciting! @repjohnlewis announced he will join @repblumenauer in refusing to attend #Netanyahu’s March 3 speech at Congress #freepalestine

At event tonite at @busboysandpoets @RepJohnLewis pledged that he would not attend #Netanyahu speech at Congress!!! #ICC4Israel

Lewis spoke about his book at the D.C. restaurant Busboys and Poets last night. Benjamin says she asked Lewis if he would attend the Netanyahu speech. “I have no plans to attend the speech,” he said, to applause. Today, Benjamin says, Lewis’s office confirmed to Code Pink that he will not attend the speech. We’ve contacted Lewis’s office and will update if we hear more.

Blumenauer is Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, said to be the only congressperson on record to say he won’t attend the speech. But the Washington Post reports the resistance is now widespread. “High-ranking Democrats are weighing a boycott of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress next month.” And the Post identifies two other congresspeople who don’t plan to hear Netanyahu:

Some House Democrats have decided they won’t attend, saying that the event was meant to create an image for Netanyahu back home as he faces a potentially difficult reelection bid. “It’s a campaign stunt, and I’m not working for his campaign. I’m not a standing stooge,” Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) said Tuesday.

“What will be remembered here is the slight against our president and the partisan political nature of it, and I don’t know who’s served by that,” Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said Tuesday.

Politico says, “Dozens of Democrats are privately threatening to boycott Netanyahu’s March 3 address.”

CNN chimes in: “Several influential senior Democratic senators said on Wednesday they and other senators are considering boycotting an upcoming speech to Congress.” Dick Durbin of Illinois declined to name names.

Asked about a boycott, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who is Jewish and the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said “there are people discussing that.”

The drama has rocked D.C. for two weeks now. Netanyahu announced a day after President Obama’s State of the Union speech that he had accepted Speaker of the House John Boehner’s invitation to address a joint session of Congress in February, later moved to March 3. Netanyahu wants to rebut Obama’s call to Congress to allow negotiations with Iran to go forward. The speech is turning into a neverending embarrassment/scandal. When will it hit bottom?

Source: mondoweiss.net