House Democrats demand Trump recognize Palestinian state

47 Democratic lawmakers sign letter calling on the Trump administration to recognize unilateral Palestinian statehood as congressman labels Israel a “pariah” state.

By World Israel News Staff

Dozens of Democratic members of Congress called on the Trump administration Friday to recognize the Palestinian Authority’s unilateral claim to statehood.

Forty-seven members of the United States House of Representatives signed on to a letter, penned by Congressman Ro Khanna of California, demanding that President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio declare American recognition of Palestinian statehood immediately, overturning decades of US policy calling for a negotiated final settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.

“More than 150 countries recognize Palestinian statehood,” said Rep. Ro Khanna. “This is a moral issue. We cannot be isolated from the rest of the free world.”

“We must stand up for the dignity and rights of the Palestinian people. That is why I am pushing for the US to join in recognizing Palestinian statehood.”

The letter cited Israel’s opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state and plans mulled by the Israeli government to apply sovereignty over parts of Judea and Samaria in response to the push to recognize Palestinian statehood.

The Democratic lawmakers accused Israel of “repression” and causing widespread starvation in the Gaza Strip while demanding that the new Palestinian state “fully recognize Israel and adopt a framework to guarantee Israel’s security, including the disarmament of and relinquishing of power by Hamas in Gaza in order to be broadly embraced by the community of nations.”

On Saturday morning, Khanna sharply criticized Israel and American support for the Jewish state during the “ArabCon” event in Dearborn, Michigan’s Ford Community and Performing Arts Center.

Khanna called Israel a “pariah in world opinion.”

He also chastised fellow Democrats who did not sign onto his letter.

“How can you be a Democrat in the Congress and not believe that it is time for the United States to recognize Palestinian aspirations at a time when Ben-Gvir, Smotrich and Netanyahu are annexing the West Bank and erasing Palestinian identity?”

“If this party does not have the moral clarity on issues of Gaza, on issues of Palestinian national aspirations and statehood, on issues of not having military weapons that are killing women and children and starving people in Gaza, then we will not have the moral vision to win back the trust of the American people,” he said.