Two Jewish Democratic members of Congress are complaining that their names were mistakenly listed as co-sponsors of a resolution calling for Palestine’s statehood.
The resolution, introduced by Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) in December, “affirms Palestine’s right to exist and at a future time to become a nation State,” endorses the two-state solution “as the only solution that will secure a lasting peace in the region,” and rejects calls for Palestine’s destruction.
The resolution has five co-sponsors, all of whom are Democrats and members of the progressive caucus.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a Jewish member of the progressive caucus, withdrew as a co-sponsor after stating his name appeared “without my knowledge and without my consent.”
“I am going to work with the clerk’s office, and majority and the minority leader to just figure how this is happening,” Raskin said on the House floor Wednesday. “Apparently, it’s happened to some other people.”
The other person is Rep. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.) who, like Raskin, is Jewish. Her office said in a statement to Axios that they requested her co-sponsorship removal in early January.
“Green’s staff informed us that Rep. Manning’s name purportedly was submitted for cosponsorship through the use of a Google form in late December with no subsequent confirmation directly with our office,” Manning’s team said. “Regrettably, Green’s office delayed two months before removing Rep. Manning’s name from the bill and also failed to notify us in advance of his Floor remarks this week.”
Manning has been a firm advocate of Israel in the wake of Hamas’ attacks on Oct. 7 and subsequent war in Gaza. She is a strong supporter of aid to Israel, continually calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas and condemning rising antisemitism. Manning has also denounced the phrase “from the River to the Sea,” describing it as a “rallying cry for the destruction of the State of Israel and genocide of the Jewish people.”
She supported the censure resolution against Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) for her use of the phrase, writing in a statement that she shares Tlaib’s deep concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
“My heart breaks for the loss of innocent life and the suffering of civilians in the region. But spreading propaganda and misinformation will not bring about the peace we all seek,” Manning said. “The only way to do that is to stop the spread of misinformation, support all efforts to bring the hostages home, and pass an aid package that gives Israel the resources it needs to defend itself from terrorism and includes life-sustaining humanitarian aid for civilians.”
“Allowing Israel to defeat Hamas terrorists will ensure that Hamas cannot continue to use Palestinian civilians as human shields,” Manning added.
Raskin, on the other hand, has views closer in line with that of fellow progressive lawmakers.
He began advocating for a ceasefire in November and in January called for “the end of the bombardment of the civilian population, and a global humanitarian surge of food, water, medical supplies and power to the besieged Gazan population to end this wretched disaster of human suffering.”
Raskin also called for the removal of Hamas from governing Gaza and for the release of its hostages.
Both Raskin and Manning’s positions are not far from what Green’s resolution is ultimately calling for, an independent Palestinian state.
“A peace strategy must renew concrete talks for the long-awaited two-state solution to end this nightmare by establishing democracy and security for all the people of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank,” Raskin said in his January statement.
And Manning, for her part, wrote on X in January that she continued to “believe firmly in a two-state solution.”
“The best path to peace in the region is the existence and security of a democratic, Jewish State of Israel and for the Palestinians to realize their own peaceful state,” she said. “The first step towards peace for both Israelis and Palestinians is for Hamas to release every hostage, including the 6 Americans still being held, and to halt all rocket fire into Israel. Only then can we begin moving forward.”
