Reactionary US lawmakers hound Palestine relief and solidarity organizations

Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and other Republican lawmakers launch direct attack against organizations standing with Palestine

On September 25, Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson took to social media to attack several pro-Palestine organizations, which have been leading in the solidarity movement across the United States. Johnson referenced the action taken by the United States House Committee on Ways and Means, led by conservative Representative Jason Smith, which has called on the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of eight organizations. According to Smith, these organizations have “organized and subsidized illegal activity on college campuses and beyond and have potentially provided support to terrorist organizations overseas.”

The eight organizations are the 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞, the 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐉𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐕𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐈𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐔𝐒𝐀, 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟, the 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐮𝐦, 𝐓𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬, and 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

“[Jason Smith] and [House Republicans] are putting you on notice. Your tax-exempt status should be revoked immediately,” Johnson said.

Some organizations have responded to these attacks and rejecting what they call political persecution. The Peoples Forum, a New York City based social movement center, was accused by the Ways and Means Committee of engaging “in conduct directly intended to incite riots, cause chaos, and disrupt education on college and university campuses and beyond, all despite its stated tax-exempt purpose and mission designed to support the working class.”

“This conduct is designed to sow chaos and discord in our society, has involved illegal activities, and certainly is not in furtherance of any tax-exempt purpose,” the accusation continues.

The People’s Forum wrote in a statement, “Right-wing Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson has joined other Republican leaders in a major political attack designed to criminalize dissent, and silence those who oppose the Israeli genocide in Gaza. The allegations are “reminiscent of the worst part of the McCarthy Era,” the organization wrote.

𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄’𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐔𝐌!

Right-wing Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson has joined other Republican leaders in a major political attack designed to criminalize dissent, and silence those who oppose the Israeli genocide in Gaza, by demanding that the Internal Revenue Service revoke the nonprofit status of The People’s Forum and other organizations. By promoting the Republicans’ blatantly false allegations and demonizing language, reminiscent of the worst part of the McCarthy Era, Speaker Johnson is abusing his office by targeting people in the United States who are only ‘guilty’ of exercising their First Amendment right to speak out against the US government’s policy of financing and arming the Israeli military so that it can carry out the killing spree that has taken the lives of more than 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza, a great number of whom are children and their mothers. People from all political backgrounds and positions should stand together in defense of free speech rights, which are under attack. The political assault against The People’s Forum is part of a larger effort by Republicans and other right-wing forces in Congress to criminalize and demonize Palestinian, Muslim-American, and anti-war organizations. Everyone who believes in justice should stand together and reject this assault on democracy.