Pattern of Genocidal War Mongering: NJ Rep. Donald Norcross’s Record Under the Lens

Nearly every US member of Congress, be they Republicans or Democrats, holds a peculiarly uniform policy stance on Israel. This position is largely hawkish and violent, via their continued support for appropriations of funds and provision of weapons to Israel despite the ICJ’s July 19th advisory opinion stating that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem is unlawful. 

The ICJ also ruled that Israel’s annexation, settlement regime, and exploitation of natural resources in the Palestinian territories are illegal under international law. Additionally, the court found that Israel’s discriminatory laws and policies against Palestinians violate the prohibition on apartheid and racial segregation. 

Despite these findings, which echo the concerned voices of Palestinian activists and advocates over many years, there is a bi-partisan, militant, and tone-deaf insistence toward viewing criticism of Israel’s policies as “anti-Semitic.” There is also uniform support for violent crackdowns on dissent via law enforcement.

Every NJ congress member as well as Senator Booker and outgoing Senator Menendez is sponsored by AIPAC, and/or other pro-Israel lobby groups. Since 2021, AIPAC has been making direct contributions to candidates for president, the House of Representatives, and the US Senate.  Across the board, Democrats and Republicans almost 100% uniformly vote for allocations for Israel, arms for Israel, support for Israel’s war plans, and support for Israel’s false narrative that has driven a well-documented genocide aimed at exterminating Palestinians in Gaza and even on the West Bank.

Below is a list demonstrating Donald Norcross’s hawkish, pro-genocidal position:

Norcross has consistently voted to fund arming Israel as well as providing economic aid. (Most recent.)

Norcross voted for HR 6090, a measure to conflate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism, a bill that will be used to justify more repression of the Palestinian advocacy movement.

Norcross voted for the River to the Sea resolution that smeared a popular Palestinian freedom cry as anti-Semitic. That narrative is also being used to justify police repression of Palestinian advocacy.

Norcross supported Israel’s attack on Iran – but never condemned Israel’s bombing of protected Iran consul facilities in Syria.

And it is clear that Rep. Norcross has gone above and beyond the standard-issue pro-Israel Democrat congress members:

Donald Norcross sits on the House Committee on Education and the Work Force.  This committee has led a smearing effort against students, faculty, and administrators on several college campuses including Columbia, in New York, and Rutgers, in New Jersey. Most members of this committee are part of the effort to smear, though there are a couple of members, including Rep. Ilhan Omar who have used their seat on the committee to challenge the false narrative against Palestine advocacy on college campuses.  Norcross, though, has supported that narrative. He has done nothing to  defend his own constituents attending Rutgers from this smear.  He has added his voice to the smear.

Norcross joined super pro-Israel Josh Gottheimer and others in composing and sending a letter calling for swift action regarding the Columbia protest against genocide.  Eventually, that action was attacked by a police task force led by a former Israeli intelligence agent who now heads up an NYPD counter-terrorism task force with an office in Tel Aviv, Israel.

More recently, Norcross has joined Gottheimer and others in a letter calling for “protections” of Jewish students at Rutgers based upon this aforementioned smearing narrative against the anti-genocide protests there.

Norcross voted with Gottheimer and Pallone to make it illegal to cite statistics about the number of Palestinians being slaughtered!

Norcross has voted to use food and water as a weapon to exacerbate the slaughter in Gaza by voting to end US support for UNRWA – the primary agency providing on-the-ground  support for the distribution of food, water, and other means of survival for the struggling Palestinian people trying to live in Gaza.

In January 2024 Norcross issued a statement supporting US bombing of Yemen in response to attempts by Houthi rebels there to interfere with supply lines for the US – Israel genocide operation.  In effect, he is supporting acts of war in support of genocide and against Houthi efforts to meet their obligations under the 1948 Convention on Genocide, i.e. to take action to prevent further genocide and stopping the existing genocide.

Norcross’s constituency has made their opposition to these policies clear.  There is a weekly vigil held in Collingswood to protest US taxpayer funding and complicity in war crimes carried out by Israel.  Constituents have attempted to address Norcross at various public meetings and Norcross has relied on police to remove those trying to raise their voices to support Palestinians.  On April 9th constituents approached Donald Norcross and Cherry Hill Mayor David Fleisher and again at Donald Norcross’s Town Hall on March 18th.

It should be clear to anyone in Congressional District 1 in NJ that Donald Norcross is hopelessly pro-Israel and will never recognize the dignity or human rights of the Palestinian people.  There is a way to vote against this grim reality and that is by voting for Robin Brownfield, Green Party candidate for Congress in the First District.

Robin shares the Green Party’s anti-war stance, anchored by an unwavering commitment to social justice and human rights as the proper pathway to peace. International law can only hold meaning when applied equally and fairly, whether an actor is viewed as a US “ally” or not. Additionally, the funding that has traditionally been used for war-mongering, is urgently needed here at home to improve the lives of the very tax-payers that establishment politicians have thus far been intent on robbing for their own self-centered benefit.

“It was because of Donald Norcross AIPAC-fueled warmongering that I decided to run. Norcross has proudly boasted about sending arms to Israel, making him complicit in the greatest crimes against humanity I have seen in my lifetime. Furthermore, he is proud of his voting for legislation that silences information such as HR 6090 – the “TikTok Bill,” and recently, he voted with Republicans to conceal the death toll in Gaza, making him a genocide denier. He has worked to silence, vilify, and dehumanize Palestinian people here and in Gaza, as well as all people opposing the genocide in Palestine. He equates opposition to Zionism with antisemitism. They are not the same thing. He also characterizes students calling for a ceasefire as terrorists. As a Jewish person, I am deeply offended by how he has used my religion as a justification for genocide, while he strips away our First Amendment rights. We need to oust any legislator who votes according to the whims of their corporate donors instead of working to better the lives of people in the US and around the world.” Robin Brownfield, Candidate for Green Party of NJ challenging Donald Norcross for the First Congressional District seat in NJ.

For too long, American tax-payers have been footing the bill for the war fantasies of lobbyists and their bought-and-paid for political puppets. In a state that has already been riddled with years of corruption within politics, it’s a relief that NJ voters have the option in this election year to stand up to the proponents of endless war and criminal activity, once and for all. A change of policy and a change of direction in Gaza cannot happen soon enough!

SOME BACKGROUND LINKS WITH MORE DETAILS ABOUT NORCROSS’S SUPPORT FOR THE US / ISRAEL GENOCIDE AGAINST THE PALESTNIAN PEOPLE IN GAZA: