Ro Khanna saw the monster with his own eyes!

American Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna may have thought that the sense of security conferred by being a member of Congress would carry weight in the occupied West Bank. When Khanna was harassed and detained by armed Zionist settlers in the West Bank, he came face to face with reality.

Khanna was traveling in the West Bank with his American companions. Illegal settlers, who block roads with automatic rifles distributed to them by the US to Israel and by the Israeli government to them, did not even take into account that Khanna is a member of the US Congress.

When Israeli soldiers arrived at the scene, rather than clearing the way, they preferred to chat with the settlers, whom they always back. Khanna and his companions were allowed to continue their journey only after the detention was reported to the US Embassy in Israel.

In a statement, Khanna said about his forced detention: "In that situation, I felt helpless. If they can make a US congressman feel helpless for 90 minutes, just imagine how Palestinians under occupation feel every single day." The treatment Khanna received, who is among the likely candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2028 elections, was the mildest form of the bullying Palestinians endure 365 days a year.

The fact that Khanna is a member of the US Congress, which unconditionally supports Israel no matter what it does, may have only saved his life. Many Americans have been killed by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank, and as always, these murders have gone unpunished.

There are more than 750,000 illegal Zionist settlers in Jerusalem and the West Bank. The European Union, which claims to support the so‑called "two‑state solution," does nothing beyond condemning the settlers. A significant portion of the settlers are American Jewish citizens. Among the armed Zionist settlers who blocked, intimidated, harassed, insulted, and forcibly detained Khanna and his companions, there may have been American citizens as well.

Witnessing Israel's atrocities is dangerous. In Gaza, hundreds of journalists were killed to prevent them from reporting what they saw. Pro‑Israel representatives and senators in the US pose tearfully at the "Wailing Wall," see only what the Israeli government wants them to see, parrot what they are told, and return to their countries with their homework done. Khanna's fault was seeing what Israel does not want to be seen.

Khanna, stating that Israel's absolute impunity, thanks to America's blank check, has fostered a toxic culture of oppression, said: "If Americans knew the details of what is happening here, no American would support this." Of course, this statement does not express the whole truth. American Christian Zionists knowingly support the genocide in Gaza. When Christian Zionist preachers visit Jerusalem, they do not contact local Christian churches and ignore the persecution of Christians by Jewish settlers.

Ro Khanna was the first congressman to sign a pledge not to accept campaign donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), one of the most powerful organizations of the Israel Lobby in the US. Khanna, who has called Israel's actions genocide, has also been in the crosshairs of the Lobby.

Accepting donations from AIPAC and being seen with AIPAC was considered a significant advantage for Republican and Democratic politicians in elections. Recently, however, this has changed. Especially Democratic politicians are fleeing AIPAC as if it were the plague. Appearing alongside AIPAC no longer guarantees victory in primaries; on the contrary, it jeopardizes it. In many places, AIPAC has resorted to using front organizations for donations.

The shifting sentiments against Israel among the Democratic base are also causing presidential candidates to change their stances. Likely candidates can no longer promise unconditional support for Israel. On the contrary, they are trying to distance themselves from Israel and the Israel Lobby. Even the staunchest pro‑Israel Democrats in Congress are no longer in their old form.

Everyone now accepts that Kamala Harris lost the 2024 election because she did not commit to suspending military aid to Israel. In the 2028 elections, "Israel" will once again be a test issue. This is the reality that drives Congressman Ro Khanna, who saw and touched the monster with his own eyes in the West Bank, to say: "Whether I run or not, I will go to every corner of America and tell their stories and what is happening in the West Bank."