The “Squad” members in the House of Representatives issued statements last week, condemning the anti-Semitic attacks in America. However, some said that the Squad is making an excuse for Pro-Palestinian radicals to charge violence against Jews.
The members of the “Squad,” consisting of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), and Cori Bush (D-Mo.), condemned the recent attacks in the U.S. The members also attacked Israel as an alleged “Apartheid,” stating that they are killing children.
The issued statements from “Squad” members
Over the weekend, all members of the “Squad” issued statements amid the rise of anti-Semitic attacks in the U.S. Omar commented at the attack in a sushi restaurant in Los Angeles, saying that they are “horrific and unacceptable.” Omar also added that no one should experience harassment and threats merely because of their ethnicity or religion.
On the other hand, Bowman said in a lengthy statement that there is “no room for antisemitism” in her Congressional District in New York. She continued by saying that hate never has a place.
I think we need a commission to investigate antisemitism in the Democrat Party.
— Feisty☀️Floridian (@Feisty_FL) May 20, 2021
Ocasio-Cortez also wrote on Twitter saying that there is no room for “antisemitism.” She added that they criticize Israel for their human rights abuses and that it is not an excuse for anti-semitic hate crimes.
However, the comments made by Ocasio-Cortez attracted criticism from The American Jewish Committee, global director of young leadership, Seffi Kogan.
Kogan noted that the anti-semitism tweet made by Ocasio-Cortez came from her official congressional Twitter account, which has fewer followers than her campaign account.
It's so INTERESTING that her anti-Israel tweets that incite antisemitism come from @AOC (more than 12 million followers), while her tweets telling people not to be antisemitic come from @RepAOC (with less than 700k followers). https://t.co/WL8zLiZASL
— Seffi Kogen (@seffikogen) May 21, 2021
In Newsweek, he also wrote that the comments made by Ocasio-Cortez and other members of the “Squad” saying that Israel is an “Apartheid” provide radicals justification as to who is more likely to attack Jews.
Kogan said that as anti-Zionist gangs attack Jews in her city, Ocasio-Cortez gives “quasi-intellectual” justification for their violence.
Kogan added that although Ocasio-Cortez did not call for violence, she created an avenue of “respectability” for a particular type of “anti-Semitism,” adding that some are “too happy to rush in, fists flying.”
Bernie Sanders Condemned Hamas as a “Terrorist” group
Meanwhile, Senator Bernie Sanders repeated the same remarks made by the liberal House members in his interview with CBS. Sanders rather condemned Hamas as a “terrorist” group. He also assailed Israel as “right-wing” and has “overt racists.”
Fox News: Bernie Sanders calls Hamas a 'terrorist group' but says Israeli government has 'overt racists'.https://t.co/EwqyTxatvq
via @GoogleNews
— BMLewis (@BMLewis2) May 23, 2021
Sanders also noted that the United States has to be the person who should lead the world and bring people together, not merely a supplier of weapons “to kill children in Gaza.
Omar also made a similar statement voicing out her disapproval of the U.S. supplying weapons to Israel. Omar said that the U.S. should be doing everything within its power to bring an end to the conflict. Instead of “continuing to sell” to Israel, “the very bombs used to kill Palestinian children.”
