Some Democrat lawmakers have started calling out far-left elements within their own party over the issue of anti-Semitism and attacks on Israel.
The lawmakers’ remarks come after an intense two-week conflict between Israel and Palestinian terrorists where terrorists fired thousands of rockets at Israel and Israel responded with precision strikes eliminating terrorist targets inside Gaza. Anti-Semitic attacks erupted across the U.S. and Europe during the conflict and have continued to linger at what seems to be a higher rate than what is frequently documented.
“I’ll say the quiet part out loud; it’s time for ‘progressives’ to start condemning anti-semitism and violent attacks on Jewish people with the same intention and vigor demonstrated in other areas of activism,” Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) tweeted. “The silence has been deafening.”
I’ll say the quiet part out loud; it’s time for “progressives” to start condemning anti-semitism and violent attacks on Jewish people with the same intention and vigor demonstrated in other areas of activism. The silence has been deafening.
— Rep. Dean Phillips 🇺🇸 (@RepDeanPhillips) May 24, 2021
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) said during an interview with Fox News on Sunday that young far-left Democrats did not understand the history of Israel or the region.
Fox News specifically asked Sherman about a tweet from far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who wrote: “The United States should not be rubber-stamping weapons sales to the Israeli government as they deploy our resources to target international media outlets, schools, hospitals, humanitarian missions, and civilian sites for bombing. We have a responsibility to protect human rights.”
“This is nothing new,” Sherman responded. “There have been elements in the Democratic Party, I’ve been combating them since the 1980s, who don’t really have an understanding of Israel’s history or of the history of the Middle East conflict. I think that the latest attempt is to try to deny Israel the JDAMS. Well, what are the JDAMS? I don’t think the opponents of Israel have noticed that this is a device designed to make sure that a bomb doesn’t hit the wrong target.”
“So, if you’re going to complain that Israel’s bombing is imprecise, to deprive Israel of the very mechanisms it needs to make sure that the bombs don’t hit the wrong target is critically important,” he concluded. “To say to Israel you have the right to defend yourself but you should use dumb bombs instead of smart bombs is an invitation to far more civilian casualties.”
Other Democrats, like Rep. Ted Deutch (FL), called out those who were making anti-Israel remarks, but did not mention what side of the aisle the comments were coming from.
“Another night of rocket attacks by terrorists aiming to kill innocent civilians. Hamas terrorists condemned by Congress for using human shields,” Deutch wrote. “Hamas is a foreign terrorist organization. Shockingly, some condemn Israel rather than the terrorists. Not me. I stand with Israel.”
This article has been expanded after publication to include additional information.