Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) said that criticisms of Hamas should be “balanced” with criticisms of Israel during a Sunday morning appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” and anchor Dana Bash quickly made it clear that she was not having any of that.
Bash began the conversation by pressing Jayapal about Hamas’ use of rape and sexual violence against Israeli women during the brutal terror attack on Israel on October 7th — which left more than 1,200 Israelis dead, many of them women and children. She also noted that there had been a marked silence, particularly from progressive women who claimed to be staunch defenders of women’s rights, when the victims of such sexualized violence happened to be Israeli.
WATCH:
Rep. Pramila Jayapal on CNN on condemning Hamas's sexual violence: "I think we have to be balanced about bringing in the outrages against Palestinians."
Dana Bash replies, "You don't see Israeli soldiers raping Palestinian women." pic.twitter.com/Lac7QI4bHx
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 3, 2023
Jayapal responded by quickly saying that “of course” she condemned Hamas and all instances of rape and sexual violence, but pivoted almost immediately to suggest that Israel was not adhering to international law in its response to the October 7th massacre.
“I’ve seen a lot of Progressive women. Generally speaking, they’re quick to defend women’s rights and to speak out against using rape as a weapon of war, but downright silent on what we saw on October 7th and what might be happening inside Gaza right now to these hostages,” Bash began. “Why is that?”
“I don’t know that that’s true. I think we always talk about the impact of war on women in particular,” Jayapal replied, adding that “of course” she had condemned Hamas’ use of rape as a weapon of war.
But then she pivoted, saying, “If they do not comply with international humanitarian law, they are bringing themselves to a place that makes it much more difficult strategically for them to be able to build allies, to keep public opinion with them, and frankly, morally, I think we cannot say that one war crime deserves another. That is not what international humanitarian law says.”
“With respect, I was just asking about the women, and you turned it back to Israel. I’m asking you about Hamas,” Bash pushed back.
“I already answered your question, Dana. I said it’s horrific, and I think that rape is horrific. Sexual assault is horrific. I think that it happens in war situations. Terrorist organizations like Hamas obviously are using these as tools,” Jayapal replied, and pivoted again — this time citing the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry’s claims regarding the alleged civilian death toll.
“However, I think we have to be balanced about bringing in the outrages against Palestinians. Fifteen thousand Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes, three-quarters of whom are women and children …” she said.
“And it’s horrible,” Bash agreed, stopping Jayapal cold: “But you don’t see Israeli soldiers raping Palestinian women.”
Jayapal attempted to deflect once more, pivoting back to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and saying, “I don’t want this to be the hierarchies of oppression.”