Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington is apologizing for calling Israel a “racist state,” saying she was attempting to defuse a tense state of affairs involving pro-Palestine protesters at a convention.
Ms. Jayapal’s phrases triggered a headache for Democratic management forward of a Capitol Hill go to by Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday.
“Words do matter and so it is important that I clarify my statement,” Ms. Jayapal, a distinguished progressive, mentioned late Sunday. “I do not believe the idea of Israel as a nation is racist.”
“I do, however, believe that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s extreme right-wing government has engaged in discriminatory and outright racist policies and that there are extreme racists driving that policy within the leadership of the current government,” she mentioned.
Ms. Jayapal was making an attempt to make clear feedback she had made Saturday in an try and calm pro-Palestine protesters.
“I want you to know that we have been fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state, that the Palestinian people deserve self-determination and autonomy, that the dream of a two-state solution is slipping away from us, that it does not even feel possible,” she mentioned on the occasion.
The feedback put her get together’s management in a tricky spot. Senior Democrats incessantly should stability longstanding U.S. help for Israel with sympathies for Palestinians which might be distinguished within the get together’s progressive wing.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and different Democratic leaders tried to separate themselves from the incident by releasing a press release saying Israel just isn’t a racist state.
“As House Democratic leaders, we strongly support Israel’s right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people,” the leaders mentioned.
Content Source: www.washingtontimes.com