Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania took to his rooftop to taunt and infuriate pro-Palestine protesters when they showed up at his home in the town of Braddock, Pennsylvania. The incident occurred on the night of Friday, January 26.
As background, Sen. Fetterman has taken a far more pro-Israel stance than many of his contemporaries in the Democratic Party, particularly members of the hyper-progressive “Squad,” such as Rep. Ilhan Omar and Rep. Rashida Tlaib. Instead of equivocating or deploring the violence from both sides, he has remained firmly in Israel’s camp.
For example, in a statement released after the Hamas surprise attack on Israel, he said, “We now know this was a wide-scale, premeditated, cowardly, terrorist campaign against Israeli civilians that also claimed the lives of American citizens.” He continued, “I unequivocally support any necessary military, intelligence, and humanitarian aid to Israel. The United States has a moral obligation to be in lockstep with our ally as they confront this threat. I also fully support Israel neutralizing the terrorists responsible for this barbarism.”
In another statement, he said, “Innocent Israelis were the victims of a terrorist attack that resulted in the largest loss of Jewish lives since the Holocaust. Now we know that the tragedy at the Gaza hospital was not caused by Israel. I grieve for every innocent person and brave Israeli soldier killed since Hamas started this war. If not for the horrific attacks by Hamas terrorists, thousands of innocent Israelis and Palestinians would still be alive today.”
He even rejected calls for a ceasefire in that statement, saying, “Now is not the time to talk about a ceasefire. We must support Israel in their efforts to eliminate the Hamas terrorists who slaughtered innocent men, women, and children. Hamas does not want peace, they want to destroy Israel. We can talk about a ceasefire after Hamas is neutralized.”
Similarly, when the US Capitol complex was swarmed with pro-Palestine protesters, some of whom were arrested, Sen. Fetterman rushed to get a flag from his office and waved it as the police officers led away the arrested protesters to taunt them.
In any case, Fetterman again taunted protesters, this time when they showed up at his house on a Friday night to protest against him. in video of that incident that emerged, the pro-Palestine crowd sat outside his house and chanted, “Fetterman, Fetterman, you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide.” Seemingly unperturbed, Sen. Fetterman climbed on top of his house and waved the Israeli flag from the roof.
Watch that incident here:
Fetterman also famously told South Africa that it should “sit this one out” when it brought genocide claims against Israel, a statement many took as a reference to the farm murders of Boers in South Africa. Clarifying the comment in a statement to the Independent, he said, “The entirety of my point was this: South Africa should instead focus on the spiraling humanitarian crises on its own continent—like Sudan where more than 7 million people have been displaced with widespread atrocities.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
"*" indicates required fields