Recently, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre sounded off on the Democrat “Squad” members over their comments about the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel. The liberal congresswomen in question are Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, (D-N.Y.), and Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.).
“I’ve seen some of those statements this weekend, and we’re going to continue to be very clear. We believe they’re wrong, we believe they’re repugnant, and we believe they’re disgraceful,” Jean-Pierre said when asked for the administration’s reaction to the positions taken by the “Squad.”
The reprehensible comments Jean-Pierre refers to all share a common theme of condemning Israel and Palestine, seemingly equivocating the victims on both sides. The White House denounced this stance entirely, where KJP slammed such an equivocation, assigning the blame entirely an Hamas.
“Our condemnation belongs squarely with terrorists who have brutally murdered, raped, kidnapped hundreds, hundreds of Israelis. There can be no equivocation about that. There are not two sides here. There are not two sides,” the press secretary continued.
Rep. Tlaib and Rep. Bush took the opportunity to intersperse anti-Israel commentary into their statements regarding the ongoing violence. Using the crisis as an opportunity to advance a political agenda, both congresswomen called for the United States to end its assistance to Israel.
“I grieve the Palestinian and Israeli lives lost yesterday, today, and every day,” Tlaib said in her statement. “As long as our country provides billions in unconditional funding to support the apartheid government, this heartbreaking cycle of violence will continue.” Cori Bush stated, “As part of achieving a just and lasting peace, we must do our part to stop this violence and trauma by ending U.S. government support for Israeli military occupation and apartheid.”
Rep. Omar, who has a well-established history of supporting Palestine and criticizing Israel, appeared to equate the deaths of innocent Israelis to the Palestinians killed by the Israeli response. “Just as we honor the humanity of the hundreds of innocent Israeli civilians and 9 Americans who were killed this weekend, we must honor the humanity of the innocent Palestinian civilians who have been killed and whose lives are upended,” she said. “Palestinian residents of the West Bank have scarcely better lives than Gazans — with the routine destruction of their ancestral homes, destruction of their crops, and violent attacks by Israeli settlers,” she continued.
Omar continued advocating for Palestine, condemning the actions of Israel. The Minnesota Democrat claimed the U.S. actively aids in preventing justice Palestinians seek for actions taken by Israel. Omar further called for simultaneous condemnation of Israel, attempting to create an equivocal, two-sided approach to the violence that KJP referenced.
“Palestinians have few recourses for justice and accountability. Attacks by the IDF and settlers against Palestinians are regularly met with impunity. Efforts to seek justice in international courts are stonewalled by the Israeli government, with U.S. support,” she continued. “As the world is condemning Hamas’s attacks, we must also oppose an Israeli military response that has already taken the lives of hundreds of Palestinians, including nearly two dozen children.”
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