U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on May 24, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
After walking back her comments from Saturday calling Israel a racist state, Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) tweeted out a New York Times op-ed on Monday decrying the “hysterical overreaction” to Jayapal’s “slight misstatement.”
The op-ed is titled “The Hysterical Overreaction to Jayapal’s ‘Racist State’ Gaffe” and authored by Michelle Goldberg. Jayapal’s tweet quoted a part of the column that read, “The rush to condemn her offhand remarks is … about raising the political price of speaking about Israel forthrightly. … It’s easier for Israel’s most stalwart boosters to harp on a critic’s slight misstatement.”
“The rush to condemn her offhand remarks is […] about raising the political price of speaking about Israel forthrightly. […] It’s easier for Israel’s most stalwart boosters to harp on a critic’s slight misstatement”https://t.co/ZkNc9hE4NU
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) July 18, 2023
Goldberg argues in the op-ed that “a state’s leaders and policies can be bigoted without the state itself being irredeemable. That’s basically Jayapal’s stance, which is why she’s not an anti-Zionist.” Goldberg then claims that so many people were denouncing Jayapal’s “offhand remarks” in order to raise “the political price about speaking about Israel forthrightly.” “If you believe in liberal ideals, Netanyahu’s government is very hard to defend,” Goldberg writes. “It’s easier for Israel’s most stalwart boosters to harp on a critic’s slight misstatement — especially when denunciation of Israel is likely to ramp up ahead of the address by Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, to Congress on Wednesday, which several progressive lawmakers are refusing to attend.”
On Saturday, Jayapal, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, called Israel “a racist state” after pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted a panel she was on during the Netroots Nation conference. The next day, Jayapal walked back her comments, claiming that she was referring to the policies and some of the members of the current Israeli government as being racist, not Israel itself.
Several people on Twitter criticized Jayapal for tweeting out the op-ed.
“’Offhand remarks’ and ‘slight misstatement?’ Seriously? Time for a reality check, Michelle,” American Jewish Committee Los Angeles Regional Director Richard S. Hirschhaut tweeted. “Respectfully, @RepJayapal, this may not be the best rejoinder as you work to move past this unfortunate episode.”
“Offhand remarks” and “slight misstatement?” Seriously? Time for a reality check, Michelle. Respectfully, @RepJayapal, this may not be the best rejoinder as you work to move past this unfortunate episode.
— Rick Hirschhaut (@rickhirschhaut) July 18, 2023
“Right, now you are the victim,” Creative Community for Peace Director Ari Ingel tweeted. “Why don’t you just stand by your statement, you certainly said it with strong conviction. Even your non-apology was a slight of hand, the ‘IDEA of Israel as a nation is not racist.’ As opposed to saying clearly ‘Israel is not a racist state.’”
Right, now you are the victim.
Why don’t you just stand by your statement, you certainly said it with strong conviction.
Even your non-apology was a slight of hand, the “IDEA of Israel as a nation is not racist.” As opposed to saying clearly “Israel is not a racist state.”
— Ari Ingel (@OGAride) July 18, 2023
Zioness tweeted, “Regardless of what @repjayapal meant–and it’s not like she minced her words–saying “Israel is a racist state” to a group of [anti-Zionist] agitators is like throwing red meat to a lion. She never claimed it was a misstatement, said it was intended to ‘defuse a tense situation.’” They added: “There is an overtly antisemitic narrative connecting Zionism/Israel to racism that has resulted in violence against Jewish individuals/communities, across the former Soviet Union, UK/France/all over Europe, and now in the US — especially in the left. It’s deeply troubling that Rep Jayapal, a day after sharing an apology that we took in good faith, is sharing a message intended to minimize the impact of her words. It’s wildly upsetting that [Michelle Goldberg] would write [with] this intention. The extreme gaslighting is so real.”
2/ Regardless of what @repjayapal meant–and it's not like she minced her words–saying "Israel is a racist state" to a group of antiZionist agitators is like throwing red meat to a lion. She never claimed it was a misstatement, said it was intended to "defuse a tense situation"
— Zioness (@ZionessMovement) July 18, 2023
4/ There is an overtly antisemitic narrative connecting Zionism/Israel to racism that has resulted in violence against Jewish individuals/communities, across the former Soviet Union, UK/France/all over Europe, and now in the US — especially in the left.https://t.co/DuUK9ExFxX
— Zioness (@ZionessMovement) July 18, 2023
5/ It's deeply troubling that Rep Jayapal, a day after sharing an apology that we took in good faith, is sharing a message intended to minimize the impact of her words. It's wildly upsetting that @michelleinbklyn would write w/ this intention.
The extreme gaslighting is so real.— Zioness (@ZionessMovement) July 18, 2023
J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami, on the other hand, lauded Goldberg’s op-ed for saying it “so much better than I could.”
Said so much better than I could. @michelleinbklyn https://t.co/QyvidWeSo2
— Jeremy Ben-Ami (@JeremyBenAmi) July 18, 2023
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