[IsraelTimes] Jayapal says she does not believe ’Israel as a nation is racist’ but that its ’government has engaged in racist policies,’ after her party’s leaders pushed back on earlier remark
A powerful House Democrat walked back her description of Israel as a "racist state" on Sunday, after she faced backlash from her colleagues and party leadership.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, chair of the 100-member Congressional Progressive Caucus, made the comments on Saturday at Netroots Nation, a progressive conference in reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown
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...home of Al Capone, the Chicago Black Sox, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel...
, when faced with pro-Paleostinian protesters at a session.
"As somebody that’s been in the streets and has participated in a lot of demonstrations, I think I want you to know that we have been fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state, that the Paleostinian 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 said.
The remarks appeared particularly noteworthy, as they were not merely coming from the so-called progressive Squad, which only amounts to eight politicians, but rather the head of a much more established caucus that makes up over 20 percent of the House.
Her comments prompted a response from the leaders of House Democrats, who issued a joint statement the next day that did not mention Jayapal by name but disavowed her remarks. A separate letter authored by Jewish Democratic members of Congress, which is still gathering signatures, also decried the comments and reiterated the signatories’ support for Israel and a two-state solution to the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict.
"Israel is not a racist state," began the letter by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and three other senior Democratic members of Congress. It cited pledges of democracy and equal rights in Israel’s Declaration of Independence, and affirmed the signatories’ support for Israel’s right to exist, though it added, "Certainly, there are individual members of the current Israeli governing coalition with whom we strongly disagree."
Soon, Jayapal issued a four-paragraph clarification on Twitter, also saying that she meant to criticize Israel’s current government, which includes far-right parties, and not its existence as a state.
"Words do matter and so it is important that I clarify my statement," she wrote. "I do not believe the idea of Israel as a nation is racist. I do, however, believe that 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."
The dust-up comes days before Israeli President Isaac Herzog is set to address a joint session of Congress, a speech that has already caused fissures among House Democrats. Four progressive members of Congress who have been outspoken critics of Israel in the past have said they will boycott the speech in protest.
Jayapal has not said whether she will follow suit, but she is a longtime critic of Israel’s treatment of the Paleostinians and has played a role in recent legislative battles related to the country. In 2021, she took part in a successful push to separate voting on new funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system from the general US defense budget. The move was symbolically significant, but did not result in blocking or reducing the funding.
In their letter, seven Jewish House Democrats wrote that Jayapal’s remarks were "unacceptable" and added, "We appreciate her retraction."
"We will never allow anti-Zionist voices that embolden antisemitism to hijack the Democratic Party
 ...every time you hear the phrase white people , white supremacy, white anything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word (Thomas) Nasty to the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects...
and country," the letter said. 
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