Not every member of Missouri’s congressional delegation is standing with Israel. Democratic Rep. Cori Bush of St. Louis is among several members of The Squad who have drawn condemnation from colleagues after their statements on the ongoing Hamas attack on Israel.
Bush said in a statement on X that the United States must end its support for the “Israeli military occupation and apartheid,” “National Review” reported. Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., slammed Bush’s statement by calling it “reprehensible and offensive. Israel has the absolute right to defend itself, and we stand with them unequivocally as they protect their nation against this unprovoked act of war.”
Rep., Jamaal Bowman, D-NY., called on Israel to end its “blockade of Gaza.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass. both called for “an immediate ceasefire and de-escalation,” arguing that Israel should not take steps to eliminate the Hamas threat.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., initially criticized the Hamas-wrought carnage while still urging “de-escalation and ceasefire” and framing the current attack as part of a “back-and-forth cycle.” She then wrote, in reference to Gaza, that the United States needs “a moral awakening to care about the human suffering we are seeing.”
Representative Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., said in an Instagram post that the correct way for Israel to respond to the terror it faces is “lifting the blockade, ending the occupation and dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance.” Blaming Israel for the suffering it is currently experiencing, she said that the U.S. must end its support for the Jewish state, writing that “as long as our country provides billions in unconditional funding to support the apartheid government, this heartbreaking cycle of violence will continue.”
Members of their own party have since offered strongly worded condemnations of their far-left colleagues. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-NJ, said it “sickens” him “that while Israelis clean the blood of their family members shot in their homes, they believe Congress should strip U.S. funding to our democratic ally and allow innocent civilians to suffer.”
Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-NY, called the Squad members’ comments “reprehensible and repulsive,” saying that “Congress must act decisively to provide Israel with whatever it needs to defend itself in the face of unprecedented terrorism. Shame on anyone who glorifies as ‘resistance’ the largest single-day mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust.”
Bush, one of three Democrats representing Missouri is at odds with Long. Emanuel Cleaver. The Kansas City-area Congressman stated “America stands with Israel today and every day. As we condemn the abhorrent attack on our ally, the US supports Israel’s right to defend itself from senseless and unprompted violence.”
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice