Rep. Sara Jacobs Moves to Censure Rep. Brian Mast For Conflating Innocent Palestinian Civilians with Hamas
Rep. Sara Jacobs (CA-51), the youngest Jewish Member of Congress, released the following statement after noticing a privileged resolution censuring Rep. Brian Mast for conflating innocent Palestinian civilians with Hamas amid an alarming rise in anti-Arab hate and Islamophobia.
“Innocent civilians shouldn’t be punished for the actions of their governments – and they’re certainly not responsible for the actions of terrorists. That applies to Palestinians in Gaza and civilians around the world,” said Rep. Sara Jacobs. “Rep. Brian Mast’s comments are incredibly dangerous and dehumanizing as we continue to push for humanitarian aid to reach Palestinians in harm’s way in Gaza and as Islamophobic hate crimes rise. The United States stands for the rule of law both here at home and abroad – and these comments denigrate those values and cause real, tangible harm. That’s why I moved to censure Rep. Brian Mast to condemn this rhetoric and ensure this hate, fear, and violence stops here.”
Following Rep. Brian Mast’s abhorrent comments about innocent Palestinian civilians during a House Foreign Affairs Committee markup on October 19th, Rep. Sara Jacobs immediately condemned his comments. She reminded her colleagues about the U.S. government putting Japanese Americans into internment camps following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, and cautioned against repeating history by punishing innocent Palestinian civilians for the terrorist actions of Hamas.
Read the full text of the resolution here. Noticing the privileged resolution today will trigger a vote within two legislative days on Rep. Jacobs’ resolution.
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