Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, recently did an interview, and when the dust settled, even fellow Democrats weren’t happy with her comments.
Jayapal, appearing on CNN, was asked about how some progressive women’s groups have been silent about the atrocities that were done to Israeli women on the October 7th attack.
“I mean, I don’t, I don’t know that that’s true. I think we always talk about the impact of war on women, in particular,” Jayapal said, adding that she has condemned Hamas since Oct. 7.
Then she said, “We have to remember that Israel is a democracy. That is why they are a strong ally of ours. And if they do not comply with international humanitarian law, they are bringing themselves to a place that makes it much more difficult strategically for them to be able to build the kinds of allies to keep public opinion with them. And frankly, morally, I think we cannot say that one war crime deserves another. That is not what international humanitarian law says.”
The host followed and pressed Jayapal over her answer, and the congresswoman doubled down.
“I already answered your question,” she said. “I said it’s horrific, and I think that rape is horrific. Sexual assault is horrific. I think that it happens in war situations. Terrorist organizations like Hamas, obviously are using these as tools. However, I think we have to be balanced about bringing in the outrages against Palestinians – 15,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes, three-quarters of whom are women and children.”
Well, that didn’t go over well.
“Hamas terrorists raped Israeli women and girls. The only ‘balanced’ approach is to condemn sexual violence loudly, forcefully and without exceptions. Outrageous for anyone to ‘both sides’ sexual violence,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., wrote on a social media post following the interview.
Democrat Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-NY, added, “There is no ‘balance’ or ‘both sides’ or ‘moral equivalence’ here. Period.”
HOLY SMOKES. The clip is HORRIFYING. Jayapal scolds Israel: “If they do not comply with international humanitarian law…”
CNN’s Dana Bash was having none of it: “With respect, I was just asking about the women, and you turned it back to Israel…”
Jaypal: “…We have to be… pic.twitter.com/p7dQewWfMP
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) December 3, 2023
