Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., repeatedly suggested a leading Arab American activist is a Hamas supporter when she testified Tuesday at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on hate crimes, and he told her she should hide her “head in a bag.”
The activist, Maya Berry, said repeatedly that she did not support Hamas and was “disappointed” by the minuteslong exchange toward the end of a hearing called “A Threat to Justice Everywhere: Stemming the Tide of Hate Crimes in America.”
“You are the executive director of the Arab American Institute, are you not?” Kennedy said at the beginning of the exchange. She said she was and agreed with Kennedy that she is a Democratic activist.
“You support Hamas, do you not?” Kennedy asked, referring to the militant group behind the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel. The question prompted gasps and surprised laughs from the audience.
“Senator, oddly enough, I’m going to say thank you for that question, because it demonstrates the purpose of our hearing today in a very effective way,” Berry responded. Kennedy then cut her off and insisted he needed a yes-or-no answer.
My support for Palestinians isn’t automatic support for everything they support. I don’t give a shit if the majority support Hamas in some way, even if I strongly disagree with that support.
But that disagreement doesn’t mean I’m going to stand back and watch these people get wiped out in a coordinated act of genocide. I can disagree with a culture’s values without being complacent as members of that culture are mass-murdered.
There are a fringe minority here who want to see the roles reversed and a genocide committed against the Israeli people, but those people are psychopaths, and they are outnumbered. Most of us just want to see a stop to mass civilian casualties, and you can’t both-sides that issue right now because, even including the Oct. 7 attack a year ago, Palestinians are suffering orders of magnitude more than Israelis right now.
Also, You’re a J.D. Vance Supporter…
First off, I’m not even American so I don’t support Vance or any other American politician.
Secondly, you support the American government, which killed around half a million middle eastern civilians in retaliation for 9/11.
Thirdly, if Israel was trying to wipe out Palestinians they’re doing an absolute shit job of it. They’re barely killing them faster than the birth rate and it would take centuries to wipe them out at the current rate.
Finally, no you can’t say you support Palestinians and ignore what they stand for. You either don’t actually support Palestinians, or you support their war. Say you support not killing instead, and drop the Palestinian conditional.
“You support the American government”
What a brain dead thing to say. Yeah, we do, because we live here and have to pay taxes. We only have so many things we can do as normal citizens, only so many people we can vote for. Seeing you say all these bad faith statements constantly makes you look like a troll.
Also, you don’t have to live in America to support JD Vance. Plenty of non Americans support Harris or Trump, wtf are you on about?
“it’s not my fault my country killed a half million civilians, I can’t do anything about it.” -You
“I demand my government force another country to stop killing civilians immediately” -Also you
You seriously don’t see the problem with the way you’re thinking?
Why the fuck would I support American political candidates as a non-American? Just because plenty of people are stupid, doesn’t mean I need to be as well. Plenty of people think that most Palestinian civilians are innocent, but it doesn’t make it true.
I can demand that my government quit funding it with my tax dollars.
You could demand your government quit funding what they’re doing themselves kills people too… but I don’t see you doing that.
Did you demand they stop funding attacks after the half million middle eastern civilians were killed by allied forces during the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq?
Do you demand they stop funding Ukraine because it’s now invading Russia? The government is even thinking of now approving even more use of US military aid and technologies to hit further into Russia.
This is peak whataboutism.
Yes, I did, actually. In fact, I did that before a half million were killed. I was always against both wars. What’s your point?
No, because Russia is the aggressor here. Ukraine is a sovereign nation. Just like Palestine would be if not for Israel.
Wait, you think Israel is the aggressor?
You’re aware that the UN voted to create Israel from the rubble of the Ottoman empire, and 5 neighboring countries disagreed and violently invaded them literally the day after they declared independence right?
Some of those same countries (and others now) are still supporting the Palestinians with money and weapons to continue to attack Israel.
And what exactly can I do to stop it aside from vote? You act like you have all the answers so please tell me what the average low income American can do to stop a war half way across the world. I’ll wait for the how to guide.
Never said I demand anything, I said I vote. You seem to make it a habit of putting words in peoples mouths to fit your agenda. You own a farm? Because you’re building straw men like crazy lol.
I dunno, it is a very odd thing for you to do. It’s also very odd to tell citizens of another country how to behave and interact with their government. What country praytell are you living in? Are you personally making an effort to stop every bad thing their doing or do you just embrace your hypocrisy full force? Oh no, I bet you’re a “wait till people start dying to care” kinda guy.
You vote… great. You realize there’s more options than just voting right?
Am I personally making an effort to stop every bad thing my Canadian government is doing? I’m not sure, I don’t see any bad things they’re doing at the moment (including supporting Israel) despite the government being made up of people that I didn’t even vote for.
I don’t see a lot of things that they do as bad, I understand in that most of the things people get mad at them for aren’t really their fault (inflation), are necessary even though they upset a lot of people (immigration), are simply due to the limits of finite resources (healthcare), or are limits based on how our electoral system works and who’s voting (house inflation).
Do I encourage them to do better? Yes. I vote (lol) but I also regularly communicate with my provincial and federal representatives, and I participate in various activities to influence and affect the policies they implement.
You don’t see anything Canada is doing wrong? Oh I didn’t know that was an option, yeah the US is doing fine too then haha.
Wrong? No, not really. As I said, all of the “wrong” things I’m aware of aren’t in their control at all, and blaming the federal government for them is just stupid.
If you say so. I suppose it’s easier to complain about other countries than to look within. I mean the housing crisis, the health care system stain, issues with indigenous rights, outdated public transportation, BC and its whole opioid epidemic. But I guess those aren’t problems the government could do anything about at all…
You absolutely supported JD Vance. Dude linked it for us all to see. While you’re trying to hang this strawman of an anchor around a stranger’s neck maybe stop and check the UN definition of Genocide.
Furthermore you specifically supported his idea that we should give some people more voting power than others. We tried that. It didn’t work. We’re not going back.
“supported JD Vance”
“I understood how a single statement he made might make sense”
These two things are the same to you?
Even Hitler had a few good policies, and I sure as hell don’t support him.
Even Hitler had a few good policies? In reference to a proposal for some people having more voting power in a democracy?
Lmao. My dude you are off the reservation. Please stop and think about this.
I’m happy to argue the merits here, the same as I did in the Vance thread. I haven’t changed my mind on it.
Currently your country (and mine) have disenfranchised a massive group of citizens, anyone under 18.
You seem to think this is right. Why is it okay to disenfranchise any citizen in a democracy?
Hitler disenfranchised an entire group of people, and that was clearly a bad policy.
Trump likes McDonalds, I like McDonalds, that doesn’t make me a Trump supporter either. So why do you think that I’m a Vance supporter for agreeing with him on one thing?
They’re children. That’s why. We could talk about lowering the voting age to something like 16 but trying to stan all the kids for voting is ridiculous. Using them as a precedent to empower their parents with extra votes is extra ridiculous. And this isn’t a McDonalds, it’s the most fundamental right in any democracy.
You’re right, it’s the most fundamental right in democracy, so why are we denying it to them?
“They’re children” isn’t actually a reason. By not giving them a vote, you’re essentially telling them that their needs don’t matter.
That doesn’t make sense. There’s no logical connection there. Their needs obviously matter because their parents take care of them.
Also, JD isn’t saying to give a 4 year old a vote. He wants to give that kid’s parents an extra vote. There’s no logical connection to those parents using the vote for their child.
And if you’re modifying it to say the children should vote then I’m not sure you understand the actual idea of voting. Voters should be making informed choices and a 4 year old has trouble figuring what cereal they want, and is suspicious of this thing adults call math. Asking them to vote is ridiculous.