Earlier this month, Hamas terrorists operating in the Gaza strip launched an unprecedented attack against Israel. The terror they unleashed included the murder and kidnapping of women and children, forcing many Americans to, for the first time, confront the gruesome reality of Hamas’ barbarism.
While war in the Middle East in the nothing new, what has been surprising is the sheer amount of brazen antisemitism that’s come out in the wake of these attacks. The list of examples is endless.
The Chicago Black Lives Matter chapter, for instance, posted a graphic on social media apparently valorizing Hamas terrorists who paraglided from Gaza into Israeli territory to launch their attack. Students at colleges and even high schools around the country have similarly been echoing the messaging of Hamas; students at one of the flagship colleges of our nation’s capital even projected the phrase “glory to our martyrs” onto a building, apparently celebrating Hamas.
The problem extends to Democratic party and elected officials. Numerous Democrat members of Congress voted against a recent resolution to condemn the “barbaric” attacks on Israel by Hamas terrorists. One of those Democrats, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, even lashed out at the Biden administration for not doing enough to help Gaza and focusing too much on the safe release of Israeli and American hostages held by Hamas.
Even here in Iowa, the chair of the Iowa Democratic Party’s Arab Caucus, Newman Abuissa, addressed an anti-Israel rally – where many protestors were calling for an end to U.S. military support of Israel – in Iowa City earlier this month. IDP, unsurprisingly, has not issued any condemnations of Abuissa’s anti-Israel activities.
It’s worth noting that there are real life implications to this sort of wicked activism and selective silence: a recent ADL report found that antisemitic incidents have risen by about 400% since the war broke out.
That’s why I’m especially grateful for the leadership of Iowa Republicans, who at every level – from our all-Republican congressional delegation to our trailblazer governor to our legislators – have forcefully come out to condemn antisemitism and Hamas’ terrorism.
Gov. Kim Reynolds’ proclamation of “Blue Ribbon Week” as a show of support for Israel, with the state capitol building lit up blue, is one key example. More than that, Iowa Republicans in Congress have been hard at work to put their money where their mouth is on Israel.
Sen. Joni Ernst, for instance, led a congressional delegation (CODEL) with Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks to Israel and the Middle East in the wake of the attacks to meet with key Israeli and other regional leaders to support peace in the region and deter further aggression against Israel. Other Iowa Republicans such as Rep. Zach Nunn and Sen. Chuck Grassley have introduced legislation to freeze Iran’s funding to prevent it from supporting more attacks against Israel.
Leadership matters, and that’s especially true in times of crisis. While so much of the left has been polluted by, at best, apathy for the plight of Israel in the face of barbaric terrorism to, at worst, the embrace of disgusting antisemitism, I feel grateful to have the leadership of Iowa Republicans who are standing up for what’s right.
