Representative Summer Lee (D-PA-12) and other Pittsburgh-area Democrats were condemned on Monday by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh for their joint statement marking the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israeli civilians, noting the statement failed to name the terrorist group or note the conflict began after their unprovoked incursion into Israel.
Lee posted the statement on Monday to her account on the social media platform X, revealing Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato joined her in the statement. Lee wrote the signatories, “mark one year since the October 7th attacks with hearts big enough to grieve those killed one year ago and those massacred in the year since.”
After expressing condolences to the Palestinians, Lebanese, and Israelis affected by the conflict, Lee and the other Democrats said in their joint statement, “Over the past year, we’ve seen how continued escalation, a lack of diplomacy, and a drive for power by right-wing leaders have pushed the region to the brink of regional war.”
Lee and the other Democrats then appeared to call for the United States to cease financial support for Israel, declaring, “We can’t afford to spend more money on bombs when healthcare remains out of reach for so many and our infrastructure has been neglected for a generation.”
Today, we mark one year since the October 7th attacks with hearts big enough to grieve those killed one year ago and those massacred in the year since.
My joint statement with @ACE_Innamorato and @MayorEdGainey: pic.twitter.com/EYvH6o7e7J
— Rep. Summer Lee (@RepSummerLee) October 7, 2024
The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh called the statement “devastating,” and called for “leaders who can find empathy for Jewish and Israeli victims of terror,” in a press release.
“These officials never mention who initiated this war–Hamas, an Iranian proxy and United States designated terror organization,” the organization noted of the Democrats. “They never mention the stated motivation of Hamas in this attack: to kill as many Jews as possible. They instead chose to engage in dangerous and false moral equivocation.”
Ultimately, according to the Jewish Federation, the Democrats engaged in “warped and deliberate weaponization of language,” in a bid “to undermine the Israeli and Jewish victims of October 7.”
They declared, “It should be simple to acknowledge the antisemitic attack of October 7 without victim-blaming. It should be easy to hold space to mourn the innocent people who have died in Gaza without false equivalence.”
A member of the progressive “Squad,” Lee is currently favored to win reelection against Republican challenger James Hayes in a safely Democratic district. She survived a contentious primary challenge sparked by her stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Still, a Duquesne University law professor, who described herself as a feminist and Zionist to The New York Post, told the outlet she plans to vote for Hayes and Republican U.S. Senate nominee Dave McCormick due to the party’s strong support for Israel.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Summer Lee” by Summer Lee.
