Progressive Democrat activist-turned-State Representative Justin Jones (D-Nashville) called for a ceasefire between Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists in an early Saturday post on X – formerly Twitter.
On October 7, Hamas terrorists left their base in Gaza and launched a barbaric surprise attack inside Israel, where they killed more than 1,400 Israeli citizens, the vast majority of whom were civilians.
Prominent Tennesseeans who support Israel’s right to defend itself immediately blasted Jones’s (pictured above) comments as anti-Semitic, and yet another sign of the troubling coalition between far-left activist groups such as Black Lives Matter and Antifa and pro-Palestine groups who support Hamas in the organization’s efforts to destroy Israel and kill all Jews.
“Israel has every right to defend itself from evil terrorist who are seeking to end its existence. Grandstanding on socialist talking points does nothing to protect the innocent; wiping out abhorrent terrorist regimes will,” State Rep. Jake McCalmon (R-Franklin) told The Tennessee Star Saturday afternoon.
“It is shocking that a state representative from the great state of Tennessee would support a terrorist organization that attacked women and children, mutilating their bodies and dragging them through the streets. It is a shameful display of pure partisanship and ignorance on his part,” State Rep. Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) told The Star.
“Maybe he should take a trip to the Israeli families who lost loved ones and had to bury them recently, and they can explain to him about how a ceasefire is not a solution to the problem. The eradication of evil in these extremists is the key to peace in the Middle East,” Cepicky added.
“A call for a ceasefire after the senseless terror attack on defenseless and innocent citizens, including the slaughter of women and children, is a blatant endorsement of genocide,” State Rep. Jeremy Faison (R-Cosby), Chairman of the Tennessee House Republican Caucus, told The Star Saturday night.
“These statements are ignorant, antisemitic, and yield unwavering support for Hamas’ mission to eradicate Jewish people. Refusing to offer support for the United States’ greatest ally in the Middle East after a blatant attempt of genocide is mind-boggling at best. These remarks are yet another exhibit of the covert hatred he has for democracy and America,” Faison said.
Jones did not condemn or even acknowledge the savage Hamas terrorist attacks on innocent Israeli children, women, and elderly in his Saturday tweet.
“When we said ‘Protect Kids, Not Guns’ it does not just mean kids in our country,” he began, framing the issue through the lens of gun control.
He continued:
It means protect kids, not guns in Gaza and Israel.
It means protect kids, not missiles.
It means protect kids, not bombs.
The only morally consistent position demands we support a ceasefire now.
When we said “Protect Kids, Not Guns” it does not just mean kids in our country.
It means protect kids, not guns in Gaza and Israel.
It means protect kids, not missiles.
It means protect kids, not bombs.
The only morally consistent position demands we support a ceasefire now.
— Rep. Justin Jones (@brotherjones_) October 28, 2023
Jones’s claim that “the only morally consistent position demands we support a ceasefire now,” prompted a scornful response from State Rep. Jody Barrett (R-Dickson).
“I find it particularly ironic that a young man who has been arrested more than a dozen times for various and sundry offenses, including assault, and was democratically expelled from the Tennessee General Assembly by a vote of his peers, thinks he has any standing to lecture anyone on moral consistency. If we are going to talk about moral consistency, let’s talk about the consistent lack of any morality evidence by the refusal of Rep. Jones, Rep. Pearson, and Rep. Johnson to publicly condemn the planned and coordinated barbarous murder, torture, and kidnapping of nearly 2,000 innocent Israeli citizens, many of whom were women and children, by Palestian Arabs radicalized by Hamas and likely funded by Iran,” Barrett told The Star.
Jones was expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives in April following an attempt by him, State Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), and State Rep Gloria Johnson (D-Nashville) to take control of a floor session to demand passage of gun control legislation. The move came shortly after the horrific mass shooting by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a 28 year old woman who self-identified as a transgender man, at Covenant Presbyterian School, where six children and three adults were killed. Jones was subsequently returned to the Tennessee House on a temporary basis by the Metro Nashville Davidson Council, and permanently returned in a special election.
The Saturday tweet by Jones came one day after Jewish and Christian leaders and many Republican state legislators gathered at Legislative Plaza in downtown Nashville to rally in support of Israel’s right to defend itself in response to the barbaric attacks on Israeli civilians by Hamas terrorists on October 7. Jones did not attend that rally.
As Fox News reported, Jones “took part in a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Nashville, where he reportedly walked on top of a police car and was subsequently charged with a crime before he was let off.”
The incident, which was captured on video, showed Jones, along with fellow activist Jeneisha Harris, walking atop a police car as dozens of rowdy and seemingly uncontrollable protesters surrounded them.
Following the incident, charges were brought against Jones and Harris, and arrest warrants were issued over damage that was done to the car during the protest.
Less than three hours after the warrants were issued, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) announced that “after a review of additional information” the “MNPD and District Attorney General Glenn Funk agree that the arrest warrants issued last night against Justin-Bautista-Jones and Janeisha Harris will be recalled for the present.”
Those charges were dropped several months later.
Late Saturday, The New York Post broke a major story on the financial connection between far-left wing billionaire George Soros and groups that are holding pro-Hamas rallies around the country, reporting that “Soros has funneled more than $15 million since 2016 to groups behind this month’s pro-Palestine protests, where demonstrators openly cheered Hamas militants’ craven terrorist attacks on Israel.”
A Post examination of Open Society Foundations records shows Soros’ grant-making network gave $13.7 million of the money through Tides Center, a deep-pocketed lefty advocacy group that sponsors several nonprofits who’ve justified Hamas’ bloody attacks while claiming Palestinians obsessed with the eradication of the Jewish state are the real victims.
Tides’ beneficiaries include Illinois-based Adalah Justice Project, which on the day of the Oct. 7 massacre posted a photo on Instagram of a bulldozer tearing part of Israel’s border fence down and a caption: “Israeli colonizers believed they could indefinitely trap two million people in an open-air prison… no cage goes unchallenged.” Members of the Palestinian advocacy group occupied California Rep. Ro Khanna’s office on Oct. 20 to demand he sign a resolution calling for ceasefire in Gaza. Adalah’s members also co-sponsored a rally that same day in Bryant Park where hostile demonstrators spewed antisemitic chants and waved a sign that read “I DO NOT CONDEMN HAMAS.” . . .
Open Society Foundations gave $60,000 in 2018 to the Arab American Association of New York, a group co-founded by politically connected activist Linda Sarsour that helped plan a hate-filled “Flood Brooklyn for Palestine” protest in Bay Ridge on Oct. 21, where protestors called for the eradication of Israel and held a sign of the Israeli flag in a trash basket that read “Please keep the world clean!”
Professional pro-Hamas activist and anti-Semite Linda Sarsour has been aligned with Jones for several years. Sarsour spoke at a Nashville rally in support of Jones when he was temporarily returned to his position as a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives in April of this year.
– – –
Michael Patrick Leahy is the CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Justin Jones” by Justin Jones.
I am so sick of this perpetual Soros- backed Hamas sympathizer, who in the fake George Floyd (thug criminal) Soros-funded riots in 2020, damaged a Metro Nashville police vehicle by jumping up down on it like a crazed rabid hyenna. He was arrested, but not prosecuted by our Soros-funded DA Glen Funk. All this kid wants is attention & money. He has no substance. What legislation has he introduced & subsequently passed that would be good for Tennessee? The answer is not one damn thing. I’d like to know how much money he gets paid by Soros to continually support Anti-American Violence & carry out his every command. Got to be money involved. I think people deserve to see his income tax filings. He is a pathetic phony. Trying to be “important” If asked , I bet he has no idea of Israel’s history. He is an empty vessel.
I hope the IDF destroys every inch of Palestine & the Gaza strip. Surrounding Arab countries won’t take in a single Palestinian refugee bc they are radicalized. The coward Hamas animals are using the people as shields. I think once the war is won & every Hamas Barbarian is dead, Israel keeps the land & develops the land into a prosperous tourism attraction, with beautiful beaches.
Next if we had a competent Commander-in’-Chief he would strike & pulverize every oil asset in Iran, & reimpose sanctions that Trump put in place that totally crippled their terrorist plots. Iran (Persia) is the largest funder of the proxies like Hamas & Hezbulla.
May they enjoy their heavenly goal of 23 virgins for killing the non-believers. What hogwash!
What is up with Democrats supporting Hamas? If they support terrorists murdering women and children in horrendous acts, just think what they would support happening to YOU. These people know nothing about the history of Israel and its peoples. A ceasefire? Hamas would just turn around and do it again. Their goal is the extermination of all Jewish people. The ignorance of these Democratic Representatives is unbelievable.
Get started and remove these people immediately. Is this what you want Tennessee to become?
Only Tyrants wish to disarm a society for power.
Lenin, Stalin, Castro, Hitler and others are examples.
Jones is now showing her anti-Jewish colors.
Jones is no more than a terrorist and part of the Caliphate that will soon go hard. Question is, would the Israeli people been able to defend themselves if they were not disarmed by their government.
The current situation in Israel is what Jihad Jones wishes for America.
Is anyone surprised?
SCUM !