All 25 Jewish members among the Democrats in the House of Representatives issued a statement condemning Amnesty International USA Executive Director Paul O’Brien’s recent remarks about how Israel “shouldn’t exist as a Jewish state.”
The March 14 statement, which included Representatives Ted Deutch (D-FL), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Elaine Luria (D-VA), said that it was “very disturbing” that O’Brien believes that the American Jewish community doesn’t think Israel should “exist as a Jewish state.” “We are in full agreement that Mr. O’Brien’s patronizing attempt to speak on behalf of the American Jewish community is deeply alarming and offensive,” they said. “He has added his name to the list of those who, across centuries, have tried to deny and usurp the Jewish people’s independent agency. We stand united in condemning this and any antisemitic attempt to deny the Jewish people control of their own destiny.”
All 25 Jewish Democratic House members condemn Amnesty International USA’s executive director Paul O’Brien for saying that Israel shouldn’t exist as a Jewish state pic.twitter.com/IVJF13bBBQ
— Jacob Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) March 14, 2022
The Jewish Democratic Council of America tweeted their thanks to the 25 Jewish House Democrats for issuing the statement and agreed with them that O’Brien’s remarks were “disturbing.”
Thank you to all 25 Jewish Democrats in the House for speaking out against the disturbing comments by Amnesty International USA's executive director.
We agree, "Mr. O'Brien's patronizing attempt to speak on behalf of the American Jewish community is alarming & deeply offensive." https://t.co/zWFRALcN20
— Jewish Dems (@USJewishDems) March 14, 2022
The Simon Wiesenthal Center tweeted that they welcome the statement and urge “all elected officials, NGOs, and donors to treat [Amnesty International] as a hate group.”
SWC welcomes the condemnation by 25 Jewish House Democrats of @amnesty's American director’s anti-Semitic words and call for an end to the Jewish state.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center urges all elected officials, NGOs, and donors to treat AI as a hate group. https://t.co/JJhEvOLOqU— SimonWiesenthalCntr (@simonwiesenthal) March 14, 2022
In a Twitter thread, O’Brien claimed that Jewish Insider (JI), which first reported on his comments, took them “out of context.” “Jewish Insider’s headline claims that I and Amnesty questioned the right of Israel to exist,” he wrote. “I did not and Amnesty takes no position on the legitimacy of any state. Nor did I suggest or claim to know that ‘the bulk of American Jews do not want Israel to be a Jewish State.’” He claimed that he was referring “to research showing 25% of American Jews believe Israel is an apartheid state” in response to someone saying that American Jews view Israeli apartheid allegations as antisemitic. O’Brien also claimed he was critiquing Israel’s 2018 nation-state law.
“While we recognize the right of self-determination for Jewish and Palestinian people as a basic human right, we take no position on the legal or political solutions that any people may take to exercise that right,” O’Brien continued. “I am proud to work at Amnesty alongside colleagues who work so hard to fight for human rights and to confront antisemitism, apartheid, and racial discrimination in all its forms and I look forward to future opportunities to discuss our report findings.”
Earlier this week, I spoke at the Women’s National Democratic Club @WNDC, regarding @Amnesty's report which found the crime of apartheid in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel. My remarks were taken out of context by Jewish Insider. I offer clarifications here. 1/7
— Paul O'Brien (@dpaulobrien) March 12, 2022
Jewish Insider’s headline claims that I and Amnesty questioned the right of Israel to exist. I did not and Amnesty takes no position on the legitimacy of any state. Nor did I suggest or claim to know that "the bulk of American Jews do not want Israel to be a Jewish State". 3/7
— Paul O'Brien (@dpaulobrien) March 12, 2022
When a participant said most Jewish people would find the use of "apartheid" to be antisemitic, I did point to research showing 25% of American Jews believe Israel is an apartheid state. See: https://t.co/XEWzqWiqgr. 4/7
— Paul O'Brien (@dpaulobrien) March 12, 2022
I said that while we recognize the right of self-determination for Jewish and Palestinian people as a basic human right, we take no position on the legal or political solutions that any people may take to exercise that right. 6/7
— Paul O'Brien (@dpaulobrien) March 12, 2022
I am proud to work at Amnesty alongside colleagues who work so hard to fight for human rights and to confront antisemitism, apartheid, and racial discrimination in all its forms and I look forward to future opportunities to discuss our report findings. https://t.co/RPLngboiLV 7/7
— Paul O'Brien (@dpaulobrien) March 12, 2022
In response to O’Brien’s allegations, JI released the full transcript and audio of O’Brien’s comments on March 14.
