Anonymous wrote:Jamie Raskin is being challenged in the May 14 Democratic primary. Raskin voted against aid to Israel and Ukraine, and they may hurt him. The challenger is Eric Felber
https://ericfelberforcongress.com
Both the Washington Jewish Week and the Jewish Community Relations Council have sharply criticized Raskin.
https://www.washingtonjewishweek.com/raskins-moral-vote-against-israel-aid/
https://www.jcouncil.org/statements/jcrc-statement-congressman-raskins-vote-against-critical-israel-aid-bill
Raskin voted YES on Ukraine aid, NO on continuing to arm Israel in the current context. That actually feels very much in keeping with the views of the majority of his constituents.
Here is the relevant portion of his statement, which again feels very much in step with his voters:
“But, at this time, with all the new aid assured and soon to be in the pipeline for the next several years, I remain haunted and heartsick by the way Prime Minister Netanyahu has prosecuted the war in Gaza. It has already cost the lives of more than 34,000 people in Gaza, more than two-thirds of them women and children, in the six months since Hamas’s appalling terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the murder of nearly 1,200 people and the illegal abduction and kidnapping of hundreds more. Gaza has been crushed and overrun by the internal displacement of the vast majority of its population, the demolition of most homes and physical structures, the spread of hunger, homelessness and disease, and the shock of more than 1,000 cases of pediatric amputation of arms and legs.
“Yesterday, I sent a message to Netanyahu as a strong progressive supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship that the war in Gaza, so long as it continues, must be narrowly targeted and conducted according to the laws of war and that our weapons must be used in accordance with American and international law. When the war began, I emphasized that Israel’s war is a just war of self-defense against a lawless enemy and that it warrants the support of democratic nations and everyone who rejects terrorism. But a war with just causes must also be conducted justly in its execution, which means in strict observance of all the legal protections for civilian life.
“Yes, war is hell, as we are often told. But that is why we have laws of war—precisely to confine the hellishness of war to actual military combatants. And, yes, Hamas terrorists neglect and endanger Palestinian civilians living in the theater of combat—that is what terrorists do. But that is why the democratic law-abiding world must make extra efforts to protect innocent civilians who are imperiled by terrorists, and never use their peril as a justification for neglecting or violating their safety ourselves.
“The laws of war are there to protect real human beings, and we must be working however we can to build a future of peace, safety and security for Israeli and Palestinian families alike."