Karine Jean-Pierre slammed for saying AIPAC conference 'severely racist', despite Dem prez attendance
Jean-Pierre will be replacing Jen Psaki, who is reportedly moving on to work for MSNBC after her last day on the White House job, May 13
Karine Jean-Pierre,
President Joe Biden's new press secretary, is being criticized for an
incendiary 2019 op-ed in which she called a pro-Israel conference --
previously attended by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton -- "severely
racist."
Jean Pierre, 44, who became the first Black LGBTQ+ person to hold the prestigious position, has already been blasted for her relationship with CNN journalist Suzanne Malveaux, 55, with many raising "conflict of interest" concerns. The couple shares a seven-year-old daughter, Soleil. That said, Jean-Pierre will be replacing left-wing firebrand Jen Psaki, who is reportedly moving on to work for MSNBC after her last day on the White House job, May 13.
Karine Jean-Pierre and her husband Suzanne Malveaux
Jean-Pierre branded the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) convention as "racist" and declared it wasn't "progressive" in a scathing 2019 opinion piece for Newsweek. "Unfortunately, AIPAC's policy and conference speaker choices aren't its only problems. Its severely racist, Islamophobic rhetoric has proven just as alarming," she wrote at the time. "The organization has become known for trafficking in anti-Muslim and anti-Arab rhetoric while lifting up Islamophobic voices and attitudes. When it comes down to it, AIPAC's policies are not progressive policies. AIPAC's values are not progressive values. It's time to call a spade a spade."
The newly hired press secretary claimed Democrats can't call themselves "progressive while continuing to associate yourself with an organization like AIPAC" because the organization had been the "antithesis" of that. According to the New York Post, she wrote the op-ed while working as the Senior Advisor and National Spokesperson for MoveOn, while also working as a lecturer at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.
Jean-Pierre also took aim at the Trump administration for attempting to dismantle the Iran Nuclear Deal signed by former President Barack Obama, while showering praise on Democratic nominees for not attending the 2019 conference. "And I for one am glad that a number of candidates running on my party's ticket feel the same. Because ultimately, this wasn't about skipping the AIPAC annual conference," she continued. "It was about boldly choosing to prioritize diplomacy and human rights over the power of a lobbying organization. And this is exactly the type of attitude we need heading into 2020.
Furthermore, she also ridiculed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was invited to speak at that year's conference. "Netanyahu not only has personal charges levied against him = he's been indicted on both bribery and fraud charges - but under his leadership of Israel, according to the United Nations, Israel may have committed war crimes in its attacks on Gazan protesters," she wrote at the time. Netanyahu has since called the war crimes allegation "outrageous."
Jean-Pierre was excoriated on social media after the 2019 op-ed resurfaced.
"Anti-Israel past of Karine Jean-Pierre: She was once the senior adviser & national spokeswoman for MoveOn.org, a far-left anti-Israel group that advocates for boycotts of the Jewish state. She is now press secretary for Biden," real estate investor Adam Milstein tweeted.
"Amidst all the celebration of Biden’s new press secretary checking multiple boxes in identity politics, the mainstream media forgot to mention that she hates Israel," former US ambassador to Israel David M Friedman chimed in.
Responding to a tweet noting how Jean-Pierre would be the first black lesbian to become White House press secretary, human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky wrote, "Karine Jean-Pierre (@K_JeanPierre @KJP46) will also be the first such openly hostile Press Secretary against Israel, who has accused the Jewish state of war crimes and supported boycotts."
"Karine Jean-Pierre also criticized Hoyer for "bash[ing]" Ilhan Omar and other squadniks over Israel," author Seth Mandel offered. "You definitely want someone who sides with Ilhan Omar speaking for the president, right? Good work everyone," he added in sarcasm.
Why 2020 Democrats Skipped AIPAC: Pro-Israel Group Is Often the Antithesis of Progressive Values | Opinion
By Karina Jean-Pierre
Newsweek
March 26, 2019
Karine Jean-Pierre was tapped to replace Jen Psaki as White House Press SecretaryIn 2007, both Democratic presidential candidates attended AIPAC's annual convention. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama even threw parties at the organization's signature event, signaling their commitment to AIPAC and its values. This past weekend marked AIPAC's annual convention in D.C., just 12 years later. Not one Democratic candidate for president showed.
And they made the right call.
Because when it comes down to it, AIPAC's policies are not progressive policies. AIPAC's values are not progressive values.
It's time to call a spade a spade.
AIPAC is not progressive. You cannot call yourself a progressive while continuing to associate yourself with an organization like AIPAC that has often been the antithesis of what it means to be progressive.
In 2015, AIPAC spent tens of millions of dollars trying to defeat the Iran nuclear deal crafted by President Obama. The deal was historic in its attempt to create and maintain peace. Now it's being sabotaged by the Trump administration, who has found in AIPAC a strong partner. In its attempts to ruin the Iran deal, AIPAC supported the group that's credited with inspiring President Trump to enact the Muslim Ban and has been known to spread anti-Muslim racism.
Then there's the AIPAC conference itself: This year, the headlining speaker was none other than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu not only has personal charges levied against him—he's been indicted on both bribery and fraud charges—but under his leadership of Israel, according to the United Nations, Israel may have committed war crimes in its attacks on Gazan protesters.
Unfortunately, AIPAC's policy and conference speaker choices aren't its only problems. Its severely racist, Islamophobic rhetoric has proven just as alarming. The organization has become known for trafficking in anti-Muslim and anti-Arab rhetoric while lifting up Islamophobic voices and attitudes. As we've seen over the course of the Trump administration's tenure, words can prove just as destructive as laws. Anti-Muslim and anti-Arab rhetoric doesn't simply sit in a silo. It interacts with the world, creating and fuming hatred that leads to hateful acts, whether the package is individual hate crimes—or collective—the Muslim ban.
This history along with clear momentum created the right moment to call on Democratic candidates to skip AIPAC
In fact, 74 percent of MoveOn members who responded to our survey believe that any progressive vying to be the Democratic nominee for president should skip the AIPAC conference. What's more, it's clear that the progressive base writ large sees AIPAC as antithetical to progressive values. If it didn't, why would every single Democratic candidate have felt comfortable skipping the conference (which, by the way, many have attended in years past)?
This weekend, a number of Democratic candidates for president recognized that AIPAC is nothing more than a partisan lobbying group that has failed, time and time again, to uphold progressive values.
I wish everyone in the party could say the same.
Instead of standing for progressive values, some Democratic members of Congress did just the opposite: they attended the conference and proceeded to bash the freshmen congresswomen who paved the way in identifying AIPAC as the obstacle to progress that it is. But disavowing AIPAC and skipping its conference isn't anti-Semitic.
After all, AIPAC itself has refused to condemn the repeated and callous anti-Semitic remarks that have come out of the Trump administration. Steve Bannon, a close ally and former member of the Trump administration, reportedly had his kids removed from school because of "the number of Jews that attend" and that he "didn't want [his children] going to school with Jews." These "reports" are according to Bannon's wife.
AIPAC declined to comment.
Time after time, policy after policy, speech after speech. At nearly every opportunity, AIPAC has shown that it is no bastion of progressivism.
And I for one am glad that a number of candidates running on my party's ticket feel the same. Because ultimately, this wasn't about skipping the AIPAC annual conference. It was about boldly choosing to prioritize diplomacy and human rights over the power of a lobbying organization. And this is exactly the type of attitude we need heading into 2020.
Karine Jean-Pierre is the national spokesperson and senior adviser for MoveOn, a radical-left organization funded by George Soros among others.
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