Barely a week removed from grandstanding in the House of Representatives over purported antisemitism, one Republican politician is — yet again — embroiled in controversy regarding antisemitism.
On a 412-9 vote last week, the House passed a resolution saying Congress “rejects all forms of antisemitism and xenophobia”; that Israel “is not a racist or apartheid state”; and that the U.S. is a “staunch partner and supporter” of Israel.
In my view, the impetus for this resolution made it utterly ridiculous.
The resolution came in response to remarks by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., about Israel being a “racist state,” a characterization she made while trying to quiet a group holding Palestinian flags at a conference for the progressive Netroots Nation. Characteristic of the way politicians often conflate criticism of Israel — the country — with broad criticism of Jews, Democrats and Republicans alike condemned Jayapal’s statement as antisemitic.
The outrage was dubious at best given that Israel’s government “has been cutting away at the fundamental rights of the Palestinians who live within territory controlled by Israel” for years, writer David Rothkopf told Joy on Monday’s episode of “The ReidOut.”
Sounds pretty racist to me. And to many human rights activists, too.
.@djrothkopf: "We do recognize that Netanyahu no longer has shared values with the United States and those shared values have been the basis of our special relationship." #TheReidOut pic.twitter.com/ZXn4eIChUB
— The ReidOut (@thereidout) July 25, 2023
Nonetheless, Jayapal issued a statement to “clarify” her remarks after facing backlash. And the House overwhelmingly passed its resolution condemning antisemitism and xenophobia. All good, right?
Wrong.
Rep. Paul Gosar has entered the chat.
Who could have guessed that the Arizona Republican, one of America’s most bigoted lawmakers, would expose the House resolution as a sham?
I’m going to say everyone.
Media Matters reported Monday that Gosar had — yet again — promoted a website known for spreading antisemitism, such as Hitler praise and Holocaust denial.
From the media watchdog’s report:
Rep. Paul Gosar yesterday used his House.gov newsletter to promote USSA News, a fringe site that has posted content calling the Holocaust ‘the Holohoax’ and telling readers to ‘stand up for Hitler.’ Gosar’s promotion of the antisemitic outlet comes just months after he sent followers to a different site that has also denied the Holocaust and praised Adolf Hitler.
Gosar was embroiled in a nearly identical controversy in April after using his weekly House.gov newsletter to provide a link to a different antisemitic website.
As the Arizona Mirror noted back then, it wasn’t the first time Gosar had engaged with antisemitism:
In 2021, Gosar promoted the work of known white nationalist Vincent James Foxx, who became the unofficial propagandist for a neo-Nazi fight club. Gosar spoke at the same white nationalist conference as Foxx a few years earlier, alongside Holocaust-denier and antisemite Nick Fuentes, the first sitting politician to do so.
A month later, Talking Points Memo reported that Gosar has even employed a staffer with close ties to Fuentes.
Media Matters found several recent examples of USSA News pieces defending Hitler and denying the Holocaust. In Sunday’s newsletter in which he linked to a USSA News story, Gosar even included a statement he issued announcing his support for last week’s antisemitism resolution — and denouncing Jayapal.
“There is zero room in our society for these vile, hateful and bigoted comments in the Halls of Congress,” the newsletter reads.
Keep in mind, Gosar also voted to expel Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., from the House Foreign Affairs Committee over purported antisemitism.
Consider the upside-down world we’re now experiencing. A woman of color criticizes a demonstrably racist Israeli government, and a there’s a wave of bipartisan backlash.
A bigoted white dude repeatedly promotes platforms whose writers celebrate Hitler and deny the Holocaust, but he gets to condemn her for antisemitism.
I’d say “Only in America,” but, you know, we’re not the only racist state in the world.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.