Observer Time: September 18, 2024
A congressional hearing on crimes is being held after a Republican senator told the head of a Muslim think tank to “put his head in the bag” and accused him of supporting Hamas and Hezbollah.
So today here at Observer Time we are going to discuss and observe the news of Senator John Kennedy.
SENATOR JOHN KENNEDY
Louisiana Republican Senator John Kennedy was criticized by Democrats and Muslim, Jewish, and civil liberties groups for comments made by Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab American Institute, during a Senate hearing.
The Judiciary Committee was also troubled when Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz was interrupted by onlookers protesting the number of Palestinians killed in Israel’s attack on Gaza. You are talking about Jews and Israel.
Talk about 40,000. Talk about all these people. “What’s the matter with anti-Semitism?” shouted the protester before being kicked out of the room. “We now have demonstrations of anti-Semitism,” Cruz replied. Showing hatred.”
Republicans criticized the agenda of Tuesday’s hearing – organized by the committee’s Democratic chairman, Dick Durbin – for conflating anti-Semitism and bigotry against Muslims, Arabs and other groups.
“The goal is to show how difficult it is to go to school if you’re Jewish,” said Lindsey Graham, the head of the Republican committee and a senator from South Carolina.
If you were a Jew, they would beat you, spit on you, and it was out of control. This is not the hearing we’re getting, so we’ll work with what we’ve got.
A series of highly charged hearings have been organized by a Republican-led subcommittee in the House of Representatives, with focuses on the rise of antisemitism on university campuses after Hamas carried out opportunistic attacks on Israel last October that resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths, 250 hostages, and triggered an ongoing Israeli military response.
After responding to questions about their institutions’ insufficient condemnation of calls for genocide against Jews during the House hearings, two university heads resigned from their positions.
Graham ventured into a similar realm when he inquired from Berry if she thought that Hamas, Hezbollah, or Iran was interested in annihilating the sole Jewish state.
According to Berry, these questions are intricate and challenging.
Berry’s disagreement with John Kennedy resulted in a confrontation, prompting John Kennedy to question her. “Do you support Hamas?
Berry replied: “I have no support for Hamas, he is a foreign terrorist organization. The issue of hate in our country is brought to the forefront by your inquiry, according to a statement from the executive director of the Arab American Institute.
Upon John Kennedy’s inquiry about her endorsement of either Hezbollah or Iran, Berry stated that it was “unacceptably disconcerting.
During the interrogation, John Kennedy expressed his dissatisfaction with Berry’s decision to not openly object to the three named entities. He then suggested hiding your head in a bag.
Durbin requested Berry to respond to the commotion, and she responded by saying:
“It’s unfortunate that I have encountered the same problem today. This has been a genuine letdown, but it’s also reflected the danger to our democratic institutions that we’re facing at present.
That is a source of great regret for me.
With Durbin’s approval, the judiciary committee supported Berry’s response, which was posted on X and included commentary:
“A Senate Republican advised an Arab American civil rights leader to conceal their head in a bag. We decided to keep that awful clip in our footage.
The witness’s powerful response will be amplified, and the witness blasted out loud.
Berry was the subject of hostility from John Kennedy and other Republicans, as the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair) reported.
The committee was questioned about hate crimes by Maya Berry. Both Ms. Robert McCaw, Cair’s director of government affairs, stated that Berry and the issue were deserving of respect and seriousness.”
Sen. John Kennedy and his colleagues opted to be exemplars of the intolerance faced by Arab, Palestinian and Muslim populations in recent times.
The “discriminatory and vitriolic attack” on Berry was denounced by Anthony Romero, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.
The speaker remarked that it is outrageous and inappropriate to use a hearing to present personal and discriminatory attacks on an expert witness, given the alarming rise in anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and antisemitic hate crimes.
According to Sheila Katz, chief executive officer of the National Council of Jewish Women and Berry’s treatment, it was a “heartbreaking” experience.
“The only Islamic activist has faced questions about his support for Hamas and Hezbollah despite his relentless criticism,” he wrote in X. This meeting is about fighting hatred, not perpetuating it. “The Senate needs to do better.”
For regular updates subscribe to the newsletter of Observer Time