Outrage poured in from across the political spectrum on Sunday after Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington, spoke to CNN’s Dana Bash.
During the interview, Rep. Jayapal attempted to deflect criticism of sexual violence by Hamas terrorists against Israeli women during its Oct. 7 surprise attack. In response to vicious attacks on women, Jayapal told Bash that sexual violence should be condemned but the actions of Israel should also be taken into consideration.
To Bash’s credit, she repeatedly called out Jayapal over her lack of condemnation.
The Daily Caller continues:
“I’ve seen a lot of Progressive women. Generally speaking, they’re quick to defend women’s rights and to speak out against using rape as a weapon of war, but downright silent on what we saw on Oct. 7 and what might be happening inside Gaza right now to these hostages,” Bash told Jayapal in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Jayapal said that she “absolutely” was thinking about “the impact of war on women in particular,” noting that she “condemned what Hamas has done.” Bash asked if the congresswoman specifically condemned sexual violence against women, causing Jayapal to pivot to “international humanitarian law” with respect to Israel.
“With respect, I was just asking about the women, and you turned it back to Israel,” Bash interrupted, calling the congresswoman out. “I’m asking you about Hamas.”
“I already answered your question, Dana,” an ostensibly calm Jayapal responded. “I said it’s horrific, and I think that rape is horrific. Sexual assault is horrific. I think that it happens in war situations. Terrorist organizations like Hamas obviously are using these as tools. However, I think we have to be balanced about bringing in the outrages against Palestinians. Fifteen thousand Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes, three-quarters of whom are women and children.”
The Palestinian casualty figures come from the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. Regardless, Bash called civilian deaths on either side “horrible,” before noting: “But you don’t see Israeli soldiers raping Palestinian women.”
The Daily Caller noted the congresswoman’s response:
Jayapal told the CNN anchor that she did not want to turn the conversation into “the hierarchies of oppression,” stating that “this is not the way that we are going to beat terrorism.”
She told Bash that she’s spoken out against the sexual violence reported in Israel but has yet to do so, at least on X.
The “yes, but” answer, as Mediaite’s Colby Hall described it, continues to draw widespread condemnation.
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