Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., repeatedly suggested a leading Arab American activist is a Hamas supporter when she testified Tuesday at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on hate crimes, and he told her she should hide her “head in a bag.”

The activist, Maya Berry, said repeatedly that she did not support Hamas and was “disappointed” by the minuteslong exchange toward the end of a hearing called “A Threat to Justice Everywhere: Stemming the Tide of Hate Crimes in America.”

“You are the executive director of the Arab American Institute, are you not?” Kennedy said at the beginning of the exchange. She said she was and agreed with Kennedy that she is a Democratic activist.

“You support Hamas, do you not?” Kennedy asked, referring to the militant group behind the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel. The question prompted gasps and surprised laughs from the audience.

“Senator, oddly enough, I’m going to say thank you for that question, because it demonstrates the purpose of our hearing today in a very effective way,” Berry responded. Kennedy then cut her off and insisted he needed a yes-or-no answer.

  • @Cephalotrocity@biglemmowski.win
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    2 months ago

    It only took almost a year, but reputable articles saying the willingness of Palestinians to be martyrs is wavering are finally starting to come out. There needs to be more of this because the perception of many is that the ‘civilians’ are actually terrorist sympathizers, or children being jeopardized by terrorist sympathizers.

    • @BlameThePeacock@lemmy.ca
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      -92 months ago

      They lost support when they saw the consequences of their choices. That still makes them terrorist sympathizers, they had to support it initially in order to abandon support.