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AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib
Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman unloaded on the various members of Congress who have refused to condemn Hamas, pointing out that the Islamist terror group is led by "rapists and cowards."
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Fetterman made the comments on the X platform in response to an article from The New York Times, which described in harrowing detail the experiences of some of the hostages taken during the October 7th attacks on Israel.
“Some members of Congress won’t condemn this. Some dismissed this as ‘propaganda.’ The UN won’t even condemn Hamas. Hamas is not a group of ‘militants’ or engaging in ‘insurgency’ — just rapists and cowards hiding behind innocent civilians."
“Israel absolutely has the right to pursue and dismantle Hamas to surrender or neutralization," he continued. "True peace is possible through this imperative.”
Some members of Congress won't condemn this. Some dismissed this as 'propaganda'. The UN won't even condemn Hamas.
Hamas is not a group of 'militants' or engaging in 'insurgency'—just rapists and cowards hiding behind innocent civilians. pic.twitter.com/5OE423uEAQ
— Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) March 27, 2024
Although Fetterman did not call out any individuals by name, it is clear he was referring to many on the Democratic left who have refused to side with Israel over the course of the conflict.
The article in question involved an interview with Israeli lawyer Amit Soussana, who described how she was sexually abused while in captivity:
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Ms. Soussana said she was held alone in a child’s bedroom, chained by her left ankle. Sometimes, the guard would enter, sit beside her on the bed, lift her shirt and touch her, she said. He also repeatedly asked when her period was due. When her period ended, around Oct. 18, she tried to put him off by pretending that she was bleeding for nearly a week, she recalled.
Around Oct. 24, the guard, who called himself Muhammad, attacked her, she said. Early that morning, she said, Muhammad unlocked her chain and left her in the bathroom. After she undressed and began washing herself in the bathtub, Muhammad returned and stood in the doorway, holding a pistol.
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After hitting Ms. Soussana and forcing her to remove her towel, Muhammad groped her, sat her on the edge of the bathtub and hit her again, she said.
He dragged her at gunpoint back to the child’s bedroom, a room covered in images of the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants, she recalled. “Then he, with the gun pointed at me, forced me to commit a sexual act on him,” Ms. Soussana said.
Hamas has strongly denied claims that its militants have subjected hostages to sexual abuse. However, a report from the United Nations last month found that there was “clear and convincing information” that some victims were targeted sexually and that there were “reasonable grounds” to believe such attacks had taken place.
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I was profoundly moved to meet with survivors of the October 7th massacre and families of Hamas’ hostages. ⁰⁰Together, we began to post photos of the hostages outside my office to stress the urgent need to bring them all home.
Fetterman, meanwhile, has styled himself as one of Congress's most vocal supporters of Israel. Yet, as previously noted by RedState, such loyalty is beginning to upset some of his Democratic colleagues, the majority of whom range from lukewarm support to outright opposition.
Ben Kew is Editor-at-Large at RedState. Originally from the UK, he studied politics and modern languages at the University of Bristol. He started his career at Breitbart London aged 20, before moving to the U.S. to cover Congress and eventually becoming the outlet's Latin America correspondent until the end of 2020. Since then he has worked in editorial roles at El American and Human Events. He has also written for The Spectator, The Epoch Times, The Western Journal, The Critic, Spiked Magazine and PanAm Post.
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