On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Source,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) criticized Qatar for allowing Hamas’ leader to live in the country and denounced Hamas as an organization that murders Israelis every time there’s meaningful progress towards peace for Palestinians and whose recent attacks were “the most heinous attempt to upend human rights, security, and dignity of Israelis and Palestinians.”
Booker said, “Look, the Qataris, who are playing a constructive role, they have to self-examine. There are Hamas leaders living in Qatar. There are a lot that we have to get to the bottom of. But there should be no confusion in the United States of America. There should be no equivocation. This is an organization, Hamas, that is focused on destroying pathways to peace, killing civilians, and perpetrating hate.”
Earlier, Booker stated, “Look, what Hamas has done, this terrorist organization that, in its very charter, is not to stand against the State of Israel, their charter is to kill Jews. We need to be clear, this organization and their founding was not about Israel, we are killing Jews. It’s a hate organization reminiscent of ISIS or even the Nazis. And before we even get to this decade, any time the Palestinian people had meaningful progress with Israelis towards real peace, remember, right after the Oslo Accords, where you have a Palestinian leader and an Israeli leader winning the Nobel Peace Prize, what is this hate organization’s response? To begin an unprecedented [effort] to bomb civilians, buses, killing and murdering Israeli people.”
He added that in response to the Abraham Accords, “This hate-filled organization targeted civilians, killed and murdered, not just Americans, Brazilians, Argentinians, French, not just Israelis. It is the most heinous attempt to upend human rights, security, and dignity of Israelis and Palestinians.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
