Detained by settlers, US Democrat Ro Khanna now faces pro-Israel attacks
Progressive congressman accuses Israeli military of ‘lying’ after settlers held up his van in the occupied West Bank. As rights advocates decry the detention of
Progressive congressman accuses Israeli military of ‘lying’ after settlers held up his van in the occupied West Bank. As rights advocates decry the detention of United States Congressman Ro Khanna by armed Israeli settlers, Israel and its allies are launching political attacks to discredit the progressive legislator. Israeli officials have already ruled out apologising to Khanna or holding the settlers accountable. Instead, several have gone on the offensive against the congressman. Khanna said he was travelling to a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday when armed settlers stopped his van for 20 minutes. The settlers were later joined by Israeli soldiers who continued to block the road. The whole ordeal lasted more than an hour, according to Khanna, and was only resolved after he reached out to the US embassy in Israel. On Sunday, Michael Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the US, appeared to blame Khanna for the mistreatment he received, saying that the California Democrat had failed to coordinate his trip with the Israeli government. “He decided to coordinate his trip not with Israel, but with Palestinian activists and with J Street,” Leiter told CBS News, referencing a Jewish nonprofit. Leiter went on to claim, without evidence, that Khanna may have waited to release his video of Wednesday’s incident to distract from his support for politician Graham Platner. Platner dropped out of the Senate race in Maine on Friday amid sexual misconduct allegations.
Khanna published his video on Saturday. “Maybe this had more something to do with his support of Graham Platner beforehand and the difficulties he had with that, and trying to shift the focus to something else. Perhaps? I’m asking a question,” Leiter said. Khanna is not backing down, however. He said he did inform Israel of his travel and has called for the arrest of settlers who held up his van. Khanna responds The Israeli military has disputed Khanna’s version of the events, saying that it “dispersed” civilians who were blocking the road. But in an appearance on Sunday with NBC News, Khanna refuted that account. “The [Israeli military] is lying,” Khanna said. “What happened was unprecedented. They had violent settlers detain American citizens, including an American government official. You had these settlers brandishing M4s [rifles], kicking the tyres of our van, laughing at us, mocking at us, videotaping us.” He added that the Israeli military participated in blocking their path and detaining them. “How dare they mistreat people with an American passport that way?” Khanna said. Pro-Israel politicians, however, claimed that Khanna provoked his own detention by carrying out a political stunt. “Sounds like another plea for publicity. Anything to get in front of the camera. Why else would you be there? It isn’t your country,” Republican Congressman Greg Murphy wrote in a social media post.
The BriefWire