Kamala Harris’s Shameful Validation of Antisemitism

When the Iranian regime promotes the vice president of the United States in its propaganda, it’s time for us to rethink some electoral choices. By Aaron Kliegman When the Iranian regime promotes you in its propaganda, it’s time for you to rethink some personal choices. When the Iranian regime promotes the vice president of the United States in its propaganda, perhaps it’s time for the American people to rethink some electoral choices. Recently, Iran’s state-run media had a field day with Vice President Kamala Harris, gleefully spreading her blunders on social media — blunders that make the U.S. look cruel and oppressive. The first incident occurred last week, when Harris was speaking to students at George Mason University in Virginia. During the photo-op, a student, who described herself as part-Yemeni, part-Iranian, accused the U.S. of funding Israel’s “ethnic genocide” against Palestinians. “Just a few days ago, there were funds allocated to continue backing Israel,” the student said, apparently referring to the House recently approving $1 billion for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. The funding, she continued, “hurts my heart, because it’s ethnic genocide and displacement of people, the same that happened in America, and I’m sure you’re aware of this.” The student then claimed that, while Americans are “struggling” because of a “lack” of public health care and affordable housing, “all this money ends up going to Israel.” Harris didn’t just nod along. The vice president outright praised the student for her lies, saying she was “glad” the student spoke up. “Your voice, your perspective, your experience, your truth, should not be suppressed, and it must be heard,” Harris said. Whatever the student considers “her truth,” not one thing she said was true. For starters, the Palestinian population has skyrocketed in both Gaza and the West Bank since Israel declared its independence in 1948, as has the Arab population inside Israel. In other words, the Israelis are remarkably bad at genocide, which involves destroying a population, not allowing it to grow. As for the displacement of people, Arabs in Israel enjoy full and equal rights, including the ability to protest the Israeli government and serve in parliament to create Israeli law. In the Palestinian territories, meanwhile, where the Palestinians run their own government, selling land to Jews is a crime while murdering Jews is rewarded. So, who’s really doing the ethnic cleansing? And then there’s Iron Dome. The George Mason student told Harris that the anti-missile system causes “ethnic genocide and displacement of people.” But Iron Dome is purely defensive with zero offensive applications. Its only function is to identify and stop rockets fired at Israel by Hamas and other terrorist groups, which explicitly target civilians. Iron Dome saves countless civilian lives — both Israeli and Palestinian. Funding the system is, if nothing else, morally righteous. What’s more, the notion that the money we spend on Israel takes away from money that could go to health care and housing for Americans is childish. The U.S. spends exponentially more on such domestic programs than Israel’s defense. But even then, the vast majority of the aid we give Israel must be spent in the U.S., indirectly making its way back to the American worker. Harris could’ve respectfully said any of this to the student, standing up for objective facts rather than the subjective idea of “your truth.” But she didn’t. She praised lies — lies which fit the State Department’s definition of antisemitism. Accordingly, Press TV, which is part of the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), promoted the exchange on social media, seizing the opportunity to attack both the Little Satan (Israel) and the Great Satan (America). Press TV has a history of broadcasting antisemitic conspiracy theories as “news,” and IRIB is the Iranian regime’s preferred vehicle for airing the forced confessions of political prisoners. Iranian media outlets aren’t looking to inform people; they’re looking to weaponize information. And Harris just gave them good fodder. Worst of all, Harris’s exchange is just bad foreign policy. Forget morality and shared Israeli-American values: Israel is a crucial strategic ally of the United States. America’s No. 2 government official should stand up for such a friend, not nod along as one demonizes it. So much for the Biden administration rebuilding alliances. For all these reasons, Harris received intense backlash for her cringe-worthy response at George Mason, forcing her spokeswoman to clarify later that the vice president “disagrees” with the student’s comments about Israel. But it was too late: The damage was already done. Amazingly, Harris’s exchange somehow wasn’t her only recent gaffe to make its way into Iranian propaganda. Just days earlier, American media outlets reported that U.S. Border Patrol agents on horseback used their reins as whips to corral and attack Haitian immigrants who had crossed the southern border illegally. The Biden administration ran with the claims, saying the agents would “pay” for their “horrific” conduct. However, it turned out the story was completely false. No one ever got whipped. But the facts didn’t stop Harris from saying the whippings that never occurred evoked “times of slavery.” Press TV eagerly promoted her comments on social media. To bring this full circle, perhaps it’s time for the American people to rethink some electoral choices. Put aside Biden for the moment. Is anyone seriously comfortable that Harris is just a heartbeat away from the presidency? Other than Iran’s leaders, of course. More from Aaron Kliegman: