By Adina Katz, WorldIsraelNews.com
Far-left congresswomen including Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) are preparing to welcome new members to their so-called “Squad,” after progressive candidates were elected in multiple states.
Summer Lee, an anti-Israel progressive candidate whose opponent received $1 million in funding from AIPAC, easily cruised to victory in Pennsylvania, winning some 55% of the vote and a formerly Republican seat.
“When I hear American [politicians] use the refrain ‘Israel has the right to defend itself’ in response to undeniable atrocities on a marginalized pop[ulation], I can’t help but think of how the West has always justified indiscriminate & disproportionate force & power on weakened & marginalized people,” Lee wrote on Twitter during the May 2021 Israel-Gaza clash.
She did not acknowledge the thousands of rockets intentionally fired at civilian communities in Israel or the Jews who were murdered during widespread Arab rioting in mixed Arab-Jewish cities during the conflict.
During an event at the Jewish Federation of Pittsburg in April 2022, Lee gave a coy answer when asked if Israel is an apartheid state.
“I don’t necessarily know the answer to that,” she said. “I don’t know that I am as well-versed in the intricacies of this.”
She added that she is opposed to anti-BDS legislation because it serves as a way to “criminalize a tactic that is rooted in peaceful protest.”
Rep. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) welcomed news of Lee’s election victory on Twitter early Wednesday.
“Let me congratulate @SummerForPA on her resounding victory in Pennsylvania’s 12th District,” Sanders wrote.
“Summer ran a great campaign and withstood an onslaught of outside money from billionaires. She will be a great congresswoman for the working class.”
Another progressive who won on Tuesday and may join the Squad is Delia Ramirez of Illinois, whose website describes her as a fighter “for the rights of all working families struggling to survive, whether it be housing justice, fully funding public schools, women’s reproductive rights, or Medicare for all.”
