{"id":136820,"date":"2023-11-05T11:50:04","date_gmt":"2023-11-05T16:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/?p=136820"},"modified":"2023-11-05T11:50:04","modified_gmt":"2023-11-05T16:50:04","slug":"democrats-want-resignation-of-u-iowa-democrats-over-shameless-support-of-palestinians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/democrats-want-resignation-of-u-iowa-democrats-over-shameless-support-of-palestinians\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats want resignation of U. Iowa Democrats over ‘shameless’ support of Palestinians"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Iowa Democratic Party is calling on three members of the University Democrats at Iowa to resign following their statement in support of the Palestinians.<\/p>\n

The statement — issued by Vice President Kiana Shevling-Major, Secretary Olivia Martin, and Treasurer Matthew Charles — read “We shamelessly and fully support Palestine. The ongoing violence against millions of innocent people is egregious and the perpetuation of it by the United States of America and other western states is even more so.”<\/p>\n

It ended with \u201cMay every Palestinian live long and free, from the river to the sea,\u201d The Daily Iowan<\/em><\/a> reports. The second part of that sentence is considered a call<\/a> for the destruction of Israel.<\/p>\n

Shevling-Major claimed the phrase merely expresses her support for the Palestinians \u201cwho are currently being held hostage in their own land, from the river of Jordan to the sea of the Mediterranean.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"In a statement to the student paper, Shevling-Major (pictured) <\/em>said \u201cI refuse to apologize for supporting Palestine. I refuse to stop calling out oppression when I see it. I refuse to be silenced.”<\/p>\n

The vice president said that as a result of social media “backlash” and complaints from state politicians, her organization amended the statement to read \u201cMay every Palestinian live long and free.\u201d<\/p>\n

But this “correction” was removed in “less than an hour.”<\/p>\n

MORE:<\/strong> Cornell student charged with threatening to slaughter Jewish students<\/a><\/p>\n

From the story<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The Iowa Democratic Party condemned the University Democrats at Iowa\u2019s statement via its social media channels and in a news release.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Iowa Democratic Party was recently made aware of a statement made by the University Democrats at Iowa, which included problematic anti-semitic slogans including \u2018from the river to the sea Palestine will be free,\u2019\u201d Iowa Democrats chair Rita Hart said in a statement. \u201cLet\u2019s be very clear. That is a call for Jewish genocide and we wholly condemn that offensive language.\u201d<\/p>\n

The party said in the statement that it stands with Palestinians and Israelis and do not condone terrorism. The Iowa Democratic Party officially called for the resignation of the student representatives who signed the letter.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A follow-up story<\/a> from the Daily<\/em> reports the trio has no plans to resign. Shevling-Major said they had decided to make their statement “because she felt that nobody was talking about it.”<\/p>\n

Martin said she “felt as though students were looking for them to make a statement” about the conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are people dying that shouldn\u2019t be dying,” she said. “I think it\u2019s inappropriate that there are children and mothers and fathers and families that are being obliterated, and no one\u2019s doing anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martin added she thought that “with the popularity” of the saying “from the river to the sea” people would realize their intentions were “pure.” The trio claim they “didn’t realize the impact the saying would have on members of the Jewish Community.”<\/p>\n

MORE:<\/strong> Syracuse cancels \u2018Occupation of Palestine\u2019 talk by Arab scholar who once praised plane hijacker<\/a><\/p>\n

IMAGES: Jaiz Anuar\/Shutterstock.com; Kiana Shevling-Major\/Facebook<\/p>\n

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