Protesters sympathetic to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas descended on Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, at one point torching several American flags in apparent protest of Israeli Prime Minister’s Benjamin Natanyahu’s address to Congress — and address Maine Sen. Angus King and Rep. Chellie Pingree both boycotted.
Although Maine-based far left groups attempted to organize bus trips for activists to attend the anti-Israel activities in the nation’s capital, some remained behind to attend low-energy demonstrations in Augusta and Portland.
Outside of the fringe left Democratic circles, Netanyahu’s speech was generally regarded as pro-American and pro-democracy, a rousing call to defend western civilization in the faces of dark, illiberal forces.
“In the Middle East, Iran’s axis of terror confronts Israel, America and our Arab friends. This is not a clash between civilizations, it’s a clash between barbarism and civilizations. It’s a clash between those who glorify death and those who sanctify life,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said.
Refraining from overt criticism of ailing President Joe Biden and his Vice President Kamala Harris, Netanyahu instead cast the ongoing conflict in the Middle East as a confrontation between liberal democracies and despotic regimes, specifically the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Netanyahu highlighted on several occasions the Iranian regime’s role in bankrolling not on terrorist attacks against Israel, but anti-Israel protests in American cities and on American college campuses.
“I have a message for these protesters. When the tyrants of Tehran who hang gays from cranes and murder women for not covering their hair are praising, promoting and funding you- you have officially become Irans useful idiots,” said Netanyahu.
“Some of these protesters hold up signs proclaiming ‘Gays for Gaza’. They might as well hold up signs saying ‘Chickens for KFC’,” Netanyahu said.
Prior to the speech, anti-Israel activists infiltrated the Watergate Hotel, where Netanyahu was thought to be staying, and released maggots and crickets throughout the building. It wasn’t immediately clear why the Hamas sympathizers had stockpiles of maggots on-hand.
Outside of the U.S. Capitol building on the day of the speech, anti-Israel demonstrators bused in from across the country clashed with police forces.
Demi Kouzounas, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Maine who is running against Sen. King, issued a tepid statement criticizing the junior Senator for boycotting the leader of America’s chief ally in the Middle East.
“Senator King has a responsibility to represent all Mainers in listening to the democratically elected leader of our greatest ally in the Middle East,” Kouzounas said.
“It’s unfortunate that instead he chose to make a hyper partisan political statement,” she said.
King issued a written statement on his decision to boycott the address, saying that he disagrees with how the Israeli government has conducted the war against Hamas terrorists and its lack of “postwar planning for Gaza”.
“For this reason I have made the decision to not attend today’s Joint Session of Congress,” King said.
“My absence today is by no means intended to indicate any wavering in my belief that Hamas must be defeated, but is meant to convey the deep concerns and reservations I have about the lack of post-war planning and concerns that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s actions have diminished Israel’s standing in the community of nations without providing Gazans with an alternative to their current destructive leadership,” King said.
In his statement, King did not elaborate on what exactly he would like to see in terms of post-war planning from the Israeli government.
Pingree issued a more vehement statement, calling on Netanyahu to resign as Prime Minister and skewering what she dubbed as “far-right”, “extremists”, and “ultranationalists” in Israel.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu has slow-walked ceasefire and hostage negotiations, bowed to extremists in his coalition who oppose a two-state solution, actively delayed humanitarian aid from reaching Palestinians, and created a worse security environment for both of our countries,” Pingree said.
“For these reasons, I am not attending Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address to Congress today,” she said.
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