Nancy Pelosi, former US House Speaker and Democrat of California, has sought an FBI investigation into protesters seeking Israel-Hamas ceasefire. In an interview to CNN she has claimed that some of these activists may have ties to Russia and President Vladimir Putin.
“For them to call for a cease-fire is Mr. Putin’s message,” Pelosi told CNN. “Make no mistake, this is directly connected to what he would like to see. Same thing with Ukraine. It’s about Putin’s message. I think some of these protesters are spontaneous and organic and sincere. Some, I think, are connected to Russia.” This is for the first time an influential American politician has linked Russia to the ongoing protests in the country.
Pelosi, who led US HOuse for 20 years didn’t want to comment on whether these demonstrators are “Russian plants”, claimed, “Seeds or plants. I think some financing should be investigated. And I want to ask the F.B.I. to investigate that.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations has called her comments “an unsubstantiated smear” and “downright authoritarian.”
‘Nancy’s comments downright authoritarian’
“Her comments once again show the negative impact of decades of dehumanization of the Palestinian people by those supporting Israeli apartheid,” Nihad Awad, the group’s national executive director, said in a statement. “Instead of baselessly smearing those Americans as Russian collaborators, former House Speaker Pelosi and other political leaders should respect the will of the American people by calling for an end to the Netanyahu government’s genocidal war on the people of Gaza.”
Democrat supporters fume over Nancy’s comments
The comment hasn’t gone down to well with several Democrat supporters who claim this approach will marginalise his support and threaten his re-election in November. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have been at the helm of these ceasefire protests that even disrupted Democratic campaign events in recent weeks.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Ms. Pelosi pointed to a social media post by Ian Bremmer, a political scientist and professor at Columbia University, who wrote that “putin benefits from continued war in gaza and expanded chaos in the middle east.”
Advocacy groups have often voiced concern over First Amendment violations since October, likening suppression of pro-Palestinian speech to a 21st century version of Mccarthyism.
