J Street welcomes Congressman Hank Johnson’s clarification regarding his remarks today about the Israeli settlement enterprise during a panel held outside the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
The Congressman acknowledges that he made a “poor choice of words” and we appreciate his clarification that he “meant no offense.”
J Street believes there is no place in discussions of this highly-charged issue for personal insults or slurs against whole groups of people including settlers on the West Bank.
However, there also should be no place for irresponsible headline writing designed to stir controversy. The Congressman was clearly referring to the corrosive impact of the settlement enterprise on the two-state solution and not to individuals. The Free Beacon and its headline writers have, as is their habit, taken irresponsible liberties with the words actually spoken in an effort to advance their political agenda.
The proper focus of media coverage here should be on the growing political opposition to Israeli settlement growth and not on the misrepresentations by an irresponsible media outlet.