Editors at National Review Online criticize a Democratic congressman’s recent publicity stunt.
It used to be that politicians exploring a presidential campaign would show up at the Iowa State Fair or give a speech at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics. For Democrats, at least, it seems like a hostile overseas trip to Israel is the latest launching pad.
Last week, Rahm Emanuel, former Chicago mayor, gave a speech in Tel Aviv excoriating Israel and calling for a new, more critical American approach toward the Jewish state. The speech was previewed to political reporters and accompanied by a media tour before and after.
Not to be outdone, over the weekend, California Representative Ro Khanna, who had been one of the biggest backers of disgraced former Senate candidate Graham Platner, raised alarms on social media about being “detained” by violent settlers in the West Bank and the IDF on Wednesday.
The way Khanna told it, he was touring the West Bank when a group of armed men stopped the vehicle, kicked the tires, and began harassing him and the other occupants. The IDF arrived on the scene, he said, and sided with the settlers even after he told them they were Americans and he was a member of Congress.
In reality, when the IDF and police received reports of armed civilians blocking the vehicles, soldiers arrived to disperse the civilians and then let Khanna and the others continue on their way. This whole situation could have been avoided had Khanna coordinated his visit with the Israeli government, which he chose not to do.
It’s obvious that Khanna, who had a New York Times photographer with him, was eager to stage a confrontation. The Times reported on the story, and Khanna went to work on social media and in interviews, trying to portray himself as a modern-day Rosa Parks. “This is the first time that I have been acutely aware of being brown,” he claimed of treatment he faced by Israelis.
