“The article headline is wrong”, Johnson’s office said in a statement.
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Representative Johnson analogized this settlement activity to that of termites hollowing out and undermining a structure, noting that settlement expansion has made the creation of a viable Palestinian state in the occupied territories all but impossible.
Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson decried the ongoing settlement of the West Bank by Israeli settlers during an event sponsored by the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, a group that supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, according to conservative news site the Washington Free Beacon.
Rep. Hank Johnson admitted it was a “poor choice of words” to use a metaphor Monday that appeared to compare Jewish Israeli settlers in the disputed West Bank to “termites”.
Moreover, Jews have been continuously present in what is now known as Israel for approximately 4,000 years, according to the Jewish Virtual Library website as well as many other sources.
A boys stands on July 18, 2016 amidst the rubble the house belonging to a Palestinian man accused by Israeli authorities in taking part in an attack in Jerusalem in which an Israeli policewoman was killed, after it was demolished overnight by the army in the village of Qabatiayh, in the occupied West Bank.
Ironically, Johnson defeated fellow Democrat Cynthia McKinney in a 2006 runoff on his way to an overwhelming victory in the general election and has held the House seat ever since.
Israeli forces also arrested three other militants. His office said he tried to visit Gaza during the May trip and previously traveled to Israel with AIPAC and J Street, whose political action committee is supporting him for re-election.
“The home their [Palestinian] ancestors lived in for generations becomes an Israeli home and a flag goes up”, he said, adding, “the Palestinians are barred from flying flags in their own neighborhoods”. “We call on the United Nations to provide protection for the Palestinian people”.
Israeli forces deployed several military vehicles around the Ibrahimi Mosque, also called the Cave of the Patriarchs.
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“Such moves raise legitimate questions about Israel’s long-term intentions”, said Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, in a statement.
