The cost of Kamala validating 'Israeli genocide' speech - opinion

• Author: EMILY SCHRADER
• Published date: 04 October 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

While Harris herself knows better, and in fact has been an outspoken supporter of Israel, her response – or lack thereof, shocked many. Instead of politely correcting the student, Harris launched into a cringe-worthy response about how "no one can suppress your truth." This turned out to be a costly mistake for the vice president, as it sparked a massive uproar.

Her office has since gone into damage control mode, attempting to distance the vice president from the comments of the student.

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The problem, however, is far deeper than just the false information the student parroted, but, rather, that we are living in an era where the same lies used to justify acts of murder against Jews are acknowledged, even praised, by the vice president of the United States as being that particular student's version of "truth."

There are opinions and then there are outright lies. Accusing Israel of an "ethnic genocide" is blatantly false, and to label it as "your truth" which "must be heard" is obscene. There is no truth in the student's comments – there are ugly, antisemitic slurs concocted by those who refuse to acknowledge the Jewish right to self-determination and wish to see the State of Israel destroyed.

Simply looking at the context of the conversation in the first place proves this. Harris addressed the students for National Voter Registration Day and spoke of the importance of demonstrations and the power of organizing for change. The Yemeni-Iranian student used that opportunity to shift the conversation to be about Israel, even insinuating that the recent funding for the exclusively defensive Iron Dome was somehow related to the "genocide of Palestinians."

For the vice president to not only be silent when faced with lies, but to praise the student is extremely damaging to all those who are actively fighting for truth on any issue. Pretending that actual facts do not exist does a disservice to everyone and prevents us from being able to deal with the real issues in any debate.

This increasingly popular mentality that facts are subjective is a major contributor to the deep political division occurring in many Western democracies around the world, in particular the United States.

On the one hand, you have all manner of movements speaking out about their experiences, which are valid and should be heard, and on the other hand...