Democratic Rep. Andre Carson, who was one of 10 Democrats to vote against a resolution to condemn Hamas terrorist attack in Israel, has a long history of anti-Israel activism that has sparked controversy.
Carson’s stance on Israel was front and center over the weekend when he called fellow Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer, N.J., a “coward,” “punk” and “gangster” for his criticism against lawmakers who voted against a resolution to condemn Hamas and support Israel. Gottheimer, who is Jewish, used the word “despicable” to describe Democrats who opposed the resolution.
Fox News Digital reviewed Carson’s previous positions on Israel and found several examples of the congressman advocating anti-Israel positions.
In 2015, Carson met with Louis Farrakhan and told media outlets in 2018 he would not rule out meeting with him again in the future.
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Farrakhan has called Jewish people “termites”, praised Hitler, and been criticized for a litany of derogatory statements about Israel.
Carson has opposed recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel as recently as 2017 and in 2019 Carson defended Rep. Ihan Omar when she was accused by House Republicans of antisemitism.
Carson was also one of 17 House members who voted against a measure opposing the BDS movement and signed onto a resolution that supported BDS, which effectively calls for the boycott of Israel products.
The Indiana Democrat has also made moves to prevent Israel from continuing to arm itself in the form of opposing a weapons sale to Israel in 2021 and being one of 9 House members to vote against Iron Dome funding that same year.
His support of Palestinians in the Hamas run Gaza Strip continued into this year when he voted against a pro-Israel resolution in July that condemned antisemitism after Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal called Israel a “racist state.”
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Following the October 7 terrorist attack, which Carson voted against condemning last week, a senior legislative assistant who advises his office shared a post that justified the Hamas attack on Israel.
“It’s no surprise when people living under occupation decide to resist. Because the truth of occupation, what happens when you continually oppress an entire ethnic population, gradually steal its land, and collectively imprison it in ghettos, is that eventually the population will fight back,” read one post shared by Diala Qasem, originating from an account called “hiddenpalestine.”
“I want to make it clear: I have condemned Hamas for their heinous attacks on civilians and call for an immediate release of the Israeli hostages,” Carson said in a statement after opposing the resolution condemning Hamas. “I continue to call for the safety of all civilians in the Middle East.”
“Unfortunately, today’s resolution H. Res. 771 is horribly one-sided. By failing to acknowledge the growing loss of Palestinian lives or that all Palestinians are not Hamas, this resolution creates further division and spurs harmful rhetoric.”