After winning over Democratic 2020 candidate Elizabeth Warren, members of the extreme left-wing anti-Israel group IfNotNow ambushed Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker with a convoluted question from a nervous activist regarding his support for the “occupation”. The first African-American U.S. Senator from New Jersey didn’t give them the answer that they wanted to hear. This compelled the group to publicly shame Booker on social media saying that “he got visibly frustrated.”
The tactic
The Anti-Israel activists have employed a strategy of overly complementing the candidates in an effort to get them to drop their guard and then putting them on the spot with regards to their position vis-a-vis the presence of Israeli Jews in Judea and Samaria. They do this by falsifying statistics regarding the number of “children” being incarcerated in Israeli military prisons (in the video, the activist claims it’s in the “thousands”).
The dialogue
The activist who only went by the name ‘Becca’, approached Booker saying: “I just wanted to say that you’re really doing amazing work on criminal justice reform. I really looked up to your leadership on that issue. And because of that, it’s been really difficult and painful for me to understand as you’re speaking against mass incarceration, how the imprisonment of Palestinian children, thousands of them in military prisons, is something that you could ever be okay with. I would really love to know an answer to the question: do you think the occupation is a human rights crisis and a violation of International Law?
Booker: So I’m sorry that you think that I’m okay with that. I’m not. And I will continue to do everything I can to address the issue. We may not agree on strategies, but…Becca interrupts at this point
Becca: So – Do you think the occupation is a human rights crisis?
Booker: You’re not gonna get me to address that question as you want and I know that you’re asking every presidential candidate but I’m working on this issue probably more than any other foreign policy issue.
Becca: Well that’s really disappointing because people are suffering and we need leadership. And as a Jew…
Booker: Have you ever been over to Israel?
Becca: I have.
Booker: So you and I both know that suffering first hand.
Becca: Which is why I need to see leadership end the occupation – to create a better future for Israelis and Palestinians
Cory: If that’s your issue, I would understand if you want to support somebody else. But know – I’m just as committed to that as you are, committed to human rights.
At that point, ‘Becca’ walked away with her head down clearly disappointed at her failure to pigeonhole the New Jersey Senator.
Let the shaming begin
IfNotNow also accused the African American candidate of his choice of words saying: “Booker didn’t even use the word ‘Occupation’ once during the exchange — looks like he’s choosing the talking points of groups like AIPAC over the grassroots.”
It should be noted that IfNotNow is backed by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, hardly a “grassroots” organization.