Members of an anti-war group confronted Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday over the House’s stand-alone Israel aid bill.
A video posted on social media by Code Pink, an anti-war advocacy group, showed its members shouting at Pelosi and asking whether she would support a bill that would provide $17.6 billion in aid for Israel.
It later failed in the House on Tuesday. Pelosi voted “no” on the bill, which came after she was approached by the activists.
The activists could be heard calling Pelosi an “Israel apologist” and peppering her with questions on the aid bill, asking, “Are you voting yes or no to genocide?” and “Are you gonna vote no on the money to Israel?”
One of the group’s members could be heard saying they do not want the U.S. to send more aid to Israel, adding that “San Francisco has so many problems… we need the money at home.”
“Shame on you, shame on you!” one of the members could be heard shouting.
The latest confrontation is not the first time Pelosi has been criticized over support for Israel. Last year, Code Pink organized a demonstration outside of Pelosi’s San Francisco residence to demand a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.
In a press release earlier this week, Code Pink announced that its organization and a coalition of other groups would be headed to Capitol Hill to protest House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) stand-alone Israel aid bill and to protest the Senate’s bipartisan national security deal that included funds for Ukraine.
The House rejected the Israel-only bill in a 250-180 vote on Tuesday. Senate Republicans voted to block advancing the bipartisan national security deal on Wednesday, but Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has said he plans to move on to Plan B and put a package containing funding for Israel, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific region on the floor.
When reached for comment on the confrontation, Pelosi’s office pointed The Hill to a New York Times investigation published last year. It detailed how some advocacy organizations, including Code Pink, have ties to Chinese propaganda through millionaire Neville Roy Singham.
Pelosi received backlash from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Code Pink last month after she suggested that some pro-Palestinian protesters who are calling for a cease-fire in Gaza are spreading a message that is beneficial to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
When asked by CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” at the time whether she believed some protesters were “Russian plants,” Pelosi said: “I don’t think they’re plants. I think some financing should be investigated. And I want to ask the FBI to investigate that.”
During the confrontation, the activists appeared to push back on similar claims, with someone saying, “We’re not Russia sponsored, we’re not from China” and others saying, ”We don’t have headquarters in China, our headquarters is right here in the United States.”
“Don’t call us Russian apologists or Chinese apologists when you are an Israel apologist!” someone could be heard shouting.
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