Updated Sun, January 28, 2024
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest at Jamaica Station, New York City
By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A U.S. Muslim group criticized former House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday after she suggested, without offering evidence, that some protesters demanding a ceasefire in Gaza could be linked to Russia and urged the FBI to investigate.
Her comments were dismissed as "unsubstantiated smears" by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), who said such remarks amounted to dehumanization of the Palestinian people.
Pelosi made the remarks in a CNN interview after she was asked whether opposition to President Joe Biden's policy in the war in Gaza could hurt the Democrat in November's presidential election.
"For them to call for a ceasefire is Mr. Putin's message, Mr. Putin's message. Make no mistake, this is directly connected to what he (Russian President Vladimir Putin) would like to see," Pelosi told CNN.
"I think some of these protesters are spontaneous, and organic, and sincere. Some I think are connected to Russia," she said. "Some financing should be investigated and I want to ask the FBI to investigate that."
Pelosi's comments marked the first time a prominent U.S. lawmaker has accused Russia's leader of backing U.S. protesters calling for a ceasefire.
The Russian embassy in Washington was not immediately available to comment.
Protests demanding a ceasefire in Gaza have recently occurred across the U.S., including near airports and bridges in New York City and Los Angeles, vigils outside the White House and marches in Washington. Demonstrators have also interrupted Biden speeches and events.
The protests have been organized by a range of human rights, Jewish and anti-war activist groups.
"It is unconscionable that an individual with such influence in this nation would spread unsubstantiated smears targeting those who seek an end to the slaughter of civilians in Gaza and a just resolution to that conflict," said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesperson for CAIR.
Pelosi's comments "echo a time in our nation when opponents of the Vietnam War were accused of being communist sympathizers and subjected to FBI harassment," CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad added.
When asked about the protests against Biden's policy in Gaza, Democratic U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told NBC News on Sunday that opposition by many to the war was based on "the indiscriminate loss of life" in the region.
The U.N. has demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, but Washington has vetoed resolutions for such calls in the United Nations Security Council, saying it would let Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which governs Gaza, regroup and rebuild.
Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent assault on Gaza has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, over 1% of the 2.3 million population there, according to Gaza's health ministry. Many are feared buried in rubble.
Israeli bombardments have flattened much of the densely populated enclave, leaving most Gazans homeless, sparking food shortages that threaten famine and incapacitating most hospitals.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington
Editing by Heather Timmons, Matthew Lewis and Lisa Shumaker
Nancy Pelosi suspects pro-Palestine protesters of being in cahoots with Russia
Kelly McClure
Sun, January 28, 2024
Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images
Former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a number of controversial statements during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, voicing her opinion that protesters calling for a cease-fire in Gaza are in someway in cahoots with Russia, urging the FBI to conduct a probe.
"For them to call for a ceasefire is Mr. Putin's message. Make no mistake," Pelosi said. "This is directly connected to what he would like to see . . . I think some of these protesters are spontaneous, and organic, and sincere. Some I think are connected to Russia. Some financing should be investigated and I want to ask the FBI to investigate that."
As Reuters points out in its coverage of Pelosi's interview, her comments "marked the first time a prominent U.S. lawmaker has accused Russia's leader of backing U.S. protesters calling for a ceasefire."
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesperson for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, issued a statement on Pelosi's comments, saying, "It is unconscionable that an individual with such influence in this nation would spread unsubstantiated smears targeting those who seek an end to the slaughter of civilians in Gaza and a just resolution to that conflict. Her comments once again show the negative impact of decades of dehumanization of the Palestinian people."
Pelosi said she will ask FBI to investigate pro-Palestine protesters
Adam Schrader
Sun, January 28, 2024
Outgoing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, holds the gavel as she calls the House to order on the first day of the 118th Congress at the U.S. Capitol on January 3, 2023. File Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI
Jan. 28 (UPI) -- Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday she will ask the FBI to investigate the financing of pro-Palestine protesters, seemingly indicating they may be Russian plants.
"For them to call for a cease-fire is Mr. Putin's message, Mr. Putin's message. Make no mistake, this is directly connected to what he would like to see. Same thing with Ukraine. It's about Putin's message," Pelosi said in an interview with CNN.
She said she thinks only "some" of these protesters are "spontaneous and organic and sincere" but that some "are connected to Russia."
Interviewer Dana Bash then specifically asked Pelosi if she believed some of the protests are Russian plants.
"I don't think they're plants. I think some financing should be investigated. And I want to ask the FBI to investigate that," Pelosi said.
She then said she has confidence that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will win reelection, despite growing criticism of the president among Democratic voters over his handling of Israel's war in Gaza.
Pelosi, as a leading congresswoman, has had a history of sparking controversy in the wake of recent political tensions abroad. The lawmaker led a delegation to Ukraine in May 2022 to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky and followed it with a trip to Armenia that September, sparking internal debate in the country over its long alliance with the Kremlin.
But that same year, Pelosi also made her trip to the self-governed province of Taiwan, sparking increased tensions with mainland China.
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