KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — In a video shared widely on social media, a U.S. representative from East Tennessee was shown saying, "Goodbye to Palestine."
The video was posted by Medea Benjamin on X, formerly known as Twitter. She is an activist calling for peace alongside CODEPINK, a peace group she helped co-found. The video shows her and another man following Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R - TN) down a hallway and asking him about Palestinian deaths from the ongoing Israel-Gaza crisis.
"You can tell the Palestinians, I will never support them," Fleischmann said in the video. "Let me make it clear — Israel is our ally, will always be our ally, and they are not genocide, and I will support Israel forever."
The man then asks Fleischmann if Israel would stay an ally of the U.S., even if it commits genocide. Fleischmann said "that's your term," and the man started discussing the number of Palestinian deaths in the Israel-Gaza Crisis.
"Let me tell you a statistic. Israel will exist. The Jewish state will exist, and that is for God to do," said Fleischmann."I will always support Israel, and you can tell the Palestinians I will never support them."
The man then tells him that he is Palestinian in the video.
"Then I will tell you, I will never support you. I will tell you to your face: Goodbye to Palestine,'" Fleischmann said. "Goodbye! ... The Jewish people will never suffer again under Palestinian terrorism, under Hamas, under Hezbollah. Israel will be secure forever."
The ongoing Israel-Gaza Crisis is expected to be discussed during President Joe Biden's State of the Union Address Thursday night.
Fleischmann also posted a statement about the video on social media, available below.
"Yesterday, I was confronted by anti-American, pro-Hamas, Leftist protestors who support the destruction of Israel. Tennesseans and Americans nationwide are fed up with this small, antisemitic movement that refuses to acknowledge Israel's right to exist and defend itself. I passionately and forcefully defended Israel's right to self-defense following Hamas' evil October 7 attacks that left over 1200 innocent people dead and hundreds still kidnapped by Hamas and their Palestinian supporters.
Israel will win this war against Hamas, and the United States of America will support Israel until they finish the job. There is no security for anyone as long as terrorists have any safe haven to plot and carry out their evil intentions. I will also stand against eh antisemitic Far Left and neo-Marxists who hate America and seek the dissolution of Israel."
Background on the crisis
The death toll from the Israel-Gaza crisis has climbed increasingly higher after around five months of the fray. The fighting started on Oct. 7, 2023, after Hamas, a militant group in Gaza, bombed an area of Israel and killed around 1,200 people. The bombing followed decades of tension.
Most of the tension centers around Palestine and Gaza, an area that was divided as part of the "Nakba" — a period of displacements in the region following World War II as Israel was created.
"It remains a deeply traumatic event in their collective memory and continues to shape their struggle for justice and for their right to return to their homes," the UN said about the Nakba.
Hamas was elected to power during the mid-2000s. The United Nations said in 2019 more than half of all people in Gaza were under 18 years old, indicating they were not able to vote for Hamas when Israel declared war.
The group launched the attack on the anniversary of the Yom Kippur War — causing an initial death toll that was unseen since the 1973 war between Israel, Egypt and Syria. The day after the Oct. 7 bombing, Israel declared war against Hamas and started bombarding Gaza.
The Gaza Strip was home to millions of people. The UN said more than 70% of all housing units have been destroyed, and around 80% have been destroyed in the northern area. Around 300,000 people remain in northern Gaza, where famine is becoming an increasingly worrisome concern, the UN said. A UN Special Rapporteur for food also said Israel "has mounted a starvation campaign."
Around 1.4 million people are living "in abysmal conditions" as they flee south to the Rafah area, the UN said. It also said at least 30,000 people, most of whom are Palestinian, have been killed in the crisis.
Around 100 people were recently shot and killed, and several hundred were wounded, by Israeli forces as they tried to get flour from aid trucks, the UN said.
"The United Nations and all its agencies continue to call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip – as well as safe, unhindered and sustained humanitarian access – to save the remaining population and avert a major famine. It has also called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups. So far, these calls have fallen on deaf ears," the UN said.
President Joe Biden is expected to announce a plan during his State of the Union Address for the U.S. military to establish a temporary port on the Gaza coast, hoping to increase the flow of humanitarian aid. The U.S. has also continued to send military aid to Israel in the months following the start of the crisis.
"So again, we continue to support Israel’s campaign to ensure that the attacks of Oct. 7 cannot be repeated. We have provided military assistance to Israel because it is consistent with that goal. Hamas continues – the leadership of Hamas, that planned and plotted Oct. 7, continue to be at large inside Gaza. They continue to pose a threat to innocent civilians inside Israel. They would relaunch the attacks of Oct. 7 today, tomorrow, if they had the capability to do so. So we support Israel’s legitimate military campaign consistent with international humanitarian law, and that’s why we continue to support them militarily," said spokesperson Matthew Miller at a press briefing on March 4.