Summer Lee staffer identified as person behind anti-Israel Instagram account
After the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, Dear White Staffers shifted focus from supporting workers on Capitol Hill to “a mostly single-issue anti-Israel advocacy page."
Jewish Insider revealed this week that the anonymous operator of a popular Instagram account that became a vehicle for anti-Israel rhetoric is a staffer for Rep. Summer Lee.
“Dear White Staffers,” which initially made its mark by sharing claims of “abusive behavior by and gossip about lawmakers and their staffers” has become “a prominent and vocal anti-Israel platform that some fellow Hill staffers describe as borderline or openly antisemitic,” Jewish Insider reported.
After the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, Dear White Staffers shifted focus from supporting workers on Capitol Hill to “a mostly single-issue anti-Israel advocacy page,” according to Jewish Insider.
The publication said that it linked the Instagram account to a person working for Lee. That person, who previously worked for Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, appears, “masked but identifiable, in a photo from a cease-fire protest on Capitol Hill, which had been promoted by the Dear White Staffers account.”
Jewish Insider did not identify the Lee staffer by name but said that person publicly identifies as Jewish.
The Dear White Staffers account has almost 120,000 followers.
“Since Oct. 7, the account has evolved primarily into a stream of anti-Israel commentary, accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza and condemning the administration and Congress for continuing aid to Israel,” according to Jewish Insider. “It has, at times, leaned into antisemitic tropes, accusing one Jewish member of seeking the deaths of children, and blaming Israeli training for the Capitol Police’s response to a cease-fire protest at the Democratic National Committee headquarters that turned violent.”
During the Michigan primary, Dear White Staffers reposted “a seemingly satirical call for Biden to ‘drop a [bomb] on the knesset and personally chokeslam netanyahu on TV with his bare hands,’” according to Jewish Insider. That post was deleted.
Lee did not respond to the Chronicle’s request for an interview or a comment.
During President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address Thursday, Dear White Staffers posted a photo of Lee donning a keffiyeh alongside Squad members Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Cori Bush of Missouri. The black and white keffiyeh is an emblem of solidarity with the Palestinian nationalism.
Lee declined to join chants of “four more years” that most other Democrats participated in, according to Axios, and she remained seated during Biden’s reference to a two-state solution, according to a Jewish Insider reporter. PJC
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