Pro-Palestinian students and activsts gather at Columbia University in New York City on April 25th. Photograph: Leonardo Munoz/AFP via Getty ImagesProgressive activists have condemned Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House of Representatives, for “wilfully spreading misinformation” and “inciting violence” in a television interview about student protests against Israel’s war in
The assertion that infants were cooked alive in ovens during Hamas’s attack on 7 October 7th, which left 1,200 people dead and 240 253 taken hostage according to Israel, is hugely controversial and widely disputed, apparently stemming from an unverified report of one such alleged case that spread on social media. Mr Johnson’s remarks were attacked by Justice Democrats, a progressive group that has been sharply critical of Israel’s conduct of the war.
“Instead of doing anything to stop the US-funded assault on Gaza that has destroyed every university and killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians – almost half of which are children – and brought widespread famine and destruction, our elected leaders are attacking college students in tents for having more moral clarity than any of them have shown in the halls of power.”