ST. LOUIS — Dozens of leaders in the St. Louis Jewish community are calling for U.S. Representative Cori Bush to apologize for her statements on Israel and Gaza that they said are "insensitive, incorrect, and fanning the flames of antisemitism."
According to the letter, which is signed by dozens of rabbis and organization leaders, Bush has made numerous incendiary statements in recent weeks. They highlighted an Oct. 29 post on social media that called the Israeli military campaign "ethnic cleansing" and called for the United States to "stop funding these atrocities against Palestinians."
"To accuse Israel of ethnic cleansing as it seeks to defend itself and locate hundreds of hostages still held captive in Gaza — taken only because they were assumed to be Jews — is sickening," the letter reads. "The 60,000 Jewish members of the St. Louis community deserve an apology for her lack of decency, disregard for history, and for intentionally fueling antisemitism and hatred, especially at a time when law enforcement in America is recording an all-time high in violent attacks against Jews."
The Jewish Federation of St. Louis, speaking on behalf of the more than 50 signatories, said it believes Hamas targeted Jews in its taking of hostages due to references in Hamas' charter about killing Jews and cell phone footage reportedly showing Hamas members celebrating the killing and attack of Jews.
Brian Herstig, President and CEO of Jewish Federation of St. Louis, told 5 On Your Side this letter is for the community to explain their frustration and disappointment.
"The elected official who represents the highest concentration of Jews in the state seems to not be standing up for, listening to or representing them. Words matter, what you say and how you say, it makes a difference. When you choose to speak and not speak, speaks volumes sometimes," Herstig said.
Herstig explained this has been years of frustration building up.
"She has made promises privately that weren’t followed through publicly, the frustration and anger has been building," Herstig added.
Rep. Bush's office provided the following statement:
“Congresswoman Bush and our team are aware of the open letter, and we continue to be in direct communication with the organizations who spearheaded this letter. The Congresswoman continues to mourn the immense loss of life as a result of the ongoing violence in Israel and Palestine. She has repeatedly denounced the horrific attacks and hostage-taking by Hamas and continues to condemn any and all forms of bigotry and hate, including antisemitism and Islamophobia. The Congresswoman’s advocacy continues her long track record as a champion of universal human rights for all people, regardless of faith, nationality, or ethnicity. While there are characterizations within this letter that are unfair and simply untrue, we recognize that our Jewish neighbors are justifiably feeling frightened amid the horrific global rise of antisemitism. The Congresswoman is and will always be committed to continuing to work with all members of our beloved St. Louis Jewish community to ensure their safety, and well-being, and the dignity, safety and well-being of all people in St. Louis and around the world.”
Bush has taken a lot of heat following her comments regarding the bloodshed between Israel and Hamas in recent weeks. She was also one of 10 members of Congress who voted no on supporting a resolution to support Israel following attacks by Hamas.
In an Oct. 13 post on her Congresswoman Cori Bush's account on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter, Bush said she strongly condemned Hamas and "their appalling violations of human rights," but said the attacks did not justify "more human rights violations in retaliation." But the majority of her posts on both of her personal and congressional X accounts have not mentioned Hamas, and she has called various actions from the Israeli military "ethnic cleansing" and "war crimes."
On Oct. 16, Bush introduced a resolution calling for an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire and to send humanitarian assistance to Gaza. The resolution has 17 cosponsors now.
On Wednesday, she posted, "I strongly condemn the global rise of antisemitism & my heart breaks for our Jewish neighbors living in fear for their safety. As we call out injustice, we must separate governments from their people. The movement for peace is one that rejects all hate & embraces human rights."
According to an Associated Press report, more than 8,500 Palestinians have been killed in the war, mostly women and minors, the Gaza Health Ministry said Tuesday after a barrage of Israeli airstrikes leveled apartment buildings in a refugee camp near Gaza City.
More than 1,400 people have died on the Israeli side, mainly civilians killed during Hamas’ initial attack, also an unprecedented figure. Palestinian militants also abducted around 240 people during their incursion and have continued firing rockets into Israel.
Israel aggressively defended the attack near Gaza City, with military spokesman Jonathan Conricus saying the targeted commander had also been a key planner of the bloody Oct. 7 rampage that started the war, and that the apartment buildings collapsed only because the vast underground Hamas complex had been destroyed.
The Gaza Health Ministry did not provide a breakdown between civilians and fighters. The figure is without precedent in decades of Israeli-Palestinian violence.