California Democrat wants Brian Mast censured for comparing Palestinians to Nazis

Brian Mast is looking to make algal blooms a federal case. Image via Facebook.

A colleague wants U.S. Rep. Brian Mast censured after comparing Palestinian civilians to Nazis.

U.S. Rep. Sara Jacobs, a California Democrat, said she filed a motion to censure the Stuart Republican over controversial remarks on the House floor.

“Innocent civilians shouldn’t be punished for the actions of their governments — and they’re certainly not responsible for the actions of terrorists,” Jacobs posted on X. “That’s why I moved to censure Rep. Brian Mast for his dangerous comments conflating innocent Palestinian civilians with Hamas.”

Mast has been an ardent supporter of Israel, and even wore an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) uniform to Congress to show solidarity after the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians. He had the uniform because he volunteered to serve with the IDF after his service in the U.S. Army, where he lost both legs as a bomb technician in Afghanistan.

Donning the uniform of a foreign ally generated some controversy, but the censure effort focuses on statements Mast made while arguing for a resolution supporting Israel in a counteroffensive against Hamas.

“As a whole, I would encourage the other side to not so lightly throw around the idea of ‘innocent Palestinian civilians,’ as is frequently said,” Mast said on the floor on Nov. 1. “I don’t think we would so lightly throw around the term innocent ‘Nazi civilians’ during World War II.”

Mast’s Office waved off Jacobs’ attempt to censure him.

“Rep. Mast is right, and Rep. Jacobs is in denial,” said AnnMarie Graham-Barnes, Mast’s Press Secretary. “He looks forward to having this debate.”

The resolution itself makes note of Mast’s service to the country but alleges he “repeatedly made inflammatory statements regarding innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza who are in harm’s way through no fault of their own as a result of horrific terrorist attacks conducted by Hamas.”

It cites remarks made in committee, including an Oct. 19 House Foreign Affairs meeting where Mast said Palestinians are taught in elementary school to support terrorism, as well as Mast’s speech on the House floor.

It also mentions the recent death of a Palestinian American child, 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume, killed in Illinois in an apparent hate crime.

“Mast’s comments regarding innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza are dehumanizing, inflammatory, unacceptable and can be reasonably construed as inviting the targeted murder of innocent Palestinians, fanning the flames of violence in the Middle East and violating the international rules of war,” the resolution reads.

Of note, Mast recently supported an effort to censure U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian American and Michigan Democrat. U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene, a Georgia Republican, had filed that resolution after Tlaib made controversial remarks at a demonstration in Washington supporting the “Free Palestine” movement.

That effort failed as 23 Republicans sided with Democrats to table the censure resolution against Tlaib, though a second effort is reportedly underway, according to CBS News.

Censures of members are historically rare but have increased in frequency in recent years, and have also become more partisan.

In June, U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a St. Petersburg Democrat, led an effort to censure U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, for alleging Russian collusion influenced the 2016 election of former President Donald Trump.

In 2021, the House censured U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, an Arizona Republican, for sharing an anime video online depicting him physically attacking President Joe Biden and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat.