Rubio: ‘Free Palestine’ is a call for antisemitic genocide

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio denounces antisemitism in video message to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance conference in Jerusalem, lashing out at pro-Hamas slogans after the DC shooter shouted “Free Palestine” at scene of deadly attack.

By World Israel News Staff

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio denounced anti-Israel rhetoric as antisemitism, declaring the phrase “Free Palestine” to be a “battle cry” calling for the mass murder of Jews.

Rubio appeared on Wednesday in a pre-taped video message at a conference organized by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance and hosted by the Israel Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, following appearances a day earlier by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar (New Hope) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

During his four-minute address, Rubio lauded the resilience of the Jewish people, despite suffering persecution and genocide by “the world’s oldest bigotry.”

“Israel stands and the Jewish people prosper,” Rubio said, while the Jewish people’s persecutors have crumbled, as Hamas is now in the process of doing, the secretary of state added.

Rubio expressed optimism that the Abraham Accords, normalizing relations between Israel and Arab and Muslim states, may soon be expanded, “but only if antisemitism is confronted and defeated.”

Turning to the surge in antisemitism after October 7, 2023, Rubio called the slogan “Free Palestine” a call for the mass murder of Jews, and referencing Elias Rodriguez’s murder of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, after which he shouted “Free, free Palestine.”

Those words, Rubio said, “now clearly serve as a battle cry for the death of Jews, the destruction of Israel, and the horrors we must never again allow.”

“There can be no compromise with antisemitism, there can be no nuanced separation of Israel and hatred of Jewish people. Those who call to boycott Israel are calling for the boycott of their Jewish neighbours and classmates.”

“Those who call for violence against Israelis are calling for violence against Jews. Those who call for the destruction of Israel are calling for the destruction of the Jewish people.”

“There can be no coexistence with evil; there can be no nuance to hatred.”