30 November 2023
Several DFL state senators condemned remarks a fellow Democratic legislator made about Palestinian children as reckless and irresponsible.
The sharp public rebuke Thursday, Nov. 30, illustrates tensions within the caucus over bloodshed in the Middle East.
The comments from Sen. Ron Latz of St. Louis Park came at a Wednesday news conference where he rebutted calls to rid Minnesota’s pension funds of all Israeli-connected investments. Pro-Palestinian groups want a state board to divest as a response to Israel’s military actions in Gaza, which followed the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel that killed hundreds.
At that Capitol event, Latz, who is Jewish, went on at length and in graphic terms about ways he says Palestinian youth have been taught to target Jewish people with violence. Similar claims have appeared in pro-Jewish publications.
Thirteen of his DFL colleagues released a joint statement Thursday calling the comments dehumanizing, inflammatory and unbecoming of an elected official.
“It is unacceptable for people in positions of leadership particularly those with large public platforms to use dehumanizing, degrading language to describe entire populations of people,” said the letter, which was signed by mostly urban and suburban legislators but also those from Duluth and Rochester. “The language we use, especially at this moment, matters.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations also criticized Latz, saying it fears Muslim youth could be endangered by the stereotypes.
DFL Party Chair Ken Martin issued a statement urging politicians to tamp down rhetoric and “avoid applying broad generalizations to entire groups of people.”
Martin didn’t name Latz specifically.
Latz has yet to respond to messages seeking comment. Neither did DFL Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic.
Latz chairs the Senate’s Judiciary and Public Safety Committee. He is in his sixth term.
The senators who signed onto the joint statement Thursday are:
Sen. Zaynab Mohamed, DFL-Minneapolis Sen. Jen McEwen, DFL-Duluth Sen. Erin Maye Quade, DFL-Apple Valley Sen. Lindsey Port, DFL-Burnsville Sen. Judy Seeberger, DFL-Afton Sen. Heather Gustafson, DFL-Vadnais Heights Sen. Liz Boldon, DFL-Rochester Sen. Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul Sen. Omar Fateh, DFL-Minneapolis Sen. Mary Kunesh, DFL-New Brighton Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury Sen. Susan Pha, DFL-Brooklyn Park]]>