Evelyn Garcia, who was forced to resign from the Democratic National Committee after emails of her criticizing the Israeli occupation of Palestine were made public, has issued a statement in response to the incident. 

“Who do they think they are fooling by accusing me of anti-Semitism?…While they tried to punish me for my views, I think in so doing they have presented an opportunity for discussion on the issue in question, namely: how much longer will U.S. taxpayers subsidize the illegal, immoral occupation of Palestinian territories?

Garcia is now running for State Representative in the 88th House District of Florida. She says she resigned from the Committee to distance the controversy from her campaign, and her elected Democratic Party leadership, friends and colleagues who had nothing to do with the emails.  Garcia says the emails were released one year after they were written to members of an unelected Palm Beach County political action group. In the statement Garcia is quoted as saying, ” What was their intended purpose? Was it to spur a debate about U.S. policy in the Middle East? Did they not anticipate the barrage of hate mail and threats I’ve been receiving from places as far away from Palm Beach County as Oklahoma? And, who are “they” anyway and what do “they” stand for? Did this unelected so-called leadership demonstrative sound leadership in contributing to tactics which appear to be pathetic attempts to silence or crush an opposing point of view?” 

She goes on to say, “Don’t our loyalty and patriotism belong first to our country–the United States of America? Or, did they really intend a conversation among the wider electorate of the extent to which U.S. taxpayers are subsidizing an illegal occupation by Israel? And, who says it’s an occupation and illegal? Well, let me count the ways: numerous United Nations resolutions, J Street, Jewish Voice for Peace, the Presbyterian Church, CodePink, religious and political leaders and public opinion worldwide. And what I did was to express my views in private to a friend as it is my right to do under constitutionally protected free speech.” Garcia says people angry about her comments have the right to voice their opinion to her through emails but she will no longer tolerate additional threats to her family. “Who do they think they are fooling by accusing me of anti-Semitism?…While they tried to punish me for my views, I think in so doing they have presented an opportunity for discussion on the issue in question, namely: how much longer will U.S. taxpayers subsidize the illegal, immoral occupation of Palestinian territories? How about conducting a discussion on that topic instead of persecuting one messenger? Don’t Palestinians deserve their homeland too?”