{"id":3885,"date":"2016-11-30T15:03:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-30T20:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ajcongress.org\/jewishpoliticalguide\/?page_id=3885"},"modified":"2025-08-16T15:10:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T19:10:10","slug":"virginia-lg-nominee-rebukes-antisemitic-comments-from-top-state-democratic-lawmaker","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ajcongress.org\/jewishpoliticalguide\/virginia-lg-nominee-rebukes-antisemitic-comments-from-top-state-democratic-lawmaker\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia LG nominee rebukes antisemitic comments from top state Democratic lawmaker"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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RICHMOND, VA – JUNE 17: Ghazala Hashmi, left, Virginia State Senator and Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor meets voters at the MAPS Global polling place\n in Richmond, VA, on June 17, 2025. (Photo by Max Posner for The Washington Post via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Published originally by\u00a0Gabby Deutch<\/a>, Jewish Insider<\/a> (August 8, 2025)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virginia state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, on Thursday became the latest Virginia politician to weigh in on antisemitic comments by state lawmaker Sam Rasoul. Without naming Rasoul directly, Hashmi appeared to criticize his language, which has been described as antisemitic<\/a> by several leading Jewish organizations in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe rise in antisemitism has created real fear in communities across Virginia \u2014 and it cannot be ignored or dismissed; instead it must be condemned clearly, consistently and without caveat,\u201d Hashmi wrote in a post on X<\/a> on Thursday. \u201cAs a Muslim, I know what it feels like when an entire community is scapegoated for the actions of a few. No group should be vilified, targeted, or dehumanized. Antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism and all forms of hate have no place in our communities \u2014 they are an affront to our shared values.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As chair of the Virginia Senate\u2019s education committee, she works closely with Rasoul, who chairs the education committee in the House of Delegates. Hashmi was the first Muslim elected to the Virginia state Senate, and Rasoul is one of two Muslim lawmakers in the House. Hashmi faced a public rebuke<\/a> from the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond last year after hosting a hearing about anti-Israel protests on college campuses, which she had praised<\/a> publicly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a July Instagram post, Rasoul described<\/a> Zionism as \u201cevil\u201d and said it is a \u201csupremacist ideology created to destroy and conquer everything and everyone in its way.\u201d His rhetoric earned condemnation<\/a> from former Rep. Abigail Spanberger<\/a>, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, and her Republican opponent, Winsome Earle-Sears, as well as Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rasoul has stood by his attack against Zionism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile there are many who aspire for Zionism to be a safe place for a homeland for Jewish people, the reality is the manifestation of that has produced apartheid \u2014 and now, as human rights orgs in Israel have claimed, a genocide in Gaza,\u201d Rasoul told Semafor<\/em><\/a> <\/em>on Thursday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, Rasoul provided additional commentary to the Virginia Scope<\/em><\/a>, a political newsletter in the state, doubling down on his claims that Zionism has made \u201cthe world less safe for my Jewish friends,\u201d as he wrote on Instagram last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe court of public opinion has shifted that this is clearly a genocide, so the default is anyone critical of the genocide must be antisemitic,\u201d Rasoul said. \u201cI will continue working hand-in-hand with our Jewish brothers and sisters who are fundamentally less safe because they have taken antisemitism and unfortunately used it so loosely that when there\u2019s true antisemitism that we must counter, it\u2019s difficult for the public to determine what\u2019s really going on, and so we need to be better stewards and try to defend against all hate.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Published originally by\u00a0Gabby Deutch, Jewish Insider (August 8, 2025) Virginia state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, on Thursday became the latest Virginia politician to weigh in on antisemitic comments by state lawmaker Sam Rasoul. Without naming Rasoul directly, Hashmi appeared to criticize his language, which has been described as antisemitic by several leading… more Virginia LG nominee rebukes antisemitic comments from top state Democratic lawmaker<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":3886,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3885","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nVirginia LG nominee rebukes antisemitic comments from top state Democratic lawmaker - Jewish Political Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"googlebot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"bingbot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ajcongress.org\/jewishpoliticalguide\/virginia-lg-nominee-rebukes-antisemitic-comments-from-top-state-democratic-lawmaker\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Virginia LG nominee rebukes antisemitic comments from top state Democratic lawmaker - Jewish Political Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Published originally by\u00a0Gabby Deutch, Jewish Insider (August 8, 2025) Virginia state Sen. 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