Troy Jackson apologizes for remarks about Jewish Maine residents’ views of Gaza war

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Troy Jackson, the Democratic nominee in Maine’s battleground Senate race , apologized on Wednesday for saying it is “unfortunate” that Jewish residents of the state do not like to label the war in Gaza a genocide.

“I believe what’s happening in Gaza is genocide, and I also understand that word carries particular weight for many Jewish families given the Holocaust—the genocide of six million Jews,” Jackson said in a statement. “In trying to acknowledge that, I misspoke and made a generalization about Jewish Mainers’ views that doesn’t reflect what I meant to say.”

Jackson is challenging Republican Sen. Susan Collins in one of the country’s most competitive Senate contests as Democrats seek to flip the chamber. He made the original comments about the war in Gaza during an interview posted Tuesday by a local TV station in Maine.

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“It’s unfortunate that there are people here in Maine that don’t like to use that term only because they’re Jewish and what that means to them with the Holocaust,” Jackson told News Center Maine. “It fits that description, and it is [a genocide].”

Jackson, the former president of the Maine state Senate, replaced Graham Platner as the party’s nominee this summer after the progressive politician was accused of rape, which Platner denies. Like Platner, Jackson is a vocal critic of the Israeli government, and he has called for cutting off US military funding to Israel.

In the local TV interview, Jackson said the United States should stop sending “blank checks” to the Israeli government.

Omar al-Qattaa/AFP/Getty Images

More than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Israel has denied genocide accusations , including from a UN commission , over its military actions in Gaza following Hamas’ 2023 attack on Israel, where militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages.

“Senseless murders, horrific murders, are happening to both sides and that has to stop,” Jackson told the outlet.

Jackson is among a handful of outspoken Israel critics who have emerged as Democratic nominees in key Senate races this election cycle, testing the party’s relationship with the Jewish community.

Abdul El-Sayed has taken similar positions as Jackson in the Michigan Senate race, where he won a hotly contested primary after facing tens of millions of dollars in spending linked to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

AIPAC supports Collins in the Maine Senate race.

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缅因州关键参议院竞选的民主党候选人特洛伊·杰克逊周三就其此前发表的言论道歉，他表示该州犹太居民不愿将加沙战争称为种族灭绝是“不幸的”。

杰克逊在一份声明中说：“我认为加沙正在发生的事情是种族灭绝，我也理解，鉴于纳粹大屠杀——六百万犹太人惨遭杀害——这个词对许多犹太家庭来说意义非凡。我试图表达这一点，但却说错了话，对缅因州犹太人的观点做出了概括性的描述，这并非我本意。”

杰克逊正在挑战共和党参议员苏珊·柯林斯，这场参议院选举是全美竞争最激烈的选举之一，民主党正力图扭转参议院的控制权。他最初是在缅因州一家地方电视台周二发布的一段采访视频中发表了关于加沙战争的评论。

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杰克逊告诉缅因州新闻中心：“很遗憾，缅因州有些人不喜欢使用这个词，仅仅因为他们是犹太人，而这个词对他们来说意味着大屠杀。它符合那种描述，而且它就是一场种族灭绝。”

前缅因州参议院议长杰克逊在今年夏天取代格雷厄姆·普拉特纳成为该党候选人。此前，这位进步派政治家被指控强奸，普拉特纳否认了这一指控。与普拉特纳一样，杰克逊也公开批评以色列政府，并呼吁切断美国对以色列的军事援助。

杰克逊在接受当地电视台采访时表示，美国应该停止向以色列政府开“空白支票”。

Omar al-Qattaa/法新社/盖蒂图片社

据巴勒斯坦卫生部统计，自战争爆发以来，已有超过7万名巴勒斯坦人在加沙丧生。以色列否认了包括联合国委员会在内的各方对其在加沙采取军事行动的种族灭绝指控。这些军事行动是在哈马斯2023年袭击以色列后展开的，那次袭击造成1200人死亡，250多人被劫持为人质。

杰克逊告诉媒体：“双方都发生了毫无意义的谋杀、骇人听闻的谋杀，这种情况必须停止。”

杰克逊是少数几位公开批评以色列的民主党候选人之一，他们在本届选举周期的关键参议院竞选中脱颖而出，考验着民主党与犹太社区的关系。

阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德在密歇根州参议员竞选中采取了与杰克逊类似的立场。在密歇根州参议员竞选中，他赢得了竞争激烈的初选，此前他面对的是与美国以色列公共事务委员会有关的数千万美元的竞选支出。

AIPAC支持柯林斯竞选缅因州参议员。