I have some personal insight re: the attacks on Reema Dodin, @reemadodin, tapped by Biden to be deputy dir. of WH Ofc of Legislative Affairs. Right-wing media outlets are zeroing in on a remark she made 18 years ago when she was a student at Berkeley, where I knew her.

When Reema and I were both students at UC Berkeley, we worked together to try to start a Jewish-Arab campus dialogue group. The characterizations now being made of her views are inconsistent with the Reema I knew.

Indeed, Reema showed real courage in trying to start this Jewish-Arab dialogue group. There was pushback to our efforts from other Arab students at Berkeley; a second Palestinian student who had previously been eager to participate dropped out before our first meeting.

But Reema showed up as promised. She was the only Arab student who showed up. She showed up, sat down, and engaged with nearly a dozen Jewish students, some of whom (such as myself) were involved in pro-Israel activism on campus.

The comments and activities for which Reema is now being criticized came a few years later, after I graduated and after the 2nd Intifada began. I didn’t stay in touch w/ Reema, but I know that was a tense time at Berkeley; emotions ran high among Jewish & Palestinian students.

The main remark for which Reema is now being criticized appeared in a 2002 article in a Lodi, Calif. newspaper report about a talk that Reema gave at a church. The right-wing media accounts say that she “justified” or even “praised” suicide bombings.

Although the right-wing media articles report the purported remark as a direct quote from Reema, in the original Lodi-News Sentinel article it’s a paraphrase, not a quote. From the original article's text, it’s a leap to assert that she “justified” or “praised” suicide bombings.

I can't know exactly what Reema was trying to say in 2002; I’m not going to defend her remark. I’m sure we had different views on Israeli-Palestinian issues back then and probably still do. (I’d also bet neither of us has the exact same opinions we did when we were in college.)

But the Reema whom I knew was not someone with hateful or extreme views or someone who would have justified suicide bombings. Bottom line: It seems unfair to attack someone in this manner based on pretty thin evidence of their purported views as a college student 18 years ago.

CORRECTION: @elderofziyon pointed out to me that the Lodi newspaper actually DID put the relevant comment in quotation marks. The quotations marks didn't show up in two of my browsers, but they do show in Chrome.

This is the quote: "The suicide bombers were the last resort of a desperate people," Dodin said. To be clear: I think this is a bad explanation, and I would object to this type of analysis. That said, I still think it's a leap to say that she "justified" or "praised."