A Democrat lawmaker condemned colleagues who took a pro-Hamas stance after the weekend terrorist attack in Israel.
Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., on Sunday criticized fellow Democrat Reps. Cori Bush, D-Mo., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. — both members of a progressive House group sometimes called the "Squad" — for saying that conditions in Israel led to "resistance" by Hamas.
"Shame on anyone who glorifies as 'resistance' the largest single-day mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust," Torres said, the Jewish Insider reported.
About 700 people have been killed in Israel, and nearly 500 more in Gaza, after Hamas launched an attack on Israel early Saturday.
The U.S. on Monday confirmed the deaths of nine Americans in Israel during the violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Bush on Saturday night had released a statement saying "violations of human rights do not justify more violations of human rights" and that the "U.S. government support for Israel military occupation and apartheid" must stop.
Tlaib on Sunday released a statement saying, "I am determined as ever to fight for a just future where everyone can live in peace, without fear and with true freedom, equal rights, and human dignity."
"The path to that future must include lifting the blockade, ending the occupation, and dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance," added Tlaib, who is of Palestinian descent, the New York Post reported.
"The failure to recognize the violent reality of living under siege, occupation, and apartheid makes no one safer. No person, no child anywhere should have to suffer or live in fear of violence."
Torres on Saturday condemned Hamas' attack, and on Sunday criticized the New York City Democratic Socialists rally for revealing the group "for what it truly is — a deep rot of antisemitism."
Torres also slammed several Harvard University student organizations for signing a letter blaming the Israeli government for the violence and death stemming from the Hamas attacks.
"Israel is the victim of a terrorist attack. Hamas is the perpetrator. It's as simple as that. There are no 'both sides,'" Torres wrote in a post on X.
"Yet here you have 30+ student organizations from Harvard University, blaming the victims, Israelis, for their own murder, rape, and abduction, rather than blaming the perpetrator, Hamas, for murdering, raping, and abducting them."
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.