A group of NYC councilmembers showed up to City Hall Wednesday for a council meeting wearing matching t-shirts that called for a “ceasefire” in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, sparking outrage among some observers.
“Proud to stand in solidarity with some of my @nyccouncil colleagues today at the Stated Meeting calling for an immediate and permanent #ceasefire,” Councilmember Jennifer Gutiérrez (D-Brooklyn) shared on social media with a photo of herself with eight others, including Shahana Hanif, Tiffany Cabán and Charles Barron.
The latest showing from some of the more progressive members of the council over the Israel-Palestine conflict drew little outrage in Chambers until the very end of the nearly two-hour meeting.
Brooklyn Councilman Kalman Yeger questioned where the councilmembers have been when it came to atrocities that had been carried out by Hamas.
“It’s good to see someone caring about life. If you missed them wearing a sweatshirt with ‘Ceasefire’ at any time when Hamas was reigning daily missiles on Israel or any time in their 22 months that they served on this council prior to Oct. 7, I missed it too,” Yeager snapped
“If you missed them wearing t-shirts that said ‘Free the Hostages’ or ‘Don’t rape women,’ ‘Don’t cut open the stomach of a live woman and stab a baby to death while the woman is still alive’ maybe those are too many words to put on one shirt.”
The shirts also faced some swift backlash on social media with former state Assemblyman Daniel Rosenthal piling on.
“Astonishing to see so-called ‘progressives’ call for a ceasefire while Hamas broke a previous ceasefire because they wanted to keep the female hostages to rape them,” he fired off on X.
This wasn’t the first time those lawmakers have inflamed others while in session over the conflict.
Barron, who was a member of the militant Black Panther Party, went on an anti-Israel rant during a meeting back in October, calling for a “Free Palestine.”
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.