Anti-Zionist protesters had been filmed chanting in help of Hamas, in line with a video posted by Luke Tress on his X account.
Luke Tress on X
It was as little as it will get.
A gaggle of people figuring out themselves as pro-Palestine demonstrators gathered outdoors a Queens synagogue final week within the closely Jewish neighborhood of Kew Gardens Hills on Thursday, and determined to unleash a merciless, evil chant.
“Say it loud, say it clear, we support Hamas here,” the demonstrators yelled on the Yeshiva of Central Queens synagogue. They got here, purportedly, to protest land gross sales within the West Financial institution. And but they selected this time and site to voice help for the terrorist group behind the horrific Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist assaults in Israel that killed greater than 1,200 folks, left a whole bunch extra held hostage, and plunged the area into struggle.
These protesters knew precisely what they had been doing. It was an ignorant, shameful show to attract consideration to themselves and inflict concern upon a neighborhood and a folks already rattled by years of elevated antisemitism.
In our view, such a deliberate act of antisemitism needs to be thought of a hate crime; it isn’t free speech to return right into a Jewish neighborhood and shout a chant in help of a terrorist group devoted to killing Jews and eradicating Israel. It’s a flagrant abuse of free speech rights that advances no trigger and solely inflicts extra hurt, extra nervousness, and extra hatred.
And let’s be clear: It could be simply as terrible if a bunch of individuals went right into a predominantly Muslim, Catholic, Hindu, or Sikh neighborhood and chanted help for that religion’s eradication. Nobody deserves to be uncovered to such ugliness; nobody ought to need to reside in concern.
This is the reason New York Metropolis must have zero tolerance for antisemitism and different types of hate in our midst. This is the reason Mayor Zohran Mamdani should do greater than condemn the protesters answerable for such ugly shows and the phrases they used.
This is the reason Mayor Mamdani should maintain agency to an govt order he signed, changing an identical order from former Mayor Eric Adams, that directs the NYPD to institute methods to guard synagogues, church buildings, temples and different homes of worship from protesters.
We don’t count on Mayor Mamdani to vary his views on Palestine; he has made that abundantly clear.
However because the mayor of New York, we do count on him to meet his repeated pledges to do all the things in his energy to cease antisemitism and shield Jewish New Yorkers and all others, no matter their religion. One of many largest steps he can take is to let the NYPD do extra to guard shuls and temples from hateful people who’re there to impress and inflame tensions, fairly than advocate for peace.
And to the ignorant protesters who dared to despicably voice help for Hamas: Sit out future protests. Nobody wants to listen to your hate.
