By Dan Murphy
The rule of thumb for politicians regarding a wrongdoing or story that they want to see go away is simple; just wait for the next news item to occupy the minds of the American people. Westchester Congressman Jamaal Bowman’s fake fire alarm stunts at the Capitol in Washington DC two weeks ago has been taken off the front pages of most papers and isn’t discussed anymore on Cable TV.
First, it was replaced by the removal of Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker, with Bowman voting to remove and Westchester’s other Congressman, Mike Lawler voting to keep McCarthy, who was voted out. And last weekend, the terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas has now rightfully gained our country’s outrage and attention, with Americans killed and taken hostage.
Some of the outrage in the US has turned on those elected officials and protestors who explained the killing of innocent men, women and children as a result of “U.S. government support for Israeli military occupation and apartheid.” The Democratic Socialists of America, DSC, drew the most criticism in New York when they joined a pro-Palestinian rally in Times Square one day after the attack. More than 1,000 chanted “Resistance is justified when people are occupied,” and some stomped on and burned the Israeli flag. The worst visual was one pro-Palestinian protestor who held up a Swastika on their phone.
Congressman Bowman said, “Hamas targeted defenseless and innocent civilians and killed the largest number of Jewish people outside of the Holocaust in one day. It has truly been a heartbreaking past few days with deaths we hoped would never happen again. Their actions are unequivocally abhorrent and must be strongly condemned,” said Bowman, who added “I am shocked and disgusted by the rally held here in NY this weekend celebrating death or attacks on civilians and showing swastikas. I condemn any demonstration that does this in the strongest possible terms.”
The NY Times reported that Bowman, “who was elected in 2020 with the help of D.S.A. activists but now faces a primary challenge in his heavily Jewish Westchester district…had let his membership with the D.S.A. lapse last year.”
NYC Congressmember Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, a graduate of Yorktown High School, also separated herself from the DSA rally, saying, “It should not be hard to shut down hatred and antisemitism where we see the bigotry and callousness expressed in Times Square on Sunday.”
