An American mayor has been slammed for promoting violence and Islamophobia, over his “abhorrent” remarks referring to pro-Palestine protesters as “extremists” who support “terrorism.”
Hundreds of people marched in Manhattan’s New York City on Sunday to express their support for Palestine as fighting is underway between Palestinian resistance fighters and the Israeli regime.
In tweets posted on Sunday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams wrote “Throughout the day, I’ve been monitoring the protest that started in Times Square and that moved through our streets to outside the Israeli Consulate General’s Office in New York.”
“At a moment when innocent people are being slaughtered and children kidnapped in Israel, it is disgusting that this group of extremists would show support for terrorism. I reject this. New York City rejects this,” he said, adding “Do not use our streets to spread your hate.”
Ibrahim Mossallam, an activist and former board chairman at the Council on American–Islamic Relations (Cair) – New York who participated in the Sunday rally with his two teenage children, described the march as peaceful.
The demonstrators were chanting “Resistance is justified when people are occupied,” he added.
Middle East Eye on Monday quoted Mossallam as saying that Adams’ comments are promoting violence and Islamophobia against “members of his constituency as he succumbs to Zionist political power influence on US (government) office servants to advance their anti-Palestinian messaging.”
He further said he encouraged his son and daughter to attend the rally and “see for themselves what is happening as they build the understanding of what this occupation is and how it has resulted in the dehumanization of Palestinians in the West.”
“They got a first-hand experience after coming home and seeing the mayor of the greatest city in America label them as extremists and terrorists.”
Mossallam emphasized that Palestinians want all loss of life to end, but to do so, “the root of the problem, which is Israel’s decades-long illegal occupation of Palestinian land and the denial of Palestinian human rights, must end.”
Cair-NY executive director Afaf Nasher also echoed Mossallam’s remarks, saying Mayor Adam’s “irresponsible” response fuels Islamophobic rhetoric, urging him to renounce his words.
“Not only does Mayor Adam’s reckless rhetoric cater to a one-sided agenda, but blatantly undermines the constitutional right of all Americans to protest and engage in free speech,” Nasher said in a statement on Monday.
Maryam Musa, a Palestinian New Yorker who also attended the rally with her cousins, said Adams’ comments bothered her, especially as she was one of the thousands of Muslims who voted for him.
“I supported him for a long time… But after his comments on this? I cannot find it in my moral compass to support this man,” she said.
“Shame on him for ignoring the Palestinian struggle. For comparing us to extremists. For telling us not to use streets that are ours,” she said, adding, “This was a changing point in history. Back in Palestine and here, too.”
‘Truly abhorrent’
The rally was criticized by many elected American officials, including New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who said it was “abhorrent and morally repugnant.”
But many New Yorkers opposed those remarks.
Rebecca, a Jewish college student in New York who didn’t want her last name used, told MEE she attended the rally on Sunday with two of her friends to voice solidarity with Palestinians as she learned about the ethnic cleansing of Palestine after she went to college.
“Israel doesn’t belong to the Jews. It’s literally stolen land. Stolen land that was accomplished by literally ethnically cleansing hundreds of thousands of Arabs,” she said, adding “Me and everyone else at the march yesterday were there supporting Palestinian resistance. To call us extremists, that is what is truly abhorrent.”
The City University of New York Jewish Student Law Association also denounced Adams’ remarks, calling them “cowardly yet unsurprising… [that Adams] who discounts the fact that much of NYC’s Jewish population REJECTS Israeli apartheid and stands with the Palestinian people!”
Middle East Eye asked Mayor Adams about his feeling after facing backlash from Muslims, Palestinians, and Jewish people over his tweet and if he felt it was appropriate, but his office emphasized that “The Mayor stands by his words.”
Another pro-Palestine rally took place outside the Israeli consulate in New York City on Monday. It was organized by Within Our Lifetime (WOL), a Palestinian-led advocacy organization.
Abdullah Akl, a Muslim activist with WOL, said that it’s appalling and dangerous to see elected officials coming out and making statements backing an apartheid regime “and ignoring the years of ethnic cleansing that the Palestinian people have been subjected to.”
“It’s a slap in the face to every Muslim New Yorker that advocates for this issue beyond just politics, as it resonates with us religiously,” he said.
“This puts the Muslim community in danger, as people see these elected officials making remarks that align terrorism with supporting Palestinian resistance,” Akl added.
