NEW YORK: A pro-Palestinian rally Sunday in Times Square endorsed by the city chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America ensnared prominent party members amid widespread condemnation of the event.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and other leading Democrats blasted the rally as “abhorrent and morally repugnant” and drew a dividing line with far-left members of the party — including New York Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman, who denounced the attacks and called for a ceasefire but didn’t take a stand on the rally.
The rally — attended by more than 1,000 pro-Palestine backers, who chanted “Resistance is justified when people are occupied” — highlighted differences over how progressive members responded to the attacks. Mainstream Democrats were quick to call out anything less than unequivocal support for Israel.
The rally puts extra pressure on Ocasio-Cortez, Bowman and other New York Democratic Socialists on the City Council and in the state Legislature who represent a region that’s home to the largest population of Jews anywhere outside of Israel. The New York Democratic Socialists of America is the largest chapter of the national organization, but it did not appear to organize the rally. No leading DSA members were seen in attendance.
The party said the rally was aimed at showing “solidarity with the Palestinian people and their right to resist 75 years of occupation and apartheid.”
But other House Democrats rebuked their message.
“Hamas terrorists massacred hundreds of Israeli civilians, including women and children. They took dozens more hostage, including Holocaust survivors and American citizens,” Hudson Valley Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan wrote on X.
