Members of the ultra-progressive “Squad” in the House are facing significant criticism from members of their own political party after making horrendous comments about Israel in the wake of Hamas’ brutal attack on the nation.
On Sunday, Democratic Representative Ritchie Torres of New York went off on progressive Democratic Representatives Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Cori Bush of Missouri after they said that the conditions that exist in Israel are what led to the “resistance” displayed by Hamas recently.
Torres took both Squad members to task when he said:
“Shame on anyone who glorifies as ‘resistance’ the largest single-day mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust.”
As of Wednesday, more than 1,200 people have died in Israel, which includes 14 U.S. citizens. Close to 1,000 people have been killed in Gaza as part of the retaliatory strikes Israel has launched.
Hamas initiated coordinated surprise attacks on various sites in Israel, including a music festival where hundreds of innocent civilians were killed and/or wounded. Hamas has also apparently taken hundreds of hostages as part of their attack.
Following the atrocities, Bush decided to speak out against Israel, releasing a statement on Saturday that said, in part:
“Violations of human rights do not justify more violations of human rights. … U.S. government support for Israel military occupation and apartheid [must stop].”
Tlaib, a fellow Squad member who’s Palestinian – and has often been criticized for her brazen comments about Israel in the past – released her own statement on Sunday that read:
“I am determined as ever to fight for a just future where everyone can live in peace, without fear and with true freedom, equal rights and human dignity. The path to that future must include lifting the blockade, ending the occupation, and dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance.
“The failure to recognize the violent reality of living under siege, occupation and apartheid makes no one safer. No person, no child anywhere should have to suffer or live in fear of violence.”
Torres clearly doesn’t agree with the Squad members’ stance. He heavily criticized the attack Hamas launched and then criticized a rally that New York City Democratic Socialists held on Sunday. He said that the rally ended up revealing the group “for what it truly is – a deep rot of antisemitism.
Further, he slammed various student organizations at Harvard University that have signed a letter that blames the government in Israel for all the violence in the region, including the deaths that have happened since Hamas attacked.
On X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Torres wrote:
“Israel is the victim of a terrorist attack. Hamas is the perpetrator. It’s as simple as that. There are no ‘both sides.’ Yet here you have 30+ student organizations from Harvard University, blaming the victims, Israel, for their own murder, rape, and abduction, rather than blaming the perpetrator, Hamas, for murdering, raping, and abducting them.”
The United States considers Hamas to be a terrorist organization.
