What Hamas did three years ago today is an atrocity. That is the word for it: an atrocity. What followed from its supporters, explicit and tacit, is atrocious. The continuing propaganda is atrocious. The just asking questions is atrocious. The moral inversions are atrocious.

This day is profoundly painful for so many New Yorkers. It marks three years since the horrific war crimes of October 7. On that day, Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis and abducted 251 others. We grieve alongside our many friends and neighbors who still carry that unthinkable loss. The suffering did not begin nor end that day. It instead continued through the Israeli government’s devastating, ongoing genocide in Gaza, in which it has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians—including more than 21,000 children. Even since the so-called ceasefire, more than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed. That suffering has intensified with every Israeli bomb dropped on ambulances waiting outside hospitals, every drone strike targeting a residential building or journalist, and every shipment of food aid turned away at a border crossing. Many New Yorkers are reckoning with this unbearable grief, and we mourn alongside them – all while knowing that our tax dollars fund these war crimes. Three years later, we must refuse to accept a world in which occupation and apartheid continue, where war crimes are met with impunity, and our federal government continues its complicity with every arms shipment. To honor the dead, we must fight for a world in which every person can live with freedom, safety, and dignity.

And here’s the view on October 7, 2023

🚨🚨🚨 Oct 7th from someone who was on the other side. What I've learned since then.

This day is profoundly painful for so many New Yorkers. It marks three years since the horrific war crimes of October 7. On that day, Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis and abducted 251 others. We grieve alongside our many friends and neighbors who still carry that unthinkable loss. The suffering did not begin nor end that day. It instead continued through the Israeli government’s devastating, ongoing genocide in Gaza, in which it has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians—including more than 21,000 children. Even since the so-called ceasefire, more than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed. That suffering has intensified with every Israeli bomb dropped on ambulances waiting outside hospitals, every drone strike targeting a residential building or journalist, and every shipment of food aid turned away at a border crossing. Many New Yorkers are reckoning with this unbearable grief, and we mourn alongside them – all while knowing that our tax dollars fund these war crimes. Three years later, we must refuse to accept a world in which occupation and apartheid continue, where war crimes are met with impunity, and our federal government continues its complicity with every arms shipment. To honor the dead, we must fight for a world in which every person can live with freedom, safety, and dignity.

The 85-year-old who chose to die to save his family. On October 7, Hamas terrorists went from house to house in Kibbutz Nahal Oz. Shlomo Ron, 85, understood what was happening - but he had a plan. He told his wife, two daughters, and grandson to hide in the safe room. They tried to convince him to come inside with them. He refused. Shlomo believed that if the terrorists entered and found an old man sitting alone in the living room, they would assume he lived alone, kill him, and move on without searching the rest of the house. So he sat down in his armchair and waited. The terrorists entered. They saw Shlomo alone. They shot him dead—and moved on without searching the rest of the house. Exactly as he had hoped. His wife, daughters, and grandson survived. Shlomo Ron, one of the founders of Nahal Oz, was 85 years old and unarmed. His final act was to give his life to protect his family. #October7Heroes #October7