The latest demonstrations seen across the country on on college campuses are a reminder that many New Yorkers continue to vehemently oppose U.S. military support for Israel in the ongoing Israel-Hamas War. As of May 1, according to Al Jazeera’s live tracker, 1,139 people have been killed in Israel since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas carried out a terrorist attack in southern Israel and took around 240 Israelis hostage, some of whom have since been released.

 

The same media outlet reported that as of May 1 at least 8,730 have been injured in Israel. Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported that at least 34,568 people, including more than 14,500 children and 8,400 women, have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023.

 

The outlet also reported that more than 77,765 people have been injured in Gaza and more than 8,000 are missing. Al Jazeera further reported that in the Occupied West Bank, at least 492 people, including more than 124 children, have been killed and 4,800 have been injured since Oct. 7, 2023.

 

Constituents of New York’s 15^th congressional district, which stretches from the northwest of the borough to the South Bronx, are among those who are continuing to raise their voices in support of Palestinians. The district is represented by Democratic Congressman Ritche Torres and as reported, at least twice now, members of the Bronx Anti-War Coalition have held a rally outside the congressman’s office in Belmont to call for a ceasefire and demand an end to financial support of Israel’s war efforts by the United States.

 

On March 29, a contingent of Torres’ constituents, headed by Jewish members of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and their allies, paid a visit to his constituency office to present him with a letter in which they outlined their opposition to his views on the situation in Gaza. The full text of the letter can be read below.

 

“Dear Representative Torres,

As your Jewish constituents, we come to your office today alarmed at your behavior, and your blatantly false claim to speak in our name.

 

From the beginning of your term, you have gone out of your way to applaud Israel’s war crimes against the Palestinian people. Back in 2021, you whitewashed Israel’s murder of children, and that behavior has continued ever since. Now more than 170 days into Israel’s attack on Gazan civilians, the death toll has risen to 40,000+, about 70% of which are women and children. Due to the collapse of Gaza’s infrastructure, inability to count, and all those now categorized as “missing,” the casualty rate is surely far higher.

 

As Jews, we stand against such a Holocaust. Bought as you are by AIPAC (over $500,000 over your career), you refuse to listen and block us on social media, an act which the Supreme Court has just unanimously ruled is a violation of our free speech. [The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies to the legislative and executive branches of the United States.]

 

When we protest at your office, you run away and smear us as “extremists” or “hate mongers”. At a recent event, you even took a page from Trump by joking on stage while security guards pushed and choked Jewish, PoC and LGBTQ constituents who came to speak to you at the 92nd Street Y.

 

Members of Congress are servants of the people, not the other way around. Therefore, we visit your office today and demand the following:

1) That you apologize immediately for your libel of those who protest Israel’s acts of genocide. Such protest is not “antisemitic.” In truth, it is YOU who spread antisemitism and endanger our people, every time you conflate Israel and Judaism (the dual loyalty trope.)

 

2) That you agree to sit down publicly and listen with respect to Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now representatives, and Jewish voices such as Norman Finkelstein, Aaron Mate, Dan Cohen and Miko Peled.

 

If you refuse or ignore this request, Ritchie Torres, that is proof you represent AIPAC, not The Bronx, and that you are gravely disrespectful of the diversity of Judaism. For you, our people are convenient shields to hide your monstrous disregard for human rights and life.

 

Signed

Your Jewish Constituents (Never again and NOT in our name)”

 

Norwood News reached out to the congressman’s office for comment on the letter. In response, Torres said, “While I welcome civic engagement from all my constituents, JVP is a fringe organization that blames Israel, rather than Hamas, for the atrocities of October 7th. I have no desire to meet with anyone who justifies the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.”

 

Meanwhile, other Jewish people have shared their support of the congressman. Amanda Berman, founder and executive director of the Zioness Movement, said Torres was “a model of true and consistent progressivism for all marginalized communities, including in his commitment to Jewish self-determination in the native homeland of the Jewish people.”

 

Berman continued, “He consistently stands against all forms of antisemitism and its contemporary manifestation in anti-Zionism, which has appeared as a rabid form of hate that targets not only Jews but anyone who stands in courageous solidarity with the overwhelming majority of Jews on earth who support and defend Israel’s sovereign existence.”

 

She added, “The ‘activists’ who sent this letter, spewing racism and antisemitism simultaneously, do not represent the Jewish community, and do not represent the people of The Bronx. True progressives condemn anyone who works to make Congressman Torres and his district staff feel physically vulnerable for the crime of working for a principled man who stands up for Jews, while standing unwaveringly for peace.”

 

Bini Knauss, principal of SAR Academy in Riverdale, said the congressman never shied away from hard questions. “[He] is responsive, reflective, rational, and remarkably accessible to his constituents, of all backgrounds and of all faiths,” Knauss said. “These ‘demands,’ based on incorrect facts, disrespectful language, and false conclusions, do not merit a meeting and do not represent the Jewish community.”

 

Mark Treyger, CEO of Jewish Community Relations Council, NY, is a grandson of Holocaust survivors and World War II veterans, a son of immigrants from Ukraine that fled religious persecution because of his family’s Jewish faith, and a former colleague of Torres in the City Council.

 

Treyger said the overwhelming majority of Jewish New Yorkers and those from across the globe greatly appreciated what he described as Torres’ moral clarity and leadership, “his unwavering support for Israel’s right to exist, Israel’s responsibility to defend its people, including securing the immediate release of hostages […],” and what he said was the congressman’s relentless efforts to combat all forms of hate and bigotry, including skyrocketing antisemitism in New York.

 

Treyger said Torres had a clear and unapologetic track record of standing up for marginalized and vulnerable populations, which he said predated his service in Congress. He said Torres’ moral clarity brought comfort to the Jewish community. “I personally know how he is fighting for a lasting peace in the region that brings peace, security, and dignity for all people that call the region home,” he said in part.

 

Meanwhile, Daniel Rosenthal, vice president of government relations at UJA-Federation of New York, said, “UJA-Federation was deeply honored to host Congressman Torres in Israel this week. Congressman Torres is a steadfast and unwavering ally to both the Jewish community in New York and Israel.”

 

Most, if not all, international journalists have been precluded from entering Gaza to report on the conflict, according to various sources. NPR reported on March 15, “In Gaza, Palestinian journalists are documenting a war they’re also trying to survive.” The outlet reported that the Israeli military — with rare exceptions for military tours — has prevented foreign journalists from entering the Gaza Strip.

 

As reported, a rally in support of Gaza was held on Fordham Plaza on Friday afternoon, May 3, and a spin-off rally was held across the street outside the gates of Fordham University on East Fordham Road later that day, while at the same time, a sit-in in support of Gaza was held on Fordham University’s Bronx campus.

 

For those wishing to donate to help humanitarian efforts in the region, UNICEF is coordinating aid for those affected by the conflict.

 

To read some of our related coverage of this issue, which includes some opinion pieces, click here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here. here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.