Former Mayor Bill de Blasio said New York City must be on alert to thwart terrorism in the Big Apple following Hamas’ surprise invasion of Israel.
“Of course we support the people of Israel,” de Blasio said Sunday on WABC 770 AM’s “The Cats Roundtable” with host John Catsimatidis on Sunday.
“We have to condemn [terrorism] wholeheartedly the moment you see it. New Yorkers have felt terrorism. “We know exactly what terrorism is, in ways that many other people have not experienced,” said the former mayor, alluding to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
He said Hamas’s killing of innocent Israelis shows that terrorism has not gone away.
“For New York City right now, we have to be prepared… Let’s be honest. “This threat is going to exist in the world for quite some time and we have to protect ourselves,” de Blasio said.
He said that under his leadership, the NYPD strengthened its counterterrorism capabilities and said the department is prepared to protect New Yorkers.
Mayor Eric Adams, de Blasio’s successor, also criticized Hamas’ terrorist campaign and defended Israel.
De Blasio, a longtime Israel supporter who teaches at New York University and previously taught at Harvard, also criticized his fellow left-wing progressives – particularly in academia – for callously applauding the mass killing of innocent Jews in Israel by Hamas, or by not condemning it.
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio warned that New York City must be on alert to thwart terrorism following the Hamas attack on Israel. Stefan Jeremiah for New York Pos An NYPD transit counterterrorism unit patrolling in Manhattan on October 13, 2023. William Farrington
He said such an inhumane response undermines the Palestinian cause for statehood.
He called Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel “disgusting and inhumane.”
“Here there can be no moral relativism or mincing words. “What we saw was disgusting and unacceptable and should be condemned by everyone across the spectrum,” de Blasio said.
Cars on fire after a rocket fired from Gaza landed in Ahskelon, Israel, on October 7, 2023. AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov An injured person being carried on a stretcher after a Hamas rocket attack in Ashkelon. Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images
“I’m teaching at New York University. We had an unfortunate situation where the student leader was trying to justify Hamas terrorism. Fortunately, many of us in the NYU community spoke out against that very quickly. “I think that’s what people have to do.”
He said the Harvard campus has been slow to condemn Hamas terrorism.
Follow The Post’s live blog for the latest on Hamas’ attack on Israel.
He said people who say they care about Palestinians should “start by condemning Hamas and what they’ve done… I think some of the Harvard groups haven’t done that, because I still have a connection there.”
He said he signed a letter distributed by some Harvard groups condemning Hamas terrorism.
Smoke rises from southern Israel after surprise Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023.REUTERS/Mohammed Salem Palestinians celebrating at a destroyed Israeli tank on the Gaza Strip border near Khan Younis.AP Photo /Hassan Eslaiah
“We do not accept this. We do not accept any form of terrorism. And we do not accept a campus environment that includes organizations that somehow do not believe it is necessary to see all of us as human beings. That if Jewish lives have been destroyed and children have been murdered in front of their families, somehow it’s not necessary to talk about it. Of course, that must be condemned,” said the former mayor for two terms.
He said he believes in a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians.
“I believe that democracy and Israel must be protected. That’s part of what makes Israel so strong. You can have those political differences and still say, ‘Let’s defend the State of Israel no matter what, for what it means in the world.’ It is the only refuge that the Jewish people have,’” de Blasio said.
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