‘Shame on you’: US mayor slammed for calling pro-Palestine protesters ‘extremists’

An American mayor has been slammed for promoting violence and Islamophobia, over his “abhorrent” remarks referring to pro-Palestine protesters as “extremists” who support “terrorism.”

Hundreds of people marched in Manhattan’s New York City on Sunday to express their support for Palestine as fighting is underway between Palestinian resistance fighters and the Israeli regime.

In tweets posted on Sunday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams wrote “Throughout the day, I’ve been monitoring the protest that started in Times Square and that moved through our streets to outside the Israeli Consulate General’s Office in New York.”

“At a moment when innocent people are being slaughtered and children kidnapped in Israel, it is disgusting that this group of extremists would show support for terrorism. I reject this. New York City rejects this,” he said, adding “Do not use our streets to spread your hate.”

Ibrahim Mossallam, an activist and former board chairman at the Council on American–Islamic Relations (Cair) - New York who participated in the Sunday rally with his two teenage children, described the march as peaceful.

The demonstrators were chanting “Resistance is justified when people are occupied,” he added.

Middle East Eye on Monday quoted Mossallam as saying that Adams’ comments are promoting violence and Islamophobia against “members of his constituency as he succumbs to Zionist political power influence on US (government) office servants to advance their anti-Palestinian messaging.”

He further said he encouraged his son and daughter to attend the rally and “see for themselves what is happening as they build the understanding of what this occupation is and how it has resulted in the dehumanization of Palestinians in the West.”

“They got a first-hand experience after coming home and seeing the mayor of the greatest city in America label them as extremists and terrorists.”

Mossallam emphasized that Palestinians want all loss of life to end, but to do so, “the root of the problem, which is Israel’s decades-long illegal occupation of Palestinian land and the denial of Palestinian human rights, must end.”

Cair-NY executive director Afaf Nasher also echoed Mossallam’s remarks, saying Mayor Adam’s “irresponsible” response fuels Islamophobic rhetoric, urging him to renounce his words.

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