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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul walked back her comments from last week that implied Israel has the right to annihilate Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants.
On Thursday, the Democratic governor delivered a keynote address at a Jewish philanthropy event in New York City. In her speech, Hochul said that Hamas “must be stopped” and created an analogy between Gaza and Canada.
“If Canada someday ever attacked Buffalo, I’m sorry my friends, there would be no Canada the next day. Right, right?” she told attendees at an event for the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York. Hochul herself is from Buffalo, a city in New York that sits on the U.S.-Canada border.
“But think about that, that is a natural reaction,” the governor continued. “You have a right to defend yourself and to make sure that it never happens again. And that is Israel’s right.”
Hochul’s analogy did not appear to imply that the same right also applies to Palestinians, who have lived under Israeli occupation for decades and who have faced increased violence at the hands of the Israeli government and military since Oct. 7. As of Sunday, Israel has killed nearly 30,000 Gazans, most of whom are women and children, in the name of self-defense.
Footage of the governor’s remarks spread on social media, resulting in swift backlash over her analogy that hypothetically wipes Canada — an actual state and not an occupied territory — off the map, and her justification of Israel’s continued massacre of Palestinians. Many rights groups consider remarks like Hochul’s that justify intentionally decimating a nation and its people to be genocidal language.
“Disgusting. No words,” the Buffalo chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace tweeted in response to Hochul’s comments. “We, your Jewish constituents in Buffalo NY, are beyond appalled.”
“Governor Hochul justifying genocide, while laughing,” New York state lawmaker Zohran Mamdani tweeted. “Disgusting.”
“Genocide is never natural nor acceptable,” said Chris Habiby, advocacy director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. “No context ever justifies it and any moral human would oppose it with every fiber of their being.”
“This is the sort of outrageous talking point that Democratic politicians have used without blowback for years,” said Yonah Lieberman, who co-founded the anti-Zionist Jewish American group IfNotNow. “Now that we’re seeing this violent rhetoric turn into relentless violence in Gaza, the horror of it is settling in to Democratic voters. The tide is turning.”
On Saturday night, Hochul apologized for her “poor choice of words.” The governor said she regretted “using an inappropriate analogy that I now realize could be hurtful to members of our community.”
“While I have been clear in my support of Israel’s right to self-defense, I have also repeatedly said and continue to believe that Palestinian civilian casualties should be avoided and that more humanitarian aid must go to the people of Gaza,” she said.
New York City Council member Shahana Hanif responded to Hochul’s effort to walk back her comments by saying she would not accept the governor’s apology.
“I need to see changed behavior,” she said. “I will not be forgiving you at this time.”
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