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(JNS) – Benjamin Weber, the only Jewish member of the Boston City Council, opted not to sign onto a resolution that calls for it to “condemn the horrific acts of terror that Hamas has inflicted on that day, Oct. 7, and continue to call for the release of the remaining hostages” and to fly the Israeli flag over City Hall Plaza ahead of the one-year anniversary of the attacks.
Weber’s decision last week means that the resolution heads to a subcommittee, with no date of discussion yet on the schedule, the Boston Herald reported.
The Jewish lawmaker said that Ed Flynn, the council member who introduced the resolution, did not discuss the resolution with him or with local Jewish groups before introducing it.
“It is incredibly important to mourn and honor the loss of lives and condemn Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7 but it warrants discussion of the best way to do so, in partnership with Jewish leaders and other community leaders, so soon after a shooting in Newton at a rally for Israel,” Weber said, per the Herald. “With temperatures extremely high, this move seems more about inflaming passions on both sides than healing.”
The Jewish lawmaker added that flying the Israeli flag would turn “City Hall Plaza into a flash point for people who are suffering on both sides,” the Herald added.
“I have condemned Hamas several times in public, including in my remarks at the meeting last Wednesday and on social media, so it is simply not accurate to suggest I don’t think Hamas should be condemned,” Weber told JNS.
“As the sole Jewish councilor, I consider it my responsibility to work so that Jews in Boston are able to peacefully mourn the victims of Oct. 7 on its anniversary,” he said.
“Rather than create a space for Jews to gather and mourn, in the opinion of Jewish advocates in Boston and, less importantly, myself, the proposal to simply fly the Israeli flag on City Hall Plaza on Oct. 7 so soon after a shooting at a pro-Israel demonstration in Newton looked more like an effort to sow more conflict on what should be a solemn day—without any input from Jews,” he added. “Unlike my colleague, I have been in contact with Jewish advocates and am working with them and the mayor’s office to ensure that Jews have some say in how the victims are remembered and that we have a safe space in Boston to reflect and pray on Oct. 7.”
Flynn said “there’s nothing controversial about this, about recognizing Oct. 7,” per the Herald.
“So much for ‘Never Forget,’” a Herald editorial stated. “As the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre of Israelis by Hamas terrorists nears, the roll call of allies-in-name-only continues to grow.”
The paper noted that Weber objected to the “consent agenda—a matter typically approved without discussion at the end of each meeting.” It added that the attack that Weber mentioned is “the Iraq War veteran and pro-Israel demonstrator charged with shooting a pro-Palestinian demonstrator who tackled him to the ground in Newton.”
“Raising the Israeli flag to show solidarity with an American ally on the anniversary of a heinous attack on innocent civilians would inflame passions?” it stated. “Would those be the passions of anti-Israel mobs who’ve harassed Jews on college campuses around the country, ripped down flyers of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas and called for the eradication of Israel?”
“Oct. 7 is Israel’s Sept. 11. Imagine if the solidarity shown to America by allies around the world after the terror attacks on our soil dried up a year later, because these countries didn’t want to ‘inflame passions.’ But it didn’t,” the Herald stated. “You can find Sept. 11 memorials in Canada, Ireland, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Ukraine, Spain, Australia, India and Israel, to name a few. What happened on Sept. 11 was horrific. What happened on Oct. 7 was horrific.”
“Oct. 7 shouldn’t have happened. Sept. 11 shouldn’t have happened. But they did, and we should have the backbone to stand with our allies, as so many did for us,” it added.
Another certified self hating “jewish” anti semite amongst the crowd. What an as…ole.
I’m sure he is a member of JVP.
he’s a jellfish (no backbone), not a Jew.
He would refuse to fly the Israeli flag because of tensions as represented by the attack on pro Israel demonstrators? I was at that attack. Fly the flag. End of sentence