NYC PUBLIC ADVOCATE’S STATEMENT ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE OCTOBER 7TH ATTACKS

"Last year, Hamas’ horrific and unconscionable terrorist attack against Israelis took the lives of over a thousand people and saw hundreds kidnapped. This tragic day is forever in our history. I pray for the families of all who were killed, and those whose loved ones are still held captive. I cannot imagine the horror they feel, but I am sure the emotions are as strong and painful today as they were a year ago. I pray, together with the prayers of so many worldwide, for comfort and the return of loved ones.

"The grief, fear, and anger in the wake of that horrific attack extended to our city. A cloud of brazen, dangerous anti-Semitic hatred and violence has risen. At times, this cloud has obscured the ability to legitimately speak out against violence or in opposition to the actions and inactions of government. Nonviolent protest itself has been condemned and combated by some leaders who center the hatred of the few instead of the horror of the many. 

"Horror is what I feel in this moment – at the terrorism of October 7th, and at the horrendous campaign of violence in Palestine that has followed. That sense of horror compounds with a sense of helplessness that I know many feel along with me.   

"Neither the peace process nor our ability to address it in our city have meaningfully advanced over the past year. There has only been more suffering, more fear, more death and loss as conflicts only escalate. With it rise the fears of Jewish New Yorkers facing anti-Semitism and Muslim New Yorkers confronting Islamophobia. And as the death toll mounts, so too does the moral outrage so many of us feel regardless of faith, ethnicity, or nationality. 

"The pain of the attack of October 7th must be always remembered and never repeated – which means confronting the hate and violence underneath an endless and increasing war. The hostages must come home, a ceasefire must take hold, and we must begin the long and painful effort toward the human rights and safety of all being respected and upheld. We may not find the answer to decades of crisis in our city, but we have to find our common humanity."