[VIDEO & PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]
Mayor Ed Koch labeled divisive City Councilman Charles Barron as a “viper” and a “snake” who is an enemy to the State of Israel at a press conference outside the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Manhattan this morning organized by Councilman David G. Greenfield and attended by numerous elected officials and community leaders. Specifically, Mayor Koch and the rest of the speakers denounced Barron’s long track record of hateful rhetoric against people of various backgrounds and his antagonistic stance towards Israel.
Mayor Koch and Councilman Greenfield were joined by Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Assemblyman Dov Hikind, Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein, Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz, Councilman Mike Nelson and a number of community leaders to call attention to Barron’s divisive tactics and hate displayed towards many groups. Councilman Greenfield began by highlighting some of Barron’s most notorious and hateful comments, including his questioning of Israel’s right to exist, his comparisons of Gaza to concentration death camps, his proclamation in 2002 that he wanted to “slap the closest white person” and his labeling of Muammar Gaddafi and Robert Mugabe as heroes. The coalition of officials and community members also expressed concern for the role of this type of behavior in politics and the impact it can have on neighborhoods that become marginalized as a result.
“One thing about Charles Barron is, he can be very charming, but so can a snake. We have learned to live together in this city despite our different backgrounds, and his vile, vicious assailing of Israel is simply not acceptable. I can tell you this without hesitation because I know him,” said Mayor Koch.
“We can all agree that Charles Barron is a hate monger and an anti-Semite. A lot of people like to dismiss him as crazy, but this is someone who knows exactly what he is doing when he makes these incendiary remarks and has a very specific, hateful agenda. This is not an individual who is fit to hold any office in this land,” said Greenfield.
“We need representatives who will focus on uniting communities, not dividing them. Charles Barron’s support of dictators and terrorists such as Muammar Gaddafi, and support for delegitimizing Israel and comparing Israelis to Nazis is dangerous and abhorrent rhetoric that makes him unfit to serve in Congress,” said Nadler.
“It has been made very clear that Charles Barron is unrelentingly racist and hateful. From his rabid attacks on whites and refusal to salute the American flag to his endless rhetoric about Jews and Israel, Barron proves again and again that his is a voice of divisiveness, a dying breed that sane New Yorkers no longer care to hear from,” said Hikind.
“It is quite appropriate to be standing in front of the Museum of Jewish Heritage as a second generation Holocaust survivor. Charles Barron is saying that what my parents went through did not occur, and that the Holocaust did not occur. It is outrageous for anyone, especially an elected official here in America, to deny these events. He is someone who hates and is a disgrace to all elected officials,” said Cymbrowitz.
“Regardless of background, all residents should stand up, siding with truth and for right, and repudiate the hateful stances of Charles Barron,” said Weinstein.
“It’s time to move New York City forward together in a unified manner, and Charles Barron represents everything that is wrong with our society,” said Chaskel Bennett, a Flatbush community activist.
Led by Mayor Koch, today’s speakers were united in their call for the public to reject this toxic style of politics and to demand that all citizens are represented and respected on all levels of government. Many noted that the press conference’s location is a stark reminder of the danger of allowing this type of rhetoric and hate to continue unchecked in politics.
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(YWN Desk – NYC)
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9 Responses
I don’t understand the hysteria. Do we have a First Amendement or not? If they don’t like him they don’t have to vote for him, and neither do the voters where he is running. This is still a free country, or is it??
The hysteria is because a vicious anti-semite and anti-israel politician is running for Congress in Brooklyn, in a district that is 20% Jewish – his opponent will be a good friend, but no one is paynig attention. People need to pay attention so they know they are in the district and to vote in 2 weeks
#1 Facts and information is never heard, comprehended or absorbed unless it is exagerated, loud and close to hysteria. I am glad to have heard this info,,never knew this man and his hateful actions.
Never has one lunatic been denounced by so many. Luisiana has David Duke and Brooklyn has Councilmember Charles Baron. Hate and racism are alive in America. When Baron gets angry next time he better not target me when he wants to “slap a white person”!
NotSoNiceJew, it is precisely the first amendment that protects these Jews’ right to denounce Barron. It’s not enough not to vote for him, he must be made toxic within the Democratic Party, just as a KKK member would be. Nobody in the party organization should dare to campaign for him or endorse him or even be seen with him. He should be unable to appear anywhere without journalists bringing this up to him. If you let him campaign unmolested, and leave it up to the voters, they might well support him.
By the way, the same should be true of the Despicable Al Sharpton, and it is to the Democrat Party’s disgrace that it isn’t. So long as he is able to play a role in the D Party and otherwise good people enable him and give him kovod, the D Party is tainted.
Yaacov Doe, when David Duke ran in Louisiana, Republicans and Democrats got together to defeat him. If Barron wins the primary, will Democrats of good will work to elect his Republican opponent?
Excuse me, but if he were clinically a lunatic he would be disqualified by the Board of Elections from running AND Edolphus Towns would not endorse him, especially since they were opponents previously. I recommend that posters watch the use of language UNLESS they are willing to see Jewish politicians described for their total bias on behalf of the medinah. I mean, really folks, it doesn’t pay to be SO narcissistic and paranoid…..
The main concerns here, as clearly spelled out by the speakers in the video, are low turnout and a lack of familiarity with the person in question.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with educating voters. Telling them that there is an election coming up and making sure they know what sort of person is on the ballot is important.
Not one thing said by the speakers was made up. Those were all direct quotes, word for word, that the man himself said.
People have a right to know what’s going on and our elected officials are doing the responsible thing by making that known.
Excuse me, but if he were clinically a lunatic he would be disqualified by the Board of Elections from running
Nonsense. Even if he were literally a candidate for a straitjacket the Board would never do a thing against him. There are already many morons in Congress, such as Hank Johnson (D-GA) who is afraid that Guam might tip over; Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) who thinks that Neil Armstrong planted a flag on Mars, and that North and South Vietnam live side by side in peace; Maxine Waters (D-CA) who thinks the CIA created the crack problem; and quite a few more.