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A Democratic New York congressman on Monday slammed Harvard students after they penned a letter blaming Israel for attacks by the terror group Hamas.
"Israel is the victim of a terrorist attack. Hamas is the perpetrator. It’s as simple as that. There are no ‘both sides,’" Rep. Ritchie Torres said in response to a letter penned by various Harvard student groups.
Torres, 35, was elected to represent New York's 15 congressional district in 2020. In 2019, he called himself "the embodiment of a pro-Israel progressive" in 2019.
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"Yet here you have 30+ student organizations from Harvard University, blaming the victims, Israelis, for their own murder, rape, and abduction, rather than blaming the perpetrator, Hamas, for murdering, raping, and abducting them," he added. "Demonizing Israel—to the point of denying the humanity of Israeli victims and the inhumanity of their perpetrators—is moral confusion masquerading as moral clarity."
More than two dozen Harvard student organizations declared in a statement on Saturday that Israel was "entirely responsible" for the violence occurring in its war against Gaza.
More than two dozen Harvard student organizations declared in a statement on Saturday that Israel was "entirely responsible" for the violence occurring in its war against Gaza. (Getty Images)
Iranian-backed Hamas soldiers launched a series of deadly attacks across southern Israel, which has since ignited into a war leaving over thousands dead, including hundreds of Israeli civilians, and thousands more injured. The number of Israeli civilians and soldiers that were taken hostage is still unknown.
Shortly after the attacks, Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups released its statement signed by 27 different organizations that blamed Israel entirely for the attacks and voiced support for Palestinians in Gaza.
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"We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence," the statement began.
It continued, "Today’s events did not occur in a vacuum. For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison. Israeli officials promise to ‘open the gates of hell,’ and the massacres in Gaza have already commenced. Palestinians in Gaza have no shelters for refuge and nowhere to escape. In the coming days, Palestinians will be forced to bear the full brunt of Israel’s violence."
Among the groups listed in the statement included the Harvard Islamic Society, the Harvard Jews for Liberation, the Society of Arab Students and the Harvard Divinity School Muslim Association.
Furthermore, Torres, according to Capitol Hill reporter Marc Rod, said that any statement that glorifies Hamas' attacks as a resistance is "reprehensible and repulsive."
New York Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres, 35, was elected to represent the 15th congressional district in 2020. He called himself "the embodiment of a pro-Israel progressive" in 2019. (Jon Michael Raasch/Fox News Digital)
"US aid to Israel is and should be unconditional, and never more so than in this moment of critical need. Congress must act decisively to provide Israel with whatever it needs to defend itself in the face of unprecedented terrorism," he said. "Shame on anyone who glorifies as 'resistance' the largest single-day mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust. It is reprehensible and repulsive."
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However, Torres's comments came after "Squad" members Reps. Cori Bush, D-Mo., and Rep. Rashida Tlaib's, D-Mich., statements, which are in stark contrast.
Rep. Tlaib released a statement referring to Israel as an "apartheid government" that is responsible for the "suffering" that caused the attacks.
"I grieve the Palestinian and Israeli lives lost yesterday, today, and every day. I am determined as ever to fight for a just future where everyone can live in peace, without fear and with true freedom, equal rights, and human dignity."
"As long as our country provides billions in unconditional funding to support the apartheid government, this heartbreaking cycle of violence will continue," she continued.
Members of the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, participate in an anti-Israel military parade on the occasion of the 36th anniversary of the founding of the movement in Gaza City. (Photo by Yousef Masoud/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
In the same statement, Tlaib referred to Hamas as the "resistance" and called on the Biden administration to stop supporting Israel.
"I grieve the Palestinian and Israeli lives lost yesterday, today, and every day. I am determined as ever to fight for a just future where everyone can live in peace, without fear and with true freedom, equal rights, and human dignity," Tlaib said.
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Rep. Bush also called for an end to the U.S. government's support of Israel.
"As part of achieving a just and lasting peace, we must do our part to stop this violence and trauma by ending U.S. government support for Israeli military occupation and apartheid."
FOX News' Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.
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