Pittsburgh Democrats slammed for ‘antisemitic’ statement blaming Israel for Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre
PITTSBURGH — On the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre, Pittsburgh’s Jewish community mourned the victims. Their politicians were busy mourning the Palestinians — and blaming Israel for the terrorist attack.
Rep. Summer Lee, Mayor Ed Gainey and Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato issued a joint Twitter statement saying they have “hearts big enough to grieve those killed one year ago and those massacred in the year since.”
“Our grief is compounded by the fact that it didn’t have to be this way,” they went on. “This violence did not start on October 7.”
Pittsburgh’s Jewish leaders read the statement loud and clear.
“This warped and deliberate weaponization of language can only be interpreted as a way to undermine the Israeli and Jewish victims of October 7,” the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh responded, adding the pols “place the blame on the victims of October 7: Israel and its people.”
“It displays a stunning lack of sensitivity that veers into antisemitic territory,” Rabbi Seth Adelson of Beth Shalom Synagogue told The Post. “I’m just baffled that they thought on this day that could have been received well.”
Adelson admitted his mind was elsewhere: His son Oryah Meidan had just deployed to northern Israel to fight Hezbollah in a war that began with another terrorist group on Israel’s southern border.
One year ago, Hamas terrorists murdered, raped, beheaded and kidnapped more than 1,400 people, including more than 40 Americans. Hamas is still holding 97 people hostage.
But Pittsburgh’s political leaders did not mention Hamas, nor “that Israel is fighting a just war for her survival,” Adelson said while gripping his guitar, which he had just played for an audience of more than 1,200 people.
He was one of a group of performers in a series of songs, prayers and stories to commemorate Oct 7. victims at a Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh event, which ended with a prayer for Israel, its national anthem, “Hatikvah,” and “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
“They seemed to be signaling to political allies, and those are not the majority of their Jewish constituents,” Adelson said of Pittsburgh’s pols.
In a letter shared with The Post, Rabbi Aaron Meyer of Temple Emanuel begged his elected officials “to reconsider and remove this hurtful, hateful statement.”
But others suggest Pittsburgh remove these leaders entirely.
“On one thing we can agree: we are looking for elected officials who find the courage to lead with empathy. We need leaders who can find empathy for Jewish and Israeli victims of terror,” the Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh finished.
One of those elected officials, Lee, is up for reelection in November. Surviving a pro-Israel primary challenger, the Democrat is up against Republican James Hayes.
The Squad member pushed for a cease-fire just weeks after Oct. 7, when Hamas committed the deadliest attack against Jews since the Holocaust. She’s called for an arms embargo against Israel and accused the Jewish state of committing genocide.
More than 40 of Pittsburgh’s Jewish leaders this spring denounced Lee for her anti-Israel rhetoric and taking money from people who celebrated the Oct. 7 attacks.
Though Jeff Finkelstein, Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh CEO, commended Democratic Sen. Bob Casey for his support of Israel on Oct. 7, Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick has tied Casey to Lee for not retracting his endorsement of the freshman congresswoman.
“I am definitely aware of people in the community who are considering voting Republican for the first time in their lives,” Adelson noted.