On Oct. 24, rallygoers gathered on East Fordham Road to show support for Palestine and refute Torres’s statement. (Courtesy of Isabel Danzis/The Fordham Ram)

Protestors gathered outside of Representative Ritchie Torres’s (D- N.Y.) office on Tuesday, Oct. 24 to protest Torres’s statement on the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Torres represents New York’s 15th district, which covers areas of the Bronx — including Fordham. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict broke out on Oct. 7 after the militant group — Hamas — fired missiles into Israel. Since the outbreak, Israel has retaliated by repeatedly attacking Gaza, a prominent city in Palestine.

Torres released a statement on Oct. 7 in support of Israel. Torres said:

“Hamas has declared war on Israel – launching a surprise and unprecedented terrorist attack overnight, invading Israeli towns and taking hostages, firing more than 2,000 rockets, murdering at least 40 Israelis and counting, and otherwise ambushing Israeli by air, land, and sea.

Israelis are doing precisely what we, as Americans, would do if we found ourselves under sudden attack — defending itself and its people.

I unequivocally stand with Israel as it rightly defends itself and condemn in the strongest possible terms the actions of Hamas — a terrorist organization that has long sought the destruction of the Jewish state — and extend my deepest condolences for the innocent Israel lives lost thus far.”

Rallygoers today showed support for Palestine and refuted Torres’s statement. On East Fordham Road, in front of Best Deli, people gathered with signs showing support for Palestinian liberation. They chanted things like:

“Israel you can’t hide! Israel you can’t hide! You’re committing genocide! You’re committing genocide! Ritchie Torres you can’t hide! Ritchie Torres you can’t hide! You’re committing genocide! You’re committing genocide!”

“I’m involved in a group called Jewish Voice for Peace. We’re the largest Jewish group that fights against the Israeli apartheid system and we’re involved in the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, and we’ve been one of the leaders in this fight against genocide that’s happening now in Palestine,” said Pam Sporn, a Bronx resident for 30 years and a constituent of Ritchie Torres. “And while we don’t condone the killing of civilians, we are very clear that the killing of the Israeli people should not be weaponized to justify the genocide of Palestinians, and the crushing oppression Palestinians have had to face for the last 75 years is the root cause of all of that violence. What we need to do is immediately call for a ceasefire and demand that the U.S. government stop funding militarily the Israeli military machine that is making this violence continue.”

Another protester at the rally, named Steve, who declined to provide their last name, agreed with Sporn’s sentiments calling for a ceasefire. Steve said that within that call, it is important to consider the historical context of the conflict.

“Primarily I’m out here first to help stop the killing. There needs to be a ceasefire, second to help stop the causes behind what’s going on. The mainstream media in this country has ignored the context of all what’s been going on the past two weeks, so they like to start history on Oct. 7 in the Hamas atrocities, which must be condemned of course. But they take it out of context,” said Steve.

Bobby, Steve’s wife, who also declined to say their last name, like others said that she attended the protest because of a long-time involvement in advocacy for Palestinian liberation.

“We’ve been activists our entire life, and what’s going on in Israel and the impact on the Palestinians is horrendous and we’ve been fighting that for many years to not have. We fight for others. We live in the Bronx,” said Bobby.

Many at the rally said they came to make an active motion to show their disapproval of Torres.

“We’re out here today because Ritchie Torres has been supporting the genocide going on in Palestine right now. And it’s particularly ridiculous because he claims to be a progressive, but he is being an apologist for a far-right, racist, extremist, Zionist regime of Benjamin Nethanyu when they’re just wantonly bombing a densely populated area of Gaza,” said a protest attendant named Nick, who declined to give their last name.

In addition to the chants, many activists spoke. They spoke about Palestinian liberation and condemned Torres’s support of Israel.

The Ram contacted Torres’s office for comment and did not receive a response.