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NY State Sen. Julia Salazar distances herself from staffers’ endorsement of Hamas attack
(New York Jewish Week) – New York State Senator Julia Salazar distanced herself from online posts by two of her staffers that appeared to praise or endorse Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
But Salazar did not indicate that she would reprimand either of them and, on Saturday, condemned reporting on the posts as a “cynical hit piece.”
According to screenshots published by the New York Post earlier that day, Sarah Campbell, Salazar’s communications and policy director, wrote the phrase “by any means necessary” on her personal account on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Oct. 7.
More than a month later, on Nov. 12, she posted, “I don’t condemn Hamas, I condemn Israel. Who has reigned more terror: Hamas in the entirety of their existence, or Israel in just the last 30 days?”
The screenshot of the Nov. 12 post showed that her account had been made private, so that only approved followers could see her posts. It has since been deleted.
The Post also reported that Isabel Anreus, Salazar’s chief of staff, liked an Oct. 7 post that said, “The stuff happening in Palestine really cheers me up.” During the attack, Hamas terrorists killed approximately 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 200 people captive. Anreus’ account is also now private.
After the report was published, Salazar addressed it in a post on X, writing that her staffer posted the comments to her “personal, locked social media account without my knowledge.”
“Her personal thoughts are not mine, and do not reflect me or my office in any way at all,” Salazar wrote. “I’m not going to allow anyone to wrongly pin another person’s reckless and completely unacceptable words onto me or my office.”
Salazar’s office did not respond to a request for further comment.
Salazar, a Democrat who represents northwest Brooklyn, was elected to the State Senate as a member of the Democratic Socialists of America in 2018. Questions surrounding Salazar’s Jewish identity sparked controversy during the campaign. The senator’s district includes Hasidic neighborhoods in Williamsburg.
The Democratic Socialists of America’s New York City branch came under fire for endorsing a rally held in Times Square on Oct. 8, before Israel had fully launched its counteroffensive in Gaza, that backed the Palestinian “right to resist.”
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America from New York and a Salazar ally, condemned the event, as did New York State’s Democratic Party leadership. Salazar co-authored a statement that did not mention the event by name but that said some rallies on the weekend of the massacre “failed to first acknowledged the fear, grief, death and destruction that was occurring.”
Since the start of the war, Salazar has repeatedly called for a ceasefire, criticized Israeli strikes on Gaza, condemned the Hamas attack and demanded the release of hostages held by Hamas. She posted that she was among the hundreds who were arrested at a Jewish-led rally calling for a ceasefire at Grand Central Terminal late last month. Her profile picture on X appears to be from a ceasefire rally.
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The post NY State Sen. Julia Salazar distances herself from staffers’ endorsement of Hamas attack appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.