New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang published a tweet in support of Israel Monday, which led to the hashtag #YangSupportsGenocide to circulate on Twitter.
“I’m standing with the people of Israel who are coming under bombardment attacks, and condemn the Hamas terrorists,” Yang tweeted Monday.
I’m standing with the people of Israel who are coming under bombardment attacks, and condemn the Hamas terrorists. The people of NYC will always stand with our brothers and sisters in Israel who face down terrorism and persevere.
— Andrew Yang???????????????? (@AndrewYang) May 10, 2021
“The people of NYC will always stand with our brothers and sisters in Israel who face down terrorism and persevere,” Yang continued.
Israel has been facing steady attacks from Palestinian terror groups in Gaza following unrest between Palestinians and Israelis over ownership of Sheikh Jarrah property in Eastern Jerusalem. (RELATED: Parts Of Southern Israel Go Into Lockdown, Israel Recruits Reserve Army, As Hamas Sends A Hail Of 300 Rockets)
As soon as Yang hit send on his tweet supporting Israel’s fight against terror, he was hit with a flurry of claims that he was in effect a supporter of genocide. Genocide is “the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group,” according to Merriam Webster.
Hamas sent more than 400 indiscriminate rockets into Israel, many of which were intercepted by Israel’s missile defense system called the Iron Dome. Two people were killed in Israel from the attacks, and dozens more were injured. In response to the attacks, Israel conducted precise military strikes against Hamas targets, causing 26 deaths, according to CBS News.
“How Andrew Yang went from a 0% chance of winning the New York mayoral race to somehow going to a -100% chance is actually pretty incredible when you think about it,” one user tweeted Tuesday.
How Andrew Yang went from a 0% chance of wining the New York mayoral race to somehow going to a -100% chance with only one tweet is actually pretty incredible when you think about it. #YangSupportsGenocide
— Tamir ???????? (@umoktamir) May 11, 2021
“This is a disgustingly cynical move,” Marc Lamont Hill tweeted Monday, calling Yang “awful.”
This is a disgustingly cynical move. You’ve said nothing about Sheikh Jarrah. Nothing about evictions. Nothing about the gross violations of human rights and international law. Nothing about the violence of an occupying force. You are awful. https://t.co/rbtBvX0soz
— Marc Lamont Hill (@marclamonthill) May 11, 2021
Other users defended Yang’s support of Israel by pointing out that Israel grants full rights to Arab Israelis.
Clowns are tweeting that #YangSupportsGenocide or #IsraelApartheid without knowing that Palestinians in Israel work, vote, get elected to judgeships and into the Parliament. Meanwhile, Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the W. Bank last held “legit” elections 16 years ago.
— Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) May 11, 2021