Recently, a Democrat District Leader of the 41st Assembly District (Brooklyn), made disparaging and hateful remarks about Palestinians and Chinese Americans in a series of tweets. While she subsequently apologized for her derogatory comments to the Chinese American community, she has yet to apologize to the Palestinian community. Furthermore, Maslow has twisted religious scripture to dehumanize Palestinians as subhuman terrorists deserving of genocide: “Palestinians kill Jews…We value life. They don’t…And as the Bible says, and you shall wipe the children of Amelek off the face of earth. Period.” Such blatant hatred and violent language from a District Leader is beyond shameful and abhorrent. Majlis Ash-Shura: Islamic Leadership Council of New York condemns Lori Maslow’s disdain for Palestinians, demands an apology from her and calls on her to step down from her position.
Palestinians and the Muslim community have long been the brunt of hateful remarks and discriminatory policies from politicians, media, and public personalities. Many public officials continue to build their platform off of Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian hatred in order to appease Zionist groups by stifling any criticism of human rights abuses commited by the state of Israel. Such groups have been known to utilize false claims of anti-Semitism to further their systemic dehumanization of Palestinians and Muslims.
The Palestinian community will not tolerate such egregious disrespect after decades of continued dehumanization. As a diverse community who fights for social justice, Majlis Ash-Shura: Islamic Leadership Council of New York, a representative for over 90 mosques and Muslim-led organizations, calls on Lori Maslow’s resignation and apology to the Palestinian community. We also encourage the community to sign this petition and call on the 41st Assembly District to remove Maslow from her position.