Councilman Justin Brannan (D-Bay Ridge, Brooklyn) has announced that he is running for New York City Comptroller and is banking that his refusal to condemn Hamas supporters in his district will give him a boost in the Democratic primary in 2025.
I believe some members of the Bay Ridge Palestinian community, who Brannan represents, have demonstrated continued support for Hamas and their terrorist acts against Israelis, and he remains silent for fear of offending them.
Recently, we learned through a report in the New York Post that Imam Sheikh Muhammad Al-Barr, called for the destruction of Israel at the Islamic Society of Bay Ridge during a sermon.
The Post reported that the Imam said, “Liberate Palestine from the occupiers and the plunderers. Oh Allah, annihilate those who occupied their lands, and those who betrayed and deserted them and these who spilled their blood.”
In the past, Brannan has literally stood side by side with this hateful Muslim cleric and has shown zero interest in confronting him about his rhetoric.
In addition, Brannan had no words of condemnation last month when some Bay Ridge residents held a vigil for Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader that was killed in a bombing in Iran. Why would anyone mourn this mass murderer unless you support or are sympathetic to terrorists?
In May, at another gathering in Bay Ridge, the Hamas flag was proudly waved. There were about a dozen protesters arrested after clashing with the police. Brannan reflexively took the side of those that were carrying the Palestinian terrorist group’s green and white flag.
“I saw no evidence of actions by protesters yesterday that warranted such an aggressive response from the NYPD…from my vantage point the response appeared pre-emptive, retaliatory and cumulatively aggressive,” he was quoted as saying by NY 1 Spectrum News.
It seems to Brannan that it is unfathomable to believe that those carrying a terrorist flag would commit any illegal acts warranting arrest.
Throughout the years, Brannan has proclaimed that his Palestinian Bay Ridge community is a peace-loving group and that the diversity they bring is a strength. Some may beg to differ.
Even after Hamas just cruelly murdered six hostages, including an Israeli-American, as they were about to be rescued, Brannan and many other Democrats will still genuflect at the altar of Hamas supporters.
Bob Capano, a Brooklyn resident, has been an adjunct political science professor for over 15 years and served as district director to former Congressman Bob Turner (R-, Brooklyn, Queens). He was also a Republican candidate for City Council in Bay Ridge in 2017.
