Here’s why Ed Markey got booed at the rally for Israel in Boston
Sen. Ed Markey is among several left-leaning lawmakers who have pushed for a de-escalation of violence in Israel amid its war with the militant group Hamas.
Loud boos erupted at a pro-Israel rally on Boston Common Monday as Sen. Ed Markey called for a de-escalation of violence in the Middle East nation, now locked in a war with Hamas following a surprise weekend attack.
“Israel’s people have the right to live in their rightful homeland free from fear, free from violence,” Markey began his remarks, according to The Boston Globe. He reportedly denounced the “heinous attacks” and “vicious murders” by Hamas, calling for the release of hostages.
However, Markey also warned against antagonizing the Islamist militant group, which the U.S. Department of State has designated a foreign terrorist organization.
“Hamas wants continued instability, not normalization,” Markey said, according to the Globe. “They are violent extremists, they gain support when there is a crisis. That is why the United States and the international community must keep pushing for diplomacy and the ending of civilian casualties on all sides.”
His call for a “de-escalation of the current violence” drew a chorus of boos from the audience, which derailed his remarks for nearly a minute.
What others have said
Markey isn’t the only lawmaker to call for de-escalation in the midst of an increasingly bloody conflict; other left-leaning politicians — including several members of “The Squad” in the House of Representatives — have pushed similar rhetoric.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley urged an immediate ceasefire, writing on the social media platform X, “It is long past time to stop this cycle of violence & trauma, and work toward a just & lasting peace in the region.”
New York’s Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Minnesota’s Rep. Ilhan Omar offered similar thoughts in their own statements.
“No child and family should ever endure this kind of violence and fear, and this violence will not solve the ongoing oppression and occupation in the region,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Nearby nations — including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey — have also taken a de-escalation stance.
Auchincloss: Calls for de-escalation are ‘premature’
But as the death toll mounts, there’s been increasing skepticism about the prospect of peace. By one Associated Press count, the fighting has already killed at least 1,600 people combined — a number that is expected to grow as Israel pummels the Gaza Strip with airstrikes.
Some have cast doubt on the feasibility of a peaceful resolution at this point, viewing the war as a paradigm-shifting event that has altered Israel’s status quo.
“In Israel, successive governments cut quiet deals with Hamas, hoping to keep a form of stability in the Gaza Strip, which the group controls, especially after the Israelis withdrew unilaterally from the territory in 2005,” Steven Erlanger, a former Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times, explained in a news analysis Monday.
Hamas’s attack on Israel “has now stripped away any remaining illusions about the group or its intentions,” he wrote. “Senior Israeli officials now say Hamas must be crushed, both to restore stability in Gaza and credibility for Israel as an ineradicable part of the Middle East.”
Speaking at Monday’s rally, Rep. Jake Auchincloss was met with cheers as he pushed back against de-escalation.
“Israel is a liberal democracy with the right and responsibility to defend itself and its citizens. Calls for de-escalation, even if well-meaning, are premature,” the Newton Democrat said in a statement. “Israel needs the military latitude to re-establish deterrence and root out the nodes of terrorism.”
Auchincloss has likened Israel’s cross-border conflict to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and the 1941 military strike on Pearl Harbor — events that launched the U.S. into war.
“Israel did not ask America to de-escalate on September 12, 2001,” he said.
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