New York City mayoral nominee Andrew Yang showed support for the Israeli government in a tweet as tension between Israel and Palestine erupted this week. Now the hashtag “Yang Supports Genocide” is going viral.
Yang, most known for his failed run as a Democratic presidential nominee, is now running to be the mayor of the country’s largest city. His very active Twitter account is now getting him in trouble for blindly supporting Israel as violence has erupted in the region.
“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,” Yang tweeted.
The conflict between Israel and Palestine is highly contested in the United States, as the U.S. is an ally of Israel and many people view the country as wrongfully occupying Palestinian land.
On Monday, tension between Israel and Palestine came to a boiling point as Israeli forces blocked Palestinians from the Damascus Gate and al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam, during Ramadan.
This comes alongside Israeli settlers evicting Palestinian refugees from East Jerusalem, where Arab families have predominately lived for years.
On the same day, nationalist Jews planned a march through this area on Jerusalem Day to wave Israeli flags. While the march was rerouted to the Western Wall, the Jewish holy site, hostility had already escalated.
Militant group Hamas announced that if the Jewish settlers did not leave East Jerusalem it would launch rockets into the city from the Gaza Strip. Later that night, Hamas fired into Jerusalem and southern Israel.
Israel then sent airstrikes into the area killing at least 26 people, including nine children, according to Palestinian officials.
And the violence has continued today.
Some in the U.S., primarily Republicans and now Yang, blindly support Israel even amid the occupation and violence in the region.
One person on Twitter noted that Yang is receiving an influx of support from the right, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), former senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller, right-wing Trump supporter Ian Miles Cheong, and Meghan McCain, following his tweet.
“congrats on the glowing endorsements andrew,” they said.
Those endorsements were not lost on people online.
Others, on Twitter, described the tension in Israel as genocide.
“I’m Jewish. I’m a New Yorker. But I’m also a member of the many Jews who understand that what Israel is doing to the Palestinians is a genocide. We cannot let Andrew Yang get the Democratic nomination for NYC mayor. Never forget that #YangSupportsGenocide,” one user tweeted.
“#YangSupportsGenocide keep this trending,” someone else added.
“#YangSupportsGenocide You suck, @AndrewYang,” another person tweeted.
“Yikes. #YangSupportsGenocide and has definitely lost my vote for NYC mayor,” another user posted.
“We stand with Palestine, and against Andrew Yang. Donate if you can. This needs awareness and attention,” one account tweeted.
“pretentious celebrities living in their own little world. what’s going on in palestine can only be understood by the people living through the fear of it all. so why tf does andrew yang feel the need to express his thoughts on it??? unbelievable,” someone else said.
Yang has yet to respond to the backlash.