Brooklyn Councilman Charles Barron — a one-time member of the militant Black Panther Party — went on an anti-Israel rant at a council meeting Thursday, blaming the Jewish state for the Hamas terror attack that left more than 1,200 dead.
“This is not an unprovoked war,” said Barron, who described himself as “1,000% pro-Palestine” and declared “Free Palestine”
“Since 75 years, the Balfour declaration, they’ve killed Palestinians to take their land,” he continued, referring to the 1917 statement from the British government supporting a Jewish homeland, which is often cited as one of the first major steps in the creation of Israel.
“Their children, their babies were killed to establish the state of Israel. In 2014, 1,500 Palestinians killed, 509 of them children. Heard nothing from any of you,” he said.
“A Palestinian baby’s life is just as valuable as an Israeli baby’s life. So, I say, free Palestine.”
Barron, along with his wife Inez Barron, has represented East New York for more than two decades. He lost the Democratic primary in June and is set to exit the council at the end of the year.
During his long tenure in government, Barron has become well known for his virulent stances against Israel — even once calling Gaza “a virtual death camp, the same kind of conditions the Nazis imposed on the Jews” after a visit to the area in 2009, according an Anti-Defamation League report detailing his many controversies.
He famously called Thomas Jefferson a pedophile and rapist for his relationship with slave Sally Hemings, expressed a desire to slap white people “for my mental health,” and once referred to Robert Mugabi and Muammar Gaddafi — two extremist leaders well known for their racism and crimes against humanity — as his heroes.
During a pro-Palestinian rally at CUNY’s Graduate Center in Manhattan on Wednesday, Barron made more incendiary claims, calling Israelis “European converts to Judaism” who had no claim over their land.
“For 75 years they have taken Palestinian land and been trying to justify it saying they were the Jews of the Bible and this is their promised land,” Barron said. “The Jews of the Bible were black. These are European converts to Judaism who stole Palestinian land. It is not their promised land.”
Modern Israel was founded in 1948 to serve as a homeland for all people of the Jewish faith, regardless of their ethnic background.
Earlier in the meeting, Councilwoman Shahana Hanif said the US government had “fanned the flames of war” and opened New Yorkers up to the dangers of hate crimes.
“Every corner of this city is in pain. Every corner is grieving in some way. As New York City elected officials, it is incumbent upon us to protect our constituents from the rising wave of hate crimes across this country,” she said.
A spokesperson for the NYC council told The Post “Member Barron’s comments are his own.”
“Speaker Adams made clear that she unequivocally condemns violence against all civilians.”