Protesters chided the two for their responses to Rep. Ilhan Omar’s antisemitic comments

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Rev. Al Sharpton were heckled by a large group of protesters at a rally on Sunday, as they addressed rising antisemitism outside of the Asphalt Green Upper East Side Campus a week after it was defaced with swastikas.

The protesters called on Rep. Maloney to take a stronger stand against Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) than she had. The protesters held up posters calling on Democratic leadership to remove the Minnesota congresswoman from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Rep. Maloney shouted back to protesters, “I had a strong statement.” To which one protester responded, “That is not enough.”

“All of us must take the risk of reconciliation and stand against those who are extremist on either side, and say we must denounce hate and terrorism no matter what,” Sharpton said. “Hate must be denounced… Until we stop antisemitism, racism, homophobia and any form of bigotry, we are all under threat. So heckle me all you want, we are going to meet heckle with love… I welcome the hecklers because I want people to know that we are standing with courage, we are standing with unity, and we are standing together.” 

By Jacob Kornbluh in New York