Why Honoring Hamas Leaders in NYC Should Outrage Every Progressive

I’m a progressive. I’m a Jew. And I’m appalled.

In New York City this week, a far-left group calling itself the Bronx Anti-War Coalition organized a so-called “vigil” to mark the one-year anniversary of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s death. The display featured images of Sinwar and other terror chiefs — men directly responsible for the murder of innocent civilians. Let’s be absolutely clear: this wasn’t activism. It was the glorification of terror. And it has no place in any movement that claims to value justice, equality, or peace.

There’s a dangerous tendency in parts of today’s left to confuse opposition to Israeli policy with open hostility toward Jews. Protesting a government is fair game. Mourning Palestinian lives lost in Gaza is both human and moral. But praising those who orchestrate violence against Jewish civilians is not political speech — it’s hate speech disguised as “anti-imperialism.”

Sinwar wasn’t a freedom fighter. He was a terrorist who masterminded mass murder and hostage-taking. To display his image in public, in the Bronx of all places — home to thousands of Jewish families — sends a chilling message: Jewish suffering doesn’t matter. Jewish lives don’t count. That message is antisemitism, plain and simple.

And this isn’t a one-off. The same Bronx Anti-War Coalition has previously shared posts encouraging violence and defending those who targeted Jews in Washington, D.C. This is part of a broader pattern — a normalization of Jew-hatred under the language of “solidarity.” When progressive spaces allow that to fester unchecked, they betray their own stated values.

As progressives, we pride ourselves on empathy, equity, and justice for the oppressed. But true justice cannot come from romanticizing brutality or celebrating killers. When we excuse the glorification of people like Sinwar, we are not standing up for human rights — we are spitting on them.

This moment demands moral clarity. If your activism celebrates a man who planned the slaughter of families, it’s not resistance — it’s cruelty. If your solidarity requires erasing the pain of Jewish people or framing their safety as expendable, it’s not progressive — it’s prejudice.

Condemning this display should be the bare minimum for anyone on the left who still believes in humanity over ideology. There is no world in which honoring Yahya Sinwar advances peace. There is no justice in celebrating terrorism.

I believe in a future where Israelis and Palestinians live side by side, with dignity and security. But that future will never come from movements that idolize murderers and silence Jews. It will come from those of us willing to say, loudly and without apology: antisemitism is not activism.

That’s what I believe. As a progressive. As a Jew. As someone who refuses to let hate speak in my name.