NYC, NY – A socialist Brooklyn councilwoman who has blamed Israelis for instigating Hamas’ barbaric attacks on the Jewish state has been named co-chair of the new Task Force to Combat Hate.
Shahana Hanif, the first Bangladeshi and Muslim woman elected to the City Council, will oversee the six-member panel with fellow chair Eric Dinowitz, a Bronx Democrat who is Jewish.
“Letting Shana Hanif co-chair an anti-hate task force is like letting Jamal Bowman run a congressional fire drill,” quipped Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, referring to the NYC congressman who infamously pulled a fire alarm in a Capitol Hill office building in September to delay a vote to avert a government shutdown.
Dinowitz declined to comment on Hanif’s appointment, part of controversial new Council committee assignments backed by Speaker Adrienne Adams that included Amanda Farías (D-Bronx) replacing Keith Powers (D-Manhattan) as majority leader.
Hanif in April voted against a council resolution to establish an “End Jew Hatred Day” in New York City that overwhelmingly passed.
In October, she was among more than 100 protesters arrested at a pro-Palestinian rally in Bryant Park where hostile demonstrators bellowed antisemitic chants and waved signs supporting the bloodthirsty Hamas terrorists.
Days earlier, she pointed blame at Israel for the death of its citizens.
“The root cause of this war is the illegal, immoral, and unjust occupation of the Palestinian people,” she said on X. “The Occupation has brought violence toward Israelis and Palestinians for over 75 years. There will be no peace unless the rights of all people in this region are respected.”
Hanif said she’s “deeply proud to be co-leading the new task force, adding said she’s “taking up this new challenge not only to fight for my community — but all New Yorkers.”
Speaker Adams didn’t return messages.
