Pro-Palestinian activists are angry at California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) for moving the state’s official Christmas tree lighting indoors, following the threat of protests that have disrupted Christmas observances and other public events across the nation.
As Breitbart News reported, violent pro-Palestinian protests disrupted the annual Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller Center in New York City last week, leading to clashes with police officers and several arrests. Similar protests shut down the California Democratic Party’s convention in Sacramento last month.
Therefore Newsom canceled the outdoor lighting. Politico reported:
California Gov. Gavin Newsom canceled an in-person tree lighting ceremony at the state Capitol on Tuesday ahead of pro-Palestinian protests, citing concerns about the safety of children and families as the ongoing fighting continues to divide Democrats.
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Local Palestinian rights groups had planned to march on the tree lighting ceremony, with calls for a cease-fire in fighting that began following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.
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Once the governor’s event had been canceled, the Palestinian groups that organized the march obtained a permit to hold a 300-person demonstration near the site of the 67-foot-tall holiday tree, CHP Officer Paul Moos told POLITICO.
Newsom made no mention of the cancelation in his announcement of the “virtual” tree lighting Wednesday, which evokes the virtual holiday events of the coronavirus pandemic.
Merry Christmas from our family to yours. I know this holiday season looks different this year, but we hope it’s still filled with light, love, health, and joy in the little things.
( from our virtual Capitol tree lighting ceremony!) pic.twitter.com/8G9Ic5jqQ5
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) December 25, 2020
Pro-Palestinian activists were angry, the San Francisco Chronicle reported:
The Sacramento Regional Coalition for Palestinian Rights is hosting a rally at the Capitol on Tuesday evening calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. In a statement, the group accused Newsom of canceling his plans to hold the tree lighting in person because he “doesn’t want to face their anger at his shameful stance in regard to the genocide in Gaza.”
“Governor Newsom decided to cancel the tree lighting ceremony rather than face the public that is enraged by his shameful silence on the genocide in Gaza,” one of the group’s members Yassar Dahbour said in a statement. “This certainly doesn’t add up with his past stance with Native Americans.”
Despite his far-left stances on other issues, Newsom has taken a pro-Israel position in the current war against Hamas terrorists.
Meanwhile, left-wing radicals continue to push for ceasefire resolutions in far-left jurisdictions, where they can muster the votes.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors introduced a resolution Tuesday calling for a ceasefire in the war — effectively, allowing Hamas terrorists to maintain their weapons and hostages, after murdering 1,200 people in a terror attack in Israel on October 7.
Pro-Palestinian activists were reportedly delighted at the resolution, which would follow a similar measure that passed in Oakland, but were disappointed to learn that because of parliamentary rules, the resolution will likely not come up for a vote until 2024.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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