Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon. (Photo: da.lacounty.gov)
DA Gascon: Disavow the DSA!
Calls Grow for Los Angeles DA to Explain Hamas Position
By Thomas Buckley, October 11, 2023 5:06 pm
Given that he regularly expounds on hot button issues, the Los Angeles Association of Deputy District Attorneys is wondering why District Attorney Goerge Gascon has said nothing about the Hamas attack on Israel.
Could it be that Gascon is the favorite son of the chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America?
The LAADDA said:
“For the last three years, District Attorney George Gascón has seldom missed a chance to insert himself into the news cycle. He has commented on the deaths of famous artists and politicians. He has shared his views on Supreme Court decisions. He has even opined on international conflicts in Ukraine and, just last month, in Armenia and Azerbaijan. But for the last five days, he has said nothing about the indiscriminate massacre of innocent civilians in Israel. And his silence has caused significant concern among his employees, especially those who are Jewish.”
The LAADDA continued:
“Israel’s dead were young and old. They were rich and poor. They were Jews. They were Mexican, British, Thai, Brazilian, Chinese, German, Nepali, French, Tanzanian, and, yes, American. They were sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers. Some were bedridden. Some were new to this world, just learning to crawl.
They were raped, kidnapped, held hostage, and murdered.
These victims deserve our compassion, not indifference.
George Gascón’s silence in the face of this atrocious tragedy is disgraceful, insensitive, and cowardly.
When he commented on the humanitarian crisis in Artsakh last month, Gascón wrote that he was “committed to standing up for human rights, speaking out against hate, and preventing such atrocities.”
Where is that commitment or leadership today?”
The Globe reached out to both the Gascon campaign and the District Attorney’s office yesterday – there was no response.
Since the brutal surprise attack by Hamas on Israel over the weekend, DSA rallies across the nation have featured heinous shouts of support for the terrorist organization that has killed thousands of Israelis.
The LA-DSA re-tweeted the national organization’s day of the attack tweet of “DSA is steadfast in expressing our solidarity with Palestine. Today’s events are a direct result of Israel’s apartheid regime – a regime that receives billions in funding from the United States. End the Violence. End the Occupation. Free Palestine.”
Other pro-Hamas protests have included calling Israelis “Nazis” and “Dogs,” and one featured a sign saying “Queers for Palestine.” Note to the three people carrying the sign: your queerness would NOT be, um, appreciated, shall we say, in Gaza.
In the last election cycle, the DSA increased their Los Angels City Council member to three seats and took the City Controller office, showing their growing local power.
In 2020, Gascon was supported by the LA DSA and he recently hired a DSA-related public relations firm to run his 2024 campaign. As Gascon has alienated vast swaths of the community and cannot expect to raise the millions of dollars he needed last time to defeat Jackie Kacey, the very committee, very active, very driven volunteer core of the local DSA could be his last best hope to even have a prayer to keep his job.
District Attorney candidate Eric Siddall believes Gascon’s ties to the DSA are keeping him from saying anything about the attack and demanded he “disavow” the group.
“The Democratic Socialists of America – Los Angeles are on the side of terrorists who murdered and kidnapped over 900 innocent Israeli civilians, even babies. Eleven Americans were killed. This is the same organization who endorsed, promoted and vigorously campaigned to help elect George Gascón,” said Siddall. “He must pick a side – he either sides with the Democratic Socialists of America – Los Angeles – or he’s against them. Continued silence from DA Gascón cannot go on. Will you disavow your DSA-LA supporters, George?”
Again, Gascon did not reply to requests to comment – and still hasn’t said anything about the attack.
RELATED ARTICLES
-
-
August 28, 2023 -
From an LA Times story titled “The attack on Israel, and how to respond to it, is roiling L.A.’s election campaigns”:
“Gascón, in a statement to The Times, said that, at a time of ‘tremendous grief for millions of people around the world,’ he remains ‘unwavering’ in his support for the Jewish community.
‘Any suggestion otherwise is an obvious effort to politicize a horrific tragedy and is completely outrageous,’ he said.”
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-10-12/la-city-hall-israel-attack-dsa
So it took him almost a week to respond. This being the same useless excuse of a DA that likes to make sure he is normally front in center of everything as much as he can be. Clearly he put out that weaselly response after his uncharacteristic silence was called out. What a complete tool.
Responding to atrocities outside the US is not even close to a DA’s job description. So should he deflect from the job he was elected for to be “front and center” on a non-LA issue? He says DSA’s position is wrong, and that ought to be enough. You don’t seem to care that the GOP’s likely candidate for President of the United States has not only failed to make a statement in support of Israel, but has actually been castigated by the Government of Israel for supporting Hamas and Hezbollah.