New York, NY – Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries visited the Nova Music Festival Exhibition in Lower Manhattan and highlighted the need to crush antisemitism and bring all the hostages home. Below are excerpts from his comments.

LEADER JEFFRIES: The events of October 7 were horrific atrocities that were perpetrated on that day which will forever live in infamy. They are hard to believe when you hear the reports, but having the opportunity to visit the Nova Music Festival Exhibit really brings home, in just a visceral way, how violent, how brutal and how inhumane that attack was on 10/7. People who were attending the Nova Music Festival were there filled with love, and peace, and joy and life, and were of a welcoming nature, coming together simply to enjoy the spirit of everyone and the music. And many of them were brutally cut down for one reason, simply because they were Jewish. It’s unacceptable. It’s unconscionable. We’re going to continue to do everything that we can to make sure that we bring all of the hostages home, that Israel has the space to decisively defeat Hamas so something like 10/7 can never happen again and that we find a path forward emerging from this toward a just and lasting peace. […] 

There are a lot of challenges that we are confronting in our society and throughout the world. The disturbing rise of antisemitic incidents, including what occurred right outside of these doors, is shocking and shameful, and we’ve got to come together. We’ve got to come together to do everything that we can to crush the shocking rise of antisemitism here in New York City, throughout the country and across the world. Make sure we bury it in the ground, never to rise again. We should also channel the spirit, the love, the warmth that people like Tal and others bring to life and brought to that music festival that day. And what happened to them should never be allowed to happen again. Never again is now.  […] 

President Biden has articulated a path forward with respect to a peace plan. That peace plan had the support of the Israeli War Cabinet. That peace plan has been endorsed by the United Nations Security Council. Hamas is the obstacle to peace. And I think it’s important for all of us to continue to articulate that loudly, publicly and forcefully…That is the path forward and it’s going to be important for everyone to stay the course and for Hamas negotiators to come to the table if they truly desire peace.

Additional photos from the Leader’s visit are available here.