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Andrew Yang condemns Hamas terrorists, Internet hits back at NYC mayor hopeful: 'You support genocide'

Twitter users started the hashtag #YangSupportsGenocide in response to former presidential candidate's tweet over Israel-Hamas conflict

New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang is currently in hot water over a rather controversial tweet. Many Twitter users have taken to social media and used the hashtag #YangSupportsGenocide to slam the Democrat for his stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict. 

Following clashes between Muslims and Jews in Jerusalem, Hamas fired off a series of rockets into the city from the Gaza Strip. As the rockets set off air sirens throughout the city, Israeli forces launched retaliatory air strikes at Gaza, killing at least 20. Rep. Ilhan Omar has dubbed the Israeli's as "terrorists", but Yang took a completely different approach. 

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Late on May 10, the former Democratic candidate for President tweeted, "I'm standing with the people of Israel who are coming under bombardment attacks, and condemn the Hamas terrorists. The people of NYC will always stand with our brothers and sisters in Israel who face down terrorism and persevere." 

Politicians have often been widely slammed for their stance on Israel, irrespective of which side of the issue they are on. The country has proved to be a thorny matter, for most western politicians. Now, Yang faces the fury of social media, for calling Hamas "terrorists". It's important to note that many see the group as freedom fighters, who are striving to help Palestine achieve independence, even if their methods are questionable. 

While Hamas has been responsible for a majority of attacks on Israeli soil, most of them have been repealed by Israel's 'iron dome', an all-weather air defense system. According to reports, no casualties have been reported on the Israeli side, but the retaliatory attacks have reportedly killed several and damaged properties. This is the most serious outbreak of violence between Israel and Hamas in months and Yang's tweet was seen as insensitive by many. 

#YangSupportsGenocide trends

It did not take long for social media to slam Yang for his tweet. One account said, "Israel just killed a bunch of babies you sicko". Another claimed, "I am a Jew, and this is a BAD take! Israel is ethnically cleansing Palestinians in East Jerusalem. People fighting back against this are not terrorists. The US supports BAD stuff, and this is near the top of the list, along with still doing maintenance on Saudi planes in Yemen."

WWE superstar Sami Zayn said, "Maybe not the most tasteful statement to make within hours of Israel bombing Gaza and killing 20 Palestinians, 9 of whom were children. But then again I’m not a soulless piece of shit politician so what do I know?" Another tweeted, "Yikes bro this is not it. please educate yourself on the events and try to have some nuance and compassion for all parties involved. this is bigger than your mayoral run."

One person said, "I’m saving a screenshot of this tweet to use it in the future to remind y’all that Yang is a supporter of Israel war crimes, genocides, child killing, apartheid, discrimination and terrorism. Go to the garbage heap of history, @AndrewYang". Another person noted, "Imagine f----- up so damn bad your name and the word genocide starts trending on Twitter".

Yang did find some support, but not from people he would normally like to be associated with. Donald Trump ally Stephen Miller tweeted, "@AndrewYang is exactly right, @IlhanMN is outrageously wrong", while Ted Cruz also praised his stance. Those tweets led many to further slam Yang for having the same opinion as Republicans. The tweet comes at a difficult time for Yang, who is currently leading the polls to become the Democratic candidate for NYC's Mayor. He does, however, face a large number of challenges and could face a stiff battle following the New York Times' endorsement of Kathyrn Garcia.