MEAWW.COM / NEWS / POLITICS

NY Rep Ritchie Torres slammed for comparing casualties of Israel-Hamas conflict and 9/11 attacks using bizarre ratio

Ritchie Torres, a self-proclaimed pro-Israel progressive, has been vocal on social media about the ongoing war

Warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: New York Congressman Ritchie Torres found himself at the center of a social media storm following a controversial comparison he made between Israeli casualties in the recent Hamas attacks and the death toll of September 11, 2001.

Torres, a self-proclaimed pro-Israel progressive, ignited a debate about the appropriate way to discuss international conflicts.  

Ritchie Torres faces backlash as he compares 9/11 to Hamas attack on Israel 

 Ritchie Torres took to X (formerly Twitter) to post, "Hamas’s surprise terrorist attack by air, land, and sea is Israel’s 9/11. Losing 600 Israelis is the equivalent of losing about 20,000 Americans." 

He added, "If you murder, wound, rape, and abduct civilians and children, as Hamas has done, you are not a militant. You are a terrorist." 

"The media should stop sanitizing terrorists as 'militants.' Hamas is a terrorist organization, just like the Taliban and Al-Qaeda are terrorist organizations. Back in 2001, no one in the mainstream media described the attackers on 9/11 as militants," continued Torres. 

While the latter half of Torres's argument is debatable, many criticized the New York Democrat for using a ratio to compare fatalities in Israel to that of the 9/11 incident. 

"'Losing 600 Israelis is the equivalent of losing about 20,000 Americans' is a weird way to frame it. I think you mean as a percentage of the population (~9M vs ~300M) but it reads like an exchange rate," said one user. 

"I hate the equivalency numbers because human life is on a 1:1 ratio not on equivalencies. agree with everything else. They are terrorists and should be called that by the media," wrote another.

A comment read, "1 life is equivalent to 1 life. No greater than the other," while one user stated, "So 1 Israeli life is worth 33.5 American lives?? A life is a life. No one is worth more than anyone else we are all equal." 

"...are Israeli lives worth more than anyone else’s for some reason???" wondered a person. 

Ritchie Torres as a pro-Israel progressive

Ritchie Torres, who was elected as a New York congressman in 2020 and secured his reelection last year, has been vocal about his support for Israel. He once referred to himself as "the embodiment of a pro-Israel progressive" back in 2019.

However, his recent comments have also drawn attention to the use of language in media reporting. 

The mainstream news outlets have often referred to Hamas as "militants," despite the US Department of State designating the Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist group as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997, as per Fox News. 

Additionally, Congressman Torres criticized the NYC Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) for planning an "All Out for Palestine" rally in Times Square. The socialist group apparently expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people and their right to resist what they describe as "75 years of occupation and apartheid."

"The DSA refers to '75 years of occupation'," wrote the representative on X (formerly Twitter) responding to a post of the organization. 

He added, "DSA has been so normalized within New York politics that it will pay no price at all for its genocidal celebration of Israel’s destruction in the wake of Israel’s deadliest terrorist attack. A sign of how far my beloved New York has fallen."  

Current situation of the Israel-Hamas conflict

Amid the controversy over Ritchie Torres's comments, it is important to remember the ongoing conflict in Israel. 

Hamas has reportedly taken numerous hostages, including women and children, during the recent attacks. Additionally, at least four Americans are believed to have died in the attacks, with US officials working to confirm if any American citizens have been taken hostage, according to Fox News.