Archive link: https://archive.ph/M3WBw

In the clips and in a full video of the event, audience members in the Palo Alto City Council chambers are seen interrupting the proceedings and making false statements. The event mirrored other public meetings in the Bay Area since Oct. 7 where pro-Palestinian activists have vilified Israel and either defended Hamas as a “resistance” movement or denied its brutality on that day.

Julie Lythcott-Haims, a candidate who is currently a member of the Palo Alto City Council, faced more of the vitriol.

“I deplore the actions of Hamas on October 7th,” she said, to one loud “boo!” from a female audience member.

“Really? Really?” Lythcott-Haims said. “They butchered people, murdered people, raped people and took hostages.”

At mention of the word “raped,” the audience exploded with anger. Amid the swell of noise, a boy draped in a Palestinian flag yelled about Hamas: “They did not murder anyone!”

When organizers regained control of the room, Lythcott-Haims said: “I did not know that that would be a controversial statement.”

(video of the exchange is in the original paywalled article but archive.today turns embedded videos into screenshots, so for those who want to see it but can’t open the paywalled article here’s the direct link: https://www.instagram.com/danielleyablonka/reel/C2yyfi9sRMx/)

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