Few things are more disheartening than watching a local politician repeat the talking points of a terrorist group. That is exactly what Newton, MA City Councilor Bill Humphrey did in his July 29 statement, accusing Israel of "incontrovertible genocide in Gaza" using language so removed from fact it might as well have been written by Hamas.
As someone born in Newton, I find Humphrey’s words not just wrong, but disgraceful. This is not a case of political disagreement. It is an elected official giving rhetorical cover to an organization that celebrates the murder of civilians, including Americans.
Here is what Humphrey omits. Hamas places weapons and fighters in schools, hospitals, and residential areas. It uses its own civilians as shields. These tactics have been documented by the United Nations and international media. When Israel targets those military sites, civilian casualties occur because Hamas intentionally makes them unavoidable. That responsibility lies with Hamas.
Calling this genocide is both legally and morally false. Genocide requires intent to destroy a people. Israel’s actions contradict such intent. The IDF issues evacuation warnings, allows humanitarian corridors, and uses targeted strikes. No genocidal army behaves this way. Hamas, by contrast, explicitly calls for Israel’s destruction. On October 7, it demonstrated that intent through mass murder and hostage-taking.
Humphrey claims “all our residents know this situation is wrong.” That is simply not true. Newton residents of all backgrounds understand who Hamas is. They know Hamas uses UN facilities to store weapons and fires rockets from crowded neighborhoods. They remember Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from Gaza, followed by thousands of rockets aimed at civilians.
Humphrey speaks of Palestinian suffering, which is real, but ignores Israeli families who have lived under rocket fire for years. He says nothing about the 50 hostages, including Americans, still held by Hamas. This selective empathy is revealing.
Hamas started this war with a deliberate massacre. They documented their atrocities and dragged hostages into Gaza. They continue to hold civilians underground while operating from population centers. Despite this, Humphrey directs his outrage solely at Israel.
That is not moral clarity. It is ideological blindness. Rather than engage with uncomfortable facts, he repeats slogans that appeal to his political allies but ignore the truth.
His statement causes real harm. It gives Hamas a propaganda win. It demoralizes families desperate for the return of loved ones. It misrepresents Newton as a city that cannot distinguish between a democratic state and a terror group.
When Humphrey says that “someday, nearly everyone will acknowledge the reality,” he is revealing a rigid worldview, not a moral insight. He is not guided by evidence. He is locked into dogma.
Newton deserves better. It deserves a councilor who can tell the difference between self-defense and terrorism. Someone who understands that a democracy facing a barbaric enemy has the right and duty to protect its citizens.
Instead, it has Bill Humphrey. A man so convinced of his own virtue that he cannot see the damage his words inflict. A man whose ignorance has made him useful to the worst people on earth.
