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The video quickly made the rounds two days ago – a woman loudly confronting Phil Murphy at a Lunar New Year celebration at Drumthwacket about the New Jersey-Israeli State Commission.
As the woman railed against Israel’s “genocidal” actions in Gaza, the governor oddly asked if she wanted a picture.
That didn’t happen. But to use the benign term that’s always used in these cases, the woman was “escorted” out of the premises.
The governor’s first public appearance after that adventure was Thursday morning in Newark.
“People have the right to protest. I don’t begrudge that, but there’s a time and a place,” Murphy said.
His obvious point was that a holiday celebration at the governor’s mansion is neither the time nor place.
More broadly, the governor said after announcing $95 million in aid to combat opioid and related substance abuse problems that he tries to separate the passion on both sides of the Israeli-Gaza conflict with the human need.
New Jersey is home to many Jews and many Palestinians. As such, Murphy said his administration supports the protection of innocent lives and the release of hostages held by Hamas.
But he said there is a bottom line.
“Let’s remember Hamas started this. … And Hamas has let the Palestinian people down, to say it politely.”
As for the state’s Israeli Commission, Murphy said that’s not going anywhere.
How about changing the “protocol” of who gets into celebrations at Drumthwacket?
The traditional practice of all administrations is to vet the people who enter an event with the governor. Simple logic suggests that in this case, that was not properly done.
Murphy declined to talk about protocol going forward, because he said that involved security plans.
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