A group calling themselves the Philly Palestine Coalition amassed in the leafy square, spreading slogans like “Abu Obeida Lives” \u2014 in reference to the deceased Hamas spokesman<\/a> \u2014 and a speaker declared that “martyrdom is a commitment [and] a principle,” while others called for “intifada,” according to the Jewish News Service<\/a>.<\/p>\n “I forcefully condemn the antisemitic rally that took place today in Rittenhouse Square,” said state Sen. Sharif Street of North Philadelphia \u2014 the first elected Muslim in the chamber, who is also running to succeed the retiring Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Pa.<\/p>\n “As an American Muslim, I feel compelled to say that Hamas is a terrorist organization and should be condemned \u2014 not glorified,” Street said in a statement. “Anyone calling for violence in the streets of Philadelphia is not advancing peace. They’re setting it back.”<\/p>\n TEACH-IN FOR ‘PHILLY TO PALESTINE’ SET FOR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY<\/a><\/p>\n State Sen. Sharif Street speaks at a protest for Meek Mill. (Brian Stukes\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Street is notably the son of popular former Mayor John Street \u2014 who led the city through what he called a “neighborhood transformation” as technology and the job market evolved in the 2000s \u2014 and nephew of the late vendor-turned-activist T. Milton Street, who held the same State Senate seat in the 1980s.<\/p>\n Street\u2019s comments mirror those of another prominent Pennsylvania Democrat, Gov. Josh Shapiro, who made headlines as a rare voice on the left speaking out against similar antisemitic behavior in 2025 at the University of Pennsylvania, just across the Schuylkill River from this weekend\u2019s protest.<\/p>\n Street said in a statement that in light of Shapiro\u2019s official residence in Harrisburg being “firebombed” and mass shootings at a Pittsburgh synagogue and AME church in Charleston, South Carolina, politicians must “unequivocally condemn antisemitism, racism and hate<\/a> in all its forms.”<\/p>\n SENATORS TED CRUZ AND JOHN FETTERMAN AGREE ON HATING ONE ‘EVIL’ DURING BIPARTISAN INTERVIEW<\/a><\/p>\n “The small group protesting today may not wield much power in our city, but we have seen time and again the dangers of inciting violence,” Street said.<\/p>\n He recounted that Dr. Martin Luther King said, “hate cannot drive out hate \u2014 only love can do that.”<\/p>\n “During this time of increased violence, we must stand against the rising tide of extremism<\/a> and do the hard work of building a peace where every person, Jewish and Muslim, Israeli and Palestinian, can live in safety.”<\/p>\n ANTISEMITIC THREATS ESCALATE NATIONWIDE AS PROTESTERS CALL FOR REPEAT OF OCT 7 MASSACRE<\/a><\/p>\n In a previous interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer<\/a>, Street offered more moderate views of the Israel-Gaza war than other Muslim lawmakers like U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar<\/a>, D-Minn., and Rashida Tlaib<\/a>, D-Mich., in the paper\u2019s estimation.<\/p>\n “Guess what? Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> is not the only leader of a major country in the world that’s committed war crimes, because Donald Trump<\/a> has done the same thing. But none of us would talk about getting rid of the United States of America as a country,” Street told a recent voters’ event.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, another Democrat seeking Evans\u2019 seat<\/a> offered more pointed words to the paper:<\/p>\n NEW YORK LEADERS CONDEMN ‘INTIFADA’ CHANTS TARGETING A SYNAGOGUE LED BY A HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR<\/a><\/p>\n “F— AIPAC,” said state Rep. Chris Rabb of the city\u2019s Mount Airy neighborhood.<\/p>\n Pennsylvania State Rep. Martina White<\/a>, R-Philadelphia \u2014 one of the city\u2019s few Republicans in Harrisburg \u2014 echoed Street in a statement released on behalf of herself, Minority Leader Jesse Topper and GOP leadership.<\/p>\n “Instead of a peaceful protest, what happened in Rittenhouse Square over the weekend was overt hate heading toward acts of terrorism against our Jewish neighbors,” their statement said.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n The Liberty Bell, originally saved from the British by Lynnport farmer Frederick Leaser, sits in its Philadelphia shrine. (iStock)<\/p>\n “For a group to hang effigies of Israeli soldiers and call for martyrdom-style attacks is completely unacceptable and goes well beyond a civil protest. This is a clear call for terroristic attacks on people, including women and children. It cannot be tolerated.”<\/p>\n The Philly Palestine Coalition could not be immediately reached for comment.<\/p>\n Charles Creitz is a reporter for\u00a0Fox News Digital.\u00a0<\/p>\n He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.\u00a0<\/p>\n Charles covers media<\/a>, politics<\/a> and culture for Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A top Pennsylvania Democrat unloaded on antisemitic protesters who flooded…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104128,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[12330,29336,5060,28,30,29,69,445],"class_list":{"0":"post-104127","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pennsylvania","8":"tag-anti-semitism","9":"tag-democrats-elections","10":"tag-hamas","11":"tag-pennsylvania","12":"tag-pennsylvania-headlines","13":"tag-pennsylvania-news","14":"tag-philadelphia","15":"tag-terrorism"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Sharif](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/sharif-street-at-protest.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Liberty](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/liberty-bell-1.jpg\")
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