By NEAL RENTZ
Lewisboro Councilman Dan Welsh’s Facebook page continues to cause controversy, with people from the community and fellow town board member, Richard Sklarin, again questioning his criticism of Israel’s conduct in its nearly year-old war against Hamas.
At Monday’s town board meeting, Welsh was criticized for a comment on one of his posts made by a resident that included a picture of a Nazi youth giving a “Sieg Heil” salute.On Monday, Sklarin mentioned Welsh’s post, which included comments from a resident that made statements about “town constituents and town people that you serve, calling them racists, genocidal terrorists.”
Welsh had not responded to the post, Sklarin said.
“I’m asking you to condemn those comments,” Sklarin told Welsh at Monday’s meeting. “If you don't, that leads me to conclude you’re in agreement.”
“The hate continues from Councilman Welsh and his ‘red triangle’ friend,” resident Simone O’Connor said during a public comment period of the meeting, adding she has been called many names by the resident.
O’Connor said she has reached out to Welsh on his Facebook page. “I have asked him to do something about it,” she said. Welsh allows the resident to write whatever she wants on his page, O’Connor said.
Another resident, John Brown, said America, including his father, fought the Nazis in World War II.
“Nazis used the hatred of Jews for their own political purposes,” Brown said. Welsh is doing the same thing on his Facebook page by allowing the “Sieg Heil” post, Brown said. The post does not help the Palestinians in Gaza, Brown added.
While Welsh did not address the issue during the town board meeting, but told The Recorder the next day, Sept. 24, the comment from a town resident, whom he declined to identify, was taken off his Facebook page over the weekend.
“I’d already taken it down,” he said.
Welsh said he spoke to the person who made the controversial post, mentioning that people were offended by showing the Nazi salute.
Welsh said the resident who made the comments did it in response to comments from other residents stating that the person should leave the United States if they aren’t happy with it.
Welsh said he has not intended to speak about his criticism of the Israeli government during town board meetings. Rather, the subject has been brought up by some residents during meetings, he said.
Welsh said not enough attention has been given to the 40,000 Palestinians living in Gaza who have been killed, as well as an American who was allegedly recently shot and killed by an Israeli soldier. Welsh criticized Israel for its Sept. 17 and 18 actions to have thousands of handheld pagers and hundreds of walkie-talkies intended for Hezbollah exploded simultaneously across Lebanon and Syria in retaliation for attacks against Israel.
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