NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- Congressman Ritchie Torres was unmoved by an anti-Israel heckler at the 13th Annual Jerusalem Post conference in Manhattan Monday -- at which U.S. lawmakers, ambassadors and business and community leaders spoke -- telling the audience such outbursts will do nothing to change his staunch pro-Israel stance.
"I just want to tell the next disruptor, I am a Zionist -- I always have been and always will be," said the 36-year-old, Bronx-born Democratic lawmaker, whose Congressional District lies entirely in his native borough. He has come under fire from pro-Palestinian advocates for his support of Israel.
"And no amount of harassment or intimidation or bullying is going to dissuade me from thinking what is right, and I'm going to support the U.S.-Israel relationship," he said, after a woman wearing a t-shirt with a Palestinian flag shouted at him while he was on-stage, before she was dragged off by security.
A group of women also shouted and unfurled a banner critical of Israel from the venue's upper balcony, and they too were quickly ejected from the Upper East Side event venue.
Torres said he's been subject to more intrusive attacks, as have his loved ones.
"There's no issue in which I've had to face more hate, harassment, even death threats," Torres told interviewer Yuna Leibson, U.S. correspondent for Israel's Channel 12 News. "Even my mother has been the target of harassment by anti-Israel activists ... I had my office vandalized on Christmas with red paint."
Of the harassment, attacks and misinformation online, Torres said, "We live in a crazed and morally confused world."