Because I will not have the opportunity to express this in person tonight, I want to extend my heartfelt thoughts and prayers to the Jewish community who are experiencing unfathomable grief as a result of the cowardly and horrific terrorist acts of Hamas against the good people of Israel. Many of us recall in exacting detail the events of 9-11. I happened to be in Ireland with my family when the terrorists attacked us on our homeland. The Irish people suffered as though it was Ireland that was hit. Irish President Mary McAleese proclaimed in that moment that Ireland was the 51st American state, and grieved with us. I believe that in this moment, Israel is America’s 51st state, and this attack is the same as an attack on America. We stand with our brothers and sisters in Israel, and our hearts break with yours.
–Mike Kavanagh