The local chapter of the Anti-Defamation League on Monday sharply criticized a Denver-based political group that counts several Colorado legislators as members, saying the latter’s statement on the Israel-Hamas war perpetuates “several false and dangerous allegations about Israel.”

In a statement, the Anti-Defamation League Mountain States Region, a Jewish advocacy organization, said it is “deeply concerned by the extremely harmful and troubling statement” released by the Denver chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America over the weekend.

“The statement appears to justify the atrocious massacre by the terrorist organization Hamas in Israel,” the Anti-Defamation League said. “It lacks any basic human decency by failing to denounce the war crimes committed by Hamas against innocent Israeli civilians and seemingly defending the terrorist violence that included the brutal killing of children, women and men, including babies and Holocaust survivors.”

The Democratic Socialists of America did not immediately return a request for comment.  

In a statement on Saturday, the group blamed Israel for the conflict with Hamas, saying “border walls, military checkpoints and crippling sanctions … and routine bombings are the material conditions that Palestinians have been forced to live under for over 75 years.”

The group added that “bloodshed is a universal tragedy.”

“But under apartheid and occupation, some lives are deemed more precious than others. The negative blowback of apartheid should come as no shock; people who are oppressed will perpetually seek ways to free themselves from that oppression,” the group said. “The murder of Palestinians has been a systemically invisibilized occurrence for decades. When Palestinians quietly suffer the daily violence inflicted on them, the West calls that ‘peace.'”

The Anti-Defamation League noted the Democratic Socialists of America ended its statement with this slogan: “May Palestine be free, from the river to the sea.”

“Make no mistake, this statement is not a call for peace. It is a clear call for the Jewish state of Israel to be entirely dismantled. Calling for the destruction of Israel and its people is unbridled hate and antisemitism in the extreme,” the Anti-Defamation League said, adding the position is “indefensible.”  

The river is the Jordan and the sea is the Mediterranean, between which lie Israel and the Palestinian territories. The phrase is often chanted at pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

The Anti-Defamation League said it is urging members of the Democratic Socialists of America in Denver to denounce their group’s statement and “refrain from fueling the fires of rising antisemitism in Colorado, the United States and abroad.”

Several progressive lawmakers immediately distanced themselves from the Democratic Socialists of America’s position, which says it “unequivocally stands” with Palestine in its “fight for liberation from the apartheid regime of Israel.”

The group had posted its position exactly a week after Hamas, a group on America’s terror list, attacked Israel, killing an estimated 1,400 people. The group also captured at least 155 others, including children. Retaliatory strikes by Israel killed nearly 2,670 Palestinians.

Rep. Javier Mabrey, D-Denver, and Rep. Lorena Garcia, D-Adams County, said they’re disappointed in the group’s position.  

“And I reject it in the strongest possible terms,” Mabrey said. “I deeply believe that we must reject violence and terrorism in all of its forms and that each of us had a duty to appreciate the fundamental value of all human life.”

Mabrey said the “horrific actions of Hamas, the murder, hostage taking, and brutalization of innocent civilians can never be justified.”

“We can recognize that, while also condemning the brutality of the Israeli response – the collective punishment and killing of Palestinians all while calling for an end to the oppression of the Palestinian people,” he added.   

Garcia echoed the sentiment, saying she’s saddened by the group’s stance.

“As an organization that works toward a society free of exploitation and oppression, this statement does not reflect its values,” Garcia said. “Violence is exploitation and oppression and all violence should be rejected.”

Reuters contributed to this story.