On Sunday, June 23, 2024, there was a pro-Palestinian protest that took place outside a Jewish synagogue in the heavily-Jewish Pico-Robertson area of West Los Angeles. Several Jews complained of being blocked from entering the synagogue, and fighting broke out among dozens of pro-Palestinians and pro-Israelis. The second link above has a video.
It is reported that the pro-Palestinian protest was organized to protest some kind of Israel real estate event being held at the synagogue and that counter-protesters knew of the demonstration and showed up as well.
Here are my reactions to this latest incident: First, it is one thing for pro-Palestinians to hold a protest in front of the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles, as they often do. But to taking the protest to a synagogue is beyond disgusting. That is yet another indication that this conflict is not just over land, but over religion as well. In short, the pro-Palestinian movement is anti-Jewish to its core. Imagine the reaction if pro-Israelis held their demonstrations in front of mosques. In one local news video I saw last night, a pro-Palestinian couple (man and woman) were taken into custody as they drove their SUV up on a sidewalk to confront pro-Israelis. They had an infant in a car seat wearing a Palestinian keffiyah. The NY Post has a report.
Wow.
On another video, I recognized the distinctive, lime green caps of the National Lawyers Guild, someone in the line of pro-Palestinian protesters who was videotaping the actions of the police.
Secondly, I detect there is a change taking place among the Jewish community in America. They are starting to fight back. The videos from Los Angeles yesterday suggest this was a case of mutual combat though it is not yet clear who initiated the physical violence. Is that a good thing? First of all, I don't condone violence or law-breaking, but I do condone Jews defending themselves against violence by any and all means within the law. If that means training in martial arts, so be it. If that means legally arming themselves and becoming proficient in the use of firearms, so be it. The same goes for Europe, where Jews are in even greater danger than here in my opinion. The situation, here, however, is deteriorating, and I fear lives will be lost.
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