President Biden and prominent Democrats condemned protests against the sale of Israeli property at a Los Angeles synagogue on Sunday, calling the protests anti-Semitic.
Groups protesting the Israel-Hamas war and US policy toward Israel gathered in front of Adas Torah, a synagogue where organizers held an event advertising properties for sale in “housing projects in all of Israel’s best Anglo neighborhoods.”
“Intimidating Jewish congregants is dangerous, unconscionable, anti-Semitic and un-American,” Biden said in a statement. posted Monday on social media. “Americans have the right to peaceful protest. But blocking access to a place of worship – and engaging in violence – is never acceptable.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) and California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) also denounced the protests.
The protest group CodePink criticized Biden’s characterization as a “lie” in a statement on Monday.
“It is outrageous that President Biden and some media outlets have misrepresented this protest as an anti-Semitic attack on worshipers,” the group said in a statement, making clear that the protest was against the sale of real estate and was not related to the synagogue itself. . .
“This rhetoric is reminiscent of McCarthy-era smears used to discredit and sometimes deport peace and civil rights activists,” he continued. “Their narrative is not only false, but also dangerous – the protest aimed to address the unethical sale of Palestinian land, not target any religious group.”
It was unclear whether the properties in the case included properties on disputed land in the West Bank, which would be illegal under international law.
The protest group also said Biden’s rhetoric fans the flames of Islamophobia, pointing to an attempted drawing of a 3-year-old Palestinian-American girl in Texas last month. The group criticized Biden for not yet making a public statement about the crime after the woman was accused of murder on Sunday.
A few hours after CodePink’s statement, Biden denounced the attack in Texas.
The conflict over the protest comes as discontent continues to rise over Biden’s response to the Israel-Hamas war. The conflict has divided Democrats as the Israeli government appears reluctant to embrace a Biden-led ceasefire agreement.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
