Topline
A pro-Palestinian protest held in Los Angeles on Sunday was met with resistance from pro-Israeli counter-protesters, leading to physical clashes between the two groups outside of a local synagogue that received a rebuke from President Joe Biden, who tweeted Monday morning that the intimidation of Jewish congregants “is dangerous, unconscionable, antisemitic, and un-American.”
Key Facts
The protest began outside Adas Torah synagogue in Los Angeles’ Pico-Robertson neighborhood around noon, with pro-Palestinian protestors demonstrating against a real estate event hosted at the synagogue that they said marketed the sale of homes within Gaza, according to an Instagram post from the Palestinian Youth Movement.
The real estate event sought to provide attendees information on “housing projects in all the best Anglo neighborhoods in Israel,” according to an advertisement in the June 21 issue of the Jewish Journal, a weekly newspaper based in Los Angeles; the ad received backlash on social media.
Adas Torah told Forbes the protesters attempted to prevent people from entering the synagogue, alleging the demonstrators used mace and bear spray against Jewish people.
The Los Angeles Police Department deployed 60 officers and cleared protestors away from the synagogue, according to the Los Angeles Times, which cited unnamed sources.
The protest was also met by pro-Israeli demonstrators and eventually turned violent, with social media videos showing multiple, scattered altercations breaking out that appeared to include the use of mace and eggs, though it is unclear what incited the fighting.
Two reports of battery and one arrest for wielding a spiked post were made Sunday, according to the LAPD, which noted the detained individual was cited and released and that the battery reports are being investigated.
Biden, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom condemned the clashes, which provoked Bass to increase patrols in the Pico-Robertson area and houses of worship throughout Los Angeles.
The LAPD did not have further updates about the incident as of 4:34 p.m. eastern time.
The Palestinian Youth Movement and its Los Angeles chapter did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment.
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Crucial Quote
“I want to be clear that Los Angeles will not be a harbor for antisemitism and violence,” Bass tweeted. “Those responsible for either will be found and held accountable.”
Key Background
The Palestinian Youth Movement has organized protests in Manhattan, the White House and a parliament building in Ottawa so far this month, as Pro-Palestinian protests have spilled over from college campuses to city streets and government buildings following the end of the academic year for several universities throughout the U.S. The University of Columbia, UCLA and Yale were just a fraction of the universities where pro-Palestinian protests, sit-ins, rallies and encampments were met with police resistance last month. More than 1,000 protesters at college campuses throughout the U.S. were arrested in May. Pro-Palestinian protesters demanded their schools divest from businesses working with Israel and Israeli colleges. Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza is expected to last through the year as Israeli forces continue to make advancements into the territory.
Tangent
More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently claimed the U.S. was withholding weapons from Israel, to which White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said she did not know what the prime minister was talking about. Netanyahuh’s remark was one of the latest instances of friction between him and the Biden administration following scrutiny from the president, who paused weapons shipments to Israel over concerns Israel would launch an attack against a civilian refuge in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza. Biden has also critiqued Netanyahu’s intentions, saying this month that the prime minister “has been prolonging the war for his own political self-preservation” before walking back the comment.
Further Reading
Netanyahu Blasts Biden Admin For ‘Withholding’ Weapons From Israel In Harshest Criticism Yet: ‘Inconceivable’ (Forbes)
Israel-Hamas War Will Last Another Seven Months—As Rafah Fighting Intensifies, Israeli Official Says (Forbes)
