A federal judge stated earlier this month that the Star of David “symbolizes the Jewish race” and that attacking such a symbol, even on an Israeli flag, is “racial discrimination.”
Trevor McFadden, a district court judge for the District of Columbia, ruled in favor of pro-Israel activist Kimmara Sumrall, who is Jewish, after she filed a civil lawsuit against Janine Ali for allegedly assaulting her during a pro-Israel demonstration in Washington in November 2024.
Sumrall stated that while she was wearing an Israeli flag tied around her neck as a cape at the 2024 rally, Ali, an anti-Israel activist present at a counter-protest organized by Code Pink, approached Sumrall from behind and yanked on the flag, briefly choking her, according to the lawsuit.
A police officer witnessed the incident and arrested Ali at the scene.
Ali’s lawyers argued that there was no malicious contact between the two other than a brief bump and that the restraining order sought through the civil suit would prevent Ali from attending protests, thus violating her First Amendment rights since both Sumrall and Ali regularly attend the same events on opposing sides.
In his ruling, McFadden found that Ali “purposefully discriminated against” Sumrall based on her race.
“Purposefully yanking on an Israeli flag tied around a Jewish person’s neck to choke them is direct evidence of racial discrimination,” the federal judge stated. “The Star of David—emblazoned upon the Israeli flag—symbolizes the Jewish race.”
McFadden also dismissed the defendant’s argument that the Israeli flag represents the State of Israel, so her alleged action is “merely anti-Israel, not antisemitic.”
“Battery is not a legitimate form of protest,” McFadden stated in his ruling. Further, “Ali did not have reason to think Sumrall was herself affiliated with the Israeli government. Rather, it is much more likely that she was intentionally attacking a Jewish person wearing a Jewish flag as a symbol of her racial heritage.”
Matthew Mainen, Sumrall’s lawyer and a litigation counsel with the National Jewish Advocacy Center, told The Times of Israel that McFadden’s ruling marked “the strongest language a federal court has come out with yet that anti-Zionism is obviously antisemitism.”
