Organizers didn’t publicize the location of an Agudath Israel of America event on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, but anti-Israel protesters still managed to crash the Tuesday event.
“Pro-Hamas protestors stormed Agudah’s event at the DNC,” the Orthodox Jewish group stated. “That these agitators disrupted an event intended to bring awareness to the growing antisemitism against Orthodox Jews in America shows the importance of the event.”
In video footage that Agudah posted on social media, masked protesters yell at those attending the event. Among the things they said was “brick by brick, wall by wall, Zionism has got to fall.”
“Anti-Zionist protesters disrupted an Agudah DNC event about antisemitism in the United States. The event was certainly not about Zionism,” the Anti-Defamation League said. “This Orthodox Jewish group was simply targeted for being visibly Jewish, and these protesters are simply being antisemitic.”
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national chairman of the ADL, added that “collectively holding all Jews responsible for something that you don’t like in the Middle East is antisemitic.”
“Through their actions and their words, these anti-Zionist protestors just confirmed that anti-Jewish hate in America is a growing, inescapable problem—which was exactly the point of the Agudah event,” he added.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) reportedly spoke at the event, and Ilan Goldenberg, the Harris campaign’s new Jewish outreach director, was present.
