A coalition of anti-Israel activist groups plans to hold a rally and press conference on the steps of City Hall on March 26 to oppose proposed New York City legislation that would restrict protests near houses of worship.
The event comes as the City Council prepares to vote on Intro 1-B and Intro 175-B, measures that would establish “buffer zones” around houses of worship and educational facilities.
The rally is scheduled to take place during the vote, according to organizers—including the New York Civil Liberties Union, PAL-Awda NY and Jewish Voice for Peace NYC.
The groups claim the measures are “anti-speech” and would “prevent protests against the sale of stolen Palestinian land outside places of worship, or for divestment from from war profiteers outside educational facilities.”
“Note the lack of substance,” Mark Goldfeder, CEO and director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, told JNS, of the claims.
He added that the groups host such rallies, “because they are paid to do so.”
“It’s really not about any of these issues,” Goldfeder told JNS. “These are wedge issues to destabilize.”
