A protest scheduled to take place on Aug. 3 opposite the Jewish Federation of Tulsa’s Zarrow campus is not a coincidence, but “inflammatory” and an “act of intimidation,” the Federation stated.
The campus is home to the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art and the Charles Schusterman Jewish Community Center, both of which are part of the Federation, and the Mizel Jewish Community Day School and Zarrow Pointe Retirement Center, which are independent.
“Our campus is the heart of Jewish life in Tulsa,” Federation stated. “It is home to early childhood education, a Jewish day school, a vibrant community center, a fitness facility used by members of all ages and housing for our cherished seniors.”
“Of the thousands of blocks in Tulsa, the choice to target this one—the very block where our community lives, learns, prays and gathers—is deliberate and inflammatory,” Federation said.
Jo Anna Dossett, an Oklahoma state senator, stated that “the choice to stage the protest across the street from the largest Jewish Community Center in Oklahoma is an insult.”
“The Charles Schusterman JCC has been here since 1981, as long as I’ve been alive,” she said, “and has always been a peaceful and welcoming place for Tulsans of all backgrounds to assemble and work together to make Tulsa a better place for everyone.”
The group organizing the protest described the gathering’s location as “in front of the Marriott” on a Facebook page. The hotel is located directly opposite the Jewish campus.
It stated that “genocide” has “happened in Oklahoma. It is happening now in Gaza.”
It added that protesters should “bring a candle, bring a sign, bring a pot to bang on in protest of the forced starvation of Gaza’s civilians.”
