A protest in Washington, D.C. featuring activists dressed as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other officials dining on food and drink meant to resemble organs, skin and blood drew horrified reactions from the Jewish community.
The demonstration took place on Nov. 20, both inside and outside Union Station, which serves as the capital’s central train station.
The activists deemed it as “Israel’s Friendsgiving Dinner,” with signage behind a long dining table displaying a menu consisting of “starter: Gaza children’s limbs,” “main: stolen organs,” “drink: Gaza’s spilled blood” and “dessert: illegally harvested skin.”
“Blood libel was on full display today,” the American Jewish Committee wrote. “Dressed up as ‘activism’ and ‘performance art,’ this was nothing less than the revival of one of the oldest and most dangerous antisemitic tropes in history.”
The blood libel, used historically to initiate pogroms against Jews, holds that Jews murder non-Jewish children to make use of their blood in rituals. The libel has taken varied forms.
“The display revived the violent medieval imagery that justified the murder of Jews for centuries and repackaged it as ‘anti-Zionism’ to disguise what it was from the start: antisemitism, plain and simple,” the Combat Antisemitism Movement stated.
All five “guests,” including costumed likenesses of former President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, were doused in fake blood and wiped their faces with Israeli flag-adorned napkins.
The table was stocked with doll limbs, a product designed to resemble organ meat and glasses of red liquid.
“Horrifying,” wrote Leo Terrell, chair of the Trump administration’s task force to combat antisemitism. “There are not enough words in the dictionary that are strong enough to condemn this type of hate.”
Pro-Palestinian activists Hazami Barmada and Atefeh Rokhvand were credited online for the idea behind the protest.
