US anti-Israel protest escalate with calls to 'attack Tel Aviv' ["Palestinian" RamadaNazis call: "go back to auchwitz"]

US anti-Israel protest escalate with calls to 'attack Tel Aviv'. Pro-Palestinian protesters in Manhattan chant antisemitic slurs and praise Hamas commanders outside a ZAKA volunteering event held in Teaneck

.. In footage from a protest held at Union Square in Manhattan, New York last Saturday, one of the organization’s activists, Abdallah Aqel, is seen passionately addressing the crowd and inciting provocative chants. Aqel and the surrounding protesters voiced praise for Hamas military wing spokesperson Abu Obaida, and called to "attack Tel Aviv." ...Rabbi Daniel Friedman, from the Jewish Center of Teaneck in New Jersey, recounted, "They come to the city every week, hold protests, and parade with Palestinian flags to pressure the Jewish community. Massive protests have been held against synagogues these past three weeks. Hate marches. They shouted at us that we need to go back to Auschwitz."

This is from March 21:

https://jewishlink.news/teaneck-hate-march-crosses-all-red-lines/

Much of the hate displayed toward Jews—both those attending the event and those caught in the “crossfire” wearing recognizably Jewish garb such as kippot—was antisemitic and biased in nature, most notably the Nazi salute and “Go back to Germany,” “Go back to Europe,” “Jewish dogs,” and Go back to Auschwitz.” These phrases were interpreted as having nothing to do with any perceived real estate event and everything to do with antisemitic harassment.

The debate at the council meeting also centered around the false accusations that the real estate event was a nefarious “Jews only” sale or auction of some kind, and revealed that Council Member Denise Belcher had prior knowledge of and planned in advance to make a public statement about launching an investigation into the event, thus lending legitimacy to an initial false statement that the event violated a number of laws.

“Last Sunday should be seen by all as a red line. All the alarms should be ringing after the abhorrent and hateful protest at a synagogue, which had all characteristics of a pre-Holocaust harbinger of hate, danger and violence,” said Rachel Cyrulnik, a Teaneck resident who is on the executive committee of the Bergen County Jewish Action Committee (BCJAC).

Members of the Jewish community who spoke explained that this protest was the latest in a series of increasing public nuisances, with anti-Israel and anti-Jewish agitators becoming more and more emboldened against the local Jewish community and those who support them, including the police and town leadership. Car rallies over the last two months on Sundays have formed outside of Teaneck, primarily in Paterson, bound for Teaneck’s AUCC (Al Ummah Community Center) as a staging point, and driven past the kosher enclaves and synagogues in the township, which has resulted squarely in the harassment of Jews going about their business rather than serving as a meaningful protest to the war in the Middle East.

Mayor Michael Pagan, in his statements at the conclusion of Good and Welfare, said that he also has been targeted by protesters, with death threats to himself, his family, and particularly to his 8-year-old son. “The dialogue has shifted to a polarizing alarming state, and sadly right now it is hard to envision a day when we can all come together again like it used to be. Because Teaneck will never be the same. We will never be the same.

“And I am appalled by the reactions and comments I have gotten from community members and those outside of our Teaneck boundaries…While I understand the passion of those who are protesting, I cannot condone violence or threats of violence in any shape or form, and when you threaten my 8-year-old son and my family, it is nearly impossible for me to hear your message. And I denounce and condemn the use of symbols of hate such as the Nazi salute,” he said.

Congregation Bnai Yeshurun’s Rabbi Elliot Schrier explained that the grotesque tenor and disgusting nature of the protesters’ speech crosses the line of civilized discourse, recalling that people who attended the real estate event were told, “We are still raping your hostages,” and “Are you afraid yet?”

“This is about Jew-hatred, plain and simple. And the ability for Jews to live in this town free from fear and prejudice just like anyone else.

“We are not afraid, we are not intimidated, but we are tired. Tired of being regularly vilified, slandered and demonized, often from this spot in this room, with textbook stereotyping, blanket statements about ‘the Jews’ or ‘the Jewish community,’ or ‘the Zionists’ when we’re in the mood for a dog whistle. We too are part of this town. We are Teaneck. We are tired of being treated like a nefarious other. We are tired of people deciding for us and dictating to us which speech about Jews is acceptable or unacceptable, as if the metric for unacceptability is when others are sufficiently uncomfortable, even after every bright red line of antisemitic speech has been firmly crossed and left far behind us here in Teaneck,” said Rabbi Schrier.

“We are tired of others flippantly dismissing our hurt and our pain. We’re tired of the whitewashing. We’re tired of the sanitizing. ‘Go back to Auschwitz’ has nothing to do with Palestinian children. ‘Jewish dogs’ and “Are you afraid yet?’ has nothing to do with civilians in Gaza.”

“It should not be difficult for anyone, irrespective of one’s views on the Middle East, to call out and denounce the hatred that is now regularly being directed toward many of the Jews in this town,” Rabbi Schrier added.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.