Why the Protest at a Synagogue?

The recent violence outside the Los Angeles Adas Torah synagogue was immediately met with cries of antisemitism — from President Joe Biden to Governor Gavin Newsom to L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and everyone in between.

Why would pro-Palestinian activists protest outside of a synagogue? Most media outlets didn’t ask that question, merely reporting on the violence and thus insuring it would appear like protesters were simply targeting a house of worship. So why were the protesters there?

Image of a sign at a Palestine protest in the shape of a watermelon that reads when you bomb a watermelon, you spread its seeds. Photo by Brooke Anderson @movementphotographer

Before we dig in, imagine this scenario: One day, you and your neighbors are told that you have to vacate your homes and will not be allowed to return. Soldiers with weapons are enforcing this and you know that to stay would mean imprisonment or even death for your family. You have children, your aging mother lives with you. So you have no choice. You and your neighbors leave homes that have been in your families for generations.

A few months later, you hear from your cousin living abroad. He tells you that a real estate company is holding a sale of properties that are located in your old neighborhood, including your home! How is this possible?, you ask yourself. How can they sell our home to a group of foreigners when that home has been in our family for decades?

Sounds far-fetched? Well that’s exactly what is happening in the United States. Homes, lands, farms, and whole villages that belonged to Palestinian families are being sold by Israeli real estate companies to prospective U.S. buyers at events across the country. Many of the properties being sold are in the West Bank, illegal according to international law. And the events are only open to Jews, illegal under U.S. Civil Rights law.

Copy of the ad in the Jewish Journal that ran in the June 14–20 edition. Image of beachfront with buildings in the distance, the dates, times. and locations of the two real estate in Israel events including Adas Torah.

So back to the question. Why were the Pro-Palestine protesters there? They were protesting a real estate fair being held at the synagogue, where attendees were invited to meet “representatives of housing projects in all the best Anglo neighborhoods in Israel.” Anglo? On top of the illegality of the event, it’s blatantly racist too!

Hussam Ayloush, Executive Director of the Greater Los Angeles Area Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told The NY Times that the Israeli real estate event “could have been hosted at a Motel 6 or a mosque and they would still be subject to protest.”

One could ask why is a synagogue is hosting such a nefarious event. But another key question is why were so many so quick to label this protest as antisemitism before knowing all the facts or even how the violence got started in the first place.

If we look at recent pro-Palestine protests and student encampments, the vast majority have been peaceful. The main violence we’ve seen has been from highly-militarized police and swat teams and pro-Israel counter protesters.

Of the recent incident, L.A. Mayor Bass said, “The violence we saw yesterday in the heart of a Jewish community was designed to divide and create fear, but hear me loud and clear: it will fail.”

True that, Madam Mayor, the Palestine solidarity movement is unified and fearless as ever. Attempts to “divide and conquer” by waging charges of antisemitism will indeed fail.

---

Want to read more about the Israeli real estate sales? Here you go:
Hundreds of Palestine supporters protest Israeli real estate event at New Jersey synagogue (The Guardian)
Israeli Firms Are Working Overtime to Sell Stolen Palestinian Land to US Jews (truthout)
Israeli real estate event draws backlash over sale of West Bank settlement properties (Middle East Eye)