IfNotNow LA Stands with Protesters, Rejects Use of Synagogues as Shields

A Palestinian-led protest at yesterday’s event was met with violence at the hands of a militant mob defending Israeli apartheid.

Yesterday, an event advertised as “Real Estate in Israel” was held at the Adas Torah synagogue in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Pico-Robertson. The promotional flier for this event invited attendees to “come and meet representatives of housing projects in all the best Anglo neighborhoods in Israel.” 

This event was part of a string of real estate events which have previously been held in Toronto, Montreal, New Jersey, and New York, and which have been hosted in Jewish spaces – usually synagogues – and open only to Jews. The real estate on sale includes homes in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law. Put simply: the land is not Israel’s to sell. Moreover, marketing these neighborhoods as “Anglo” is a shameful but obvious attempt to create white, segregated neighborhoods in an ethno-nationalist apartheid state.

A Palestinian-led protest at yesterday’s event was met with violence at the hands of a militant mob defending Israeli apartheid. Protesters came from a diverse array of backgrounds, including Jewish and Israeli community members, and were indiscriminately hit with eggs, assaulted, and pepper sprayed by the mob. A number of the attackers have been identified as the same people who attacked protesting students at the UCLA solidarity encampment in May. There was an immediate police presence at yesterday’s event but, just as at UCLA, the LAPD refused to intervene when protesters were being attacked. IfNotNow LA condemns these violent attacks and stands in solidarity with those protesting the sale of occupied land.

It is also clear that the organizers of these events intentionally choose Jewish sacred spaces as locations to provide a shield from accountability, and to weaponize accusations of antisemitism against any protests. Numerous leaders, including Mayor Karen Bass, Governor Gavin Newsom, and even President Joe Biden have condemned protesters “blocking access to a place of worship” despite the fact that this event was not using the synagogue as a place of worship. None of these leaders have condemned the sale of stolen land, nor the violence that was initiated by the pro-Israel mob. 

IfNotNow LA rejects the framing of these attacks as self-defense by Jews against antisemitic protesters. We are horrified by the use of Jewish identity and sacred religious space as shields to promote the sale of real estate on occupied Palestinian land. We stand firmly in our Jewish identity and condemn violence carried out in the name of Jewish safety, whether in Gaza or at home, especially when real, present threats to Jewish safety like white supremacists and Christian Nationalists go unchecked.

Mayor Karen Bass and the LAPD, with support from the Jewish Federation, are already using this incident to increase police presence at synagogues - a presence that has historically translated into the policing of people of color, including Jews of Color. We cannot claim to be acting in the interest of Jewish safety while ignoring the marginalization that Jews of Color face within our community, and ignoring the ways that militarized police presence exacerbates this marginalization. A commitment to Jewish safety must include safety for all Jews, and must further recognize that Jewish safety and Palestinian safety are intertwined. We will continue to pursue collective liberation and a thriving future for all.