(Daily360.com) Video coming from Berkeley, California shows pro-Palestinian activists disrupting a council meeting and insulting Jewish participants. The Berkley city council was meeting to discuss matters relating to California’s Holocaust Remembrance Day. The protestors began interrupting speakers and hurling slurs at the participants.
Among the speakers was a Holocaust survivor and parents of children who say they’ve been harassed at school for being Jewish. Many of the protestors were wearing Keffiyeh scarves to display their allegiance with Palestine. One scarf-wearing man began accusing the board members of taking money from the Jewish residents, called them cowards, and told them to “go the chase money.” Another protestor accused the Jewish people of being “spies for Israel” and smeared them as traitors to the United States.
The most common allegation hurled at all involved was bribery. They believe the Jewish citizens are bribing officials for better treatment and privileges. One protestor, a woman also wearing a Keffiyeh scarf and a mask, made the accusation that the Berkeley council was a “Zionist stronghold” but the city residents strongly support Palestine. The protestors also chanted in unison to “free Palestine” and repeated the common “river to the sea” rally cry often spoken by Palestinian supporters who want Israel to no longer exist as a nation.
The Berkeley City council’s agenda for the three hour meeting was supposed to be centered on a potential Proclamation in Honor of City of Berkeley Holocaust Remembrance Day and corresponding budget issues around a remembrance virtual exhibit. Council members tried to control the protestors to no avail and the insults continued to be shouted.
Berkeley mayor Jesse Arreguin condemned the insults and said “hate speech will not be tolerated.” The protestors had referred to the mayor as “genocide Jesse” with signs and chants during the meeting. The Holocaust survivor in attendance, 89-year-old Susanne Dewitt, spoke about her experience and warned of the trend in antisemitism rising throughout the world today. The protestors heckled her as she spoke.
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