Two arrested after pro-Palestinian protest disrupts event on LA synagogue campus

JTA – The mayor of Los Angeles has denounced as “abhorrent” and antisemitic a protest that disrupted an event held on Wednesday, 3 December, on the campus of the historic Wilshire Boulevard Temple, one of the largest synagogues in the city. 

Two people were arrested during the incident, which took place after pro-Palestinian activists who were protesting outside the synagogue entered an event featuring Jewish security professionals and disrupted it. 

Video from the scene showed a handful of activists shouting inside the event, which was organised by the Consulate General of Israel to teach Koreans in the neighbourhood, known as Koreatown, about security strategies, with a focus on innovation in artificial intelligence (AI). 

The group Koreatown 4 Palestine, an organiser of the protest, posted videos showing that they had displayed a banner reading “Elbit Out of LA”, a reference to the Israeli technology company Elbit Systems that is a prime target for Israel’s critics because of its role in developing tools used by the Israeli military. Goni Saar, an AI researcher for Elbit Systems, was speaking at the event. 

Eliana Jolkovsky, a pro-Israel activist who posts under the handle @ThatKoreanJew, said she heard protesters outside shout anti-Israel epithets. She posted a video of herself asking a protester why they chose to demonstrate outside a synagogue. The women responded, “We’re protesting in front of a site that’s hosting genocide supporters and trying to bring that to KTown.” 

The incident adds to a string in which pro-Palestinian activists have targeted events at synagogues that are hosted by Israeli entities or promote Israel. Last month, protesters in New York City shouted “Death to the IDF” and other slogans outside a synagogue that was hosting an event promoting Jewish migration to Israel. The incident has prompted legislators in New York to immediately propose banning demonstrations outside houses of worship. 

In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass tweeted that she was deploying more security to houses of worship. She also said she had spoken to Rabbi Joel Nickerson, Wilshire Boulevard Temple’s senior rabbi. 

“This behaviour is abhorrent, and has no place in Los Angeles,” Bass said. “I spoke to Rabbi Nickerson to ensure that he and his congregation know that the City of Los Angeles stands with them and fully condemns these attacks.” 

The Reform congregation’s Koreatown campus is home to an early childhood centre, an elementary school, a community space, as well as a large domed synagogue building. 

“We appreciate the strong support we have received from elected leaders and law enforcement and look forward to working with them to ensure that those responsible for this hateful and illegal conduct are held accountable,” Nickerson said in a statement of his own. “No-one should be targeted in the City of Los Angeles on account of their faith.” 

The Jewish Federation of Los Angeles said representatives of its Community Security Initiative, a safety wing, had been participating in the panel, which it said was “intended to promote bridge building, learning, and dialogue between the Israeli, Jewish, and AAPI communities”. 

“CSI is working with our local law-enforcement partners to make sure those who caused the incident will be held accountable and our houses of worship continue to remain safe and protected,” the federation said. “We are outraged and condemn this antisemitic behaviour in the strongest of terms. There’s no place in our community – or anywhere – for antisemitism and hate disguised as dissent.”