When hundreds of pro-Hamas demonstrators wearing surgical masks and checkered keffiyahs marched on a synagogue in Los Angeles in June, protesters attacked not only Jews who had mobilized to protect those under attack, but also journalists.
This incident was quickly condemned by President Biden, Gov. Gavin Newsom and local Mayor Karen Bass, but there was only one reported arrest among protesters who blocked entrances and beat several worshipers.
Days later, the pro-Hamas group Within Our Lifetime, which consistently glorifies the Oct. 7 slaughter Hamas carried out in Israel and especially its attack on a music festival, blocked New York’s Union Square carrying signs saying “Zionists … are not human” and “Long live Oct. 7.” They also swarmed a subway car demanding Zionists identify themselves. None did, and no arrests followed. And they blocked portions of the San Diego Freeway in Los Angeles, also without serious punishment.
Similarly, there was no pushback from authorities when pro-Hamas protesters blocked Interstate 880 near San Jose and the Golden Gate Bridge, much as they earlier had blocked Interstate 110 in downtown Los Angeles.
Later, masked demonstrators shouting “Intifada, Intifada” blocked entrances to multiple synagogues around California.
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