IPT
Exclusive Video: Anti-Semitism on Display in Brooklyn
by Steven Emerson
IPT News
June 4, 2019
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BROOKLYN, N.Y. – As Israel celebrated its 71st anniversary as
an independent state last month, a group called Within Our Lifetime-United
for Palestine, an offshoot
of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), organized a rally in Brooklyn
to that spouted virulent anti-Semitic tropes by a city official, offered
repeated calls for Israel's elimination and a calls for
"resistance" – tantamount to terrorism – against the State of
Israel.
Protesters gathered near 72nd St. and 5th Ave. in
Bay Ridge, Brooklyn for "Nakba
71: The Great Return March Continues." Nakba means
"catastrophe," which is how Palestinian advocates tar Israel's
creation.
In this exclusive video report, the Investigative Project on Terrorism
shows how the language used by anti-Semites has become normalized and as
speakers traded in explicit anti-Semitic tirades and perpetuated lies about
Israel and Jews, all in an effort to recast how events played out 71 years
ago and demand a different outcome.
"New York City, you will see, Palestine will be free," they
chanted. "New York City, you will learn, refugees will return."
Gilding the lily at this affair were demonstrably anti-Semitic and
anti-Christian comments made by Brooklyn Assemblyman Ralph Perfetto, who
attacked Christians who support Israel: "And as far as the
evangelicals, who are sending more money over than AIPAC. Forget about it!
You're waiting for rapture and for Jesus Christ to come back, well this
Christian doesn't want him to come back. So, stop sending your money
there." The crowd cheered to hear a Christian – and a Brooklyn
assemblyman, no less – make such a sacrilegious comment about his own
faith.
Perfetto then topped himself by admitting that anti-Semitism in America
is driven by opposition to a Jewish state in Israel, a link that
anti-Zionists often deny: "It's my opinion, but I believe the rise in
anti-Semitism in this country is because of what is happening there, not
because of the Jewish people in this country, but because of what is
happening over there. And, unfortunately, the Jewish people in this country
are suffering for it."
To be clear, Perfetto admits that people upset with Israel, a foreign
country, are acting out their frustrations on American Jews. He doesn't
urge anti-Semites to stop this behavior. He seems to find this quite
reasonable.
Israel's independence took place legally through a United Nations vote
and was solidified with a victorious war it didn't start. Those who deny
that history and perpetuate the notion that Jews do not have a right to
their homeland—i.e. anti-Zionism, a particular endemic issue on the Left –
is clear anti-Semitism.
Protesters called for a "Great Return" of Palestinian refugees
to Israel – of which, originally about 700,000 either deserted or were
expelled from their homes in 1948. What the lamenters either do not know or
chose to forget is that Palestinians produced that unfortunate outcome,
with the encouragement of Arab League countries. They created a united
front which refused to accept two separate United Nations resolutions and
instead launched a war to drive the Jews from the land. They just didn't plan
on losing.
Israel was granted independence by a United Nations vote on Nov. 29,
1947. Resolution 181, Partition Plan for Palestine, passed in the wake of
the horrors of the Holocaust and the genocide of millions of Jews whose
survivors were in need of a homeland and safe haven.
Jews were assigned areas of land in Palestine that included Tel Aviv and
the Negev, among other places. Arabs living in Palestine at that time were
given their own state, as well, which included Jaffa and the regions now
known as the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. While Jews danced in the streets
at the triumphant U.N. vote in favor of a homeland, Arabs rejected the
notion of living side by side with a Jewish state and launched a holy war.
The war expanded to include fighters from Arab League countries Egypt,
Syria, Jordan and Iraq once Israel declared its independence on May 14,
1948.
The United Nations attempted to assuage Arabs' deadly tantrums in
December 1948 with Resolution 194, which said that "refugees wishing
to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be
permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation
should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for
loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law
or equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities
responsible."
The resolution was adopted by 35 member countries of the U.N., but by
none of the Arab League countries – Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia,
Syria and Yemen – all of which were parties to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The conflict continued until Arabs' official defeat in March 1949.
The Brooklyn protesters chose to forget or not learn the rest of the
story, and showed that rejectionism remains alive and well among many
Palestinians and their supporters. "We don't want no two states,"
they repeatedly chanted. "We want '48!"
Denying Jews their right to their ancestral homeland meets the definition of anti-Semitism. Rally speakers didn't rein
in their anti-Semitism there, however. Rafael Miranda, of the International
League of Peoples' Struggle, justified all violence and terrorism executed
by Palestinians: "I want to say that our fight for freedom is not
terrorism. No matter how we fight it is never terrorism. It is not terrorism
to fight by whatever means necessary. And so I want to stand today to say
that resistance is justified when people are occupied."
The anti-Semitic rally masquerading as a victims' support group let down
its façade with the previously mentioned chant – "we don't want no two
states, we want '48" – as well as this chilling call in Arabic for
terrorism against Jews: "The door of the Aqsa mosque is made of iron
and nobody can open this door but our martyrs."
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