LOS ANGELES — A Christian Zionist was assaulted and shouted down by pro-Palestinian demonstrators at a rally and protest on Saturday organized by a slew of pro-Palestinian and Muslim groups, which coincided with a similar demonstration in Washington, D.C.
Breitbart News was able to capture video footage of the events, which unfolded in front of the Wilshire Federal Building in West L.A.
Ruben Israel held up a double-sided sign which, on one side, praised Jesus as the savior and dismissed “all others” as “thieves and robbers.” The other side of the same sign referred to Islam’s Prophet Mohammad as a “pervert” and “child molester,” calling attention to his marriage to Aisha, who was nine-years-old when the marriage was consummated.
The crowd gathered around him shouting, “Bigot’s gotta go! Bigot’s gotta go!” After about six minutes of shouting and finger pointing from the crowd, the mob tore the sign out of Israel’s hands.
Video footage can be seen below:
In a second video, an Iranian man wearing a neon green vest and glasses on, who went by the name of Ali Reza (a moniker he gave Breitbart News for fear of revealing his true identity), can be heard calling Israel the Iranian equivalent of an “idiot” (ahmagh) and then proceeding to tell his friend that “he’s [Israel] being paid to do this…from the time he was a child, the Jews have given him money to say these things.”
Shortly thereafter, a man can be heard over a loudspeaker telling the crowd to leave Israel alone. “Back off. Leave the man alone,” he said. A woman holding a “Free Gaza” sign can be heard telling her friend “He’s just a Christian Zionist.” The video can be seen here:
Earlier, a 13-year-old girl who was shouting, “Long live Palestine!” in Mr. Israel’s face before his sign was taken away from him, and who said she was Palestinian, told Breitbart News: “It’s [Palestine] my country; I would want to go back there.” When pressed further, she confirmed that she was born in the United States.