Pro-Palestinian Protesters Target Synagogues, Vandalize Church in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, California — Pro-Palestinian protesters vandalized buildings near synagogues, as well as a nearby church, with anti-Israel graffiti on Friday night after demonstrating against President Joe Biden at a nearby fundraiser on Friday night.

As Breitbart News reported, the protesters gathered outside a fundraiser near Beverly Hills, waving signs that included “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” — a call for Israel to be destroyed.

Some demonstrators also conducted Islamic prayers.

From there, some of the protesters went to Westwood, near the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), and marched down Wilshire Boulevard toward an area where there are several synagogues, notably Sinai Temple. Some of them attacked police. The Los Angeles Times reported:

Police declared an “unlawful assembly” at about 5:45 p.m, but [Holmby Park] wasn’t abandoned for another hour, when protesters spilled onto adjacent streets — marching near entrances to the Los Angeles Country Club on Comstock Avenue near Wilshire Boulevard.

While some officers said they were hit with eggs and water by demonstrators, there were no reported injuries or arrests as of 7:45 p.m. Some walls along Wilshire were tagged with graffiti, and protesters blocked and delayed traffic at various points along the thoroughfare.

The Times did not report that the “walls” that were vandalized were opposite synagogues.

Walls opposite Sinai Temple and Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel were vandalized with anti-Israel slogans. A public bus shelter opposite Sinai Temple was also vandalized with the slogan “Free Gaza”; it had not been cleaned up as of Saturday afternoon.

In addition, nearby Westwood United Methodist Church was vandalized.

A local attorney, Sam Yebri, led a volunteer cleanup crew on Saturday morning. He also noted other antisemitic graffiti.

Some local residents had taped American and Israeli flags to one of the formerly defaced walls, in a statement of defiance.

Two congregants at Sinai Temple, Shantal M. and Joseph C., spoke to Breitbart News.

“I felt this wasn’t a political movement based on knowledge or supporting Palestinians, but just based on hate,” said Shantal, who told Breitbart News that she is Israeli and has family in Israel.

“These people are not only not condemning Hamas, they’re supporting them.”

Joseph added that the demonstration had blocked relatives who had been en route to his home for the Sabbath dinner and the second night of Hanukkah.

He said he had sympathy for the Palestinians, but that the protest had gone too far.

“They are crying for their brothers and sisters, as they should — but there’s a line.”

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass had not reacted to the antisemitic protest and vandalism as of 3:00 Saturday afternoon.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.