Pro-Palestinian protest outside LA synagogue criticized as ‘antisemitic’ after street fights with pro-Israel protesters

A pro-Palestinian protest held outside a Los Angeles synagogue devolved into chaotic street violence with pro-Israel counter-protesters on Sunday in an incident that several officials, including President Joe Biden, criticized as antisemitic.

A pro-Palestinian protest held outside a Los Angeles synagogue devolved into chaotic street violence with pro-Israel counter-protesters on Sunday in an incident that several officials, including President Joe Biden, criticized as antisemitic. The Los Angeles Police Department said it responded to two protests Sunday in the predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Pico Robertson, just south of Beverly Hills. Videos taken at the scene show police pushing pro-Palestinian protesters away from the entrance of the Adas Torah temple, an Orthodox synagogue. Chants of “Free, free Palestine - from the river to the sea,” and “long live intifada,” could be heard from among the pro-Palestinian protesters. Participants blocked traffic, and video from the scene shows multiple altercations broke out in the middle of the street and on sidewalks. Officers arrested a person with a “spiked flag,” the police department told CNN. The person was issued a citation for possessing a prohibited item during a protest and released from custody. Protests around the Israel-Gaza war have become common across the United States since October, but Democratic officials sharply criticized Sunday’s event for its violence and for taking place at a Jewish institution. “I’m appalled by the scenes outside of Adas Torah synagogue in Los Angeles. Intimidating Jewish congregants is dangerous, unconscionable, antisemitic, and un-American,” Biden said on X. “Americans have a right to peaceful protest. But blocking access to a house of worship – and engaging in violence – is never acceptable.”