Young Jews lead the way for Palestinian rights

This is what democracy about; not respecting leaders who actively oppress another people:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the Jewish Federations General Assembly on Monday was marked by repeated heckling from members of the audience, who were then unceremoniously escorted from the plush ballroom.

The first heckler, who interrupted Netanyahu barely moments after he began his 30 minute speech, was ejected while shouting “the loyalty oath delegitimizes Israel”.

The prime minister, unperturbed by the interruption, responded by saying, “I was going to talk about delegitimizing Israel but they really have the wrong address.”

Subsequent interruptions of regular intervals protested Israel’s occupation, claiming that it too delegitimizes Israel.

Hannah King, a 17-year-old student and member of the Jewish Voices for Peace, which organized the protests, told Haaretz that the protesters had been escorted out of the hotel, where they were handed over to the police, although she did not believe that they had been arrested.

King said that she had been driven to act as she felt Israel’s behavior went against her Jewish upbringing.

“We believe that the actions that Israel is taking, like settlements, like the occupation, like the loyalty oath, are contrary to the Jewish values that we learnt in Jewish day school,” she said. “This is not Tikkun Olam. Oppressing people in refugee camps is not Tikkun Olam. And it is a hypocrisy that I cannot abide.”

Text and images ©2024 Antony Loewenstein. All rights reserved.

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