Joe Biden has issued a statement after a violent pro-Palestinian protest was held outside a Los Angeles synagogue on Sunday, June 23. Violence reportedly broke out between the pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel counter-protesters. Many have called the incident antisemitic.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, cops responded to two protests on the same day in the predominantly Jewish neighbourhood of Pico Robertson. This is located just south of Beverly Hills. Videos that surfaced show pro-Palestinian protesters being pushed by cops away from the entrance of the Adas Torah temple, which is an Orthodox synagogue.
X user Collin Rugg shared a video, alleging in the caption that masked protesters prevented Jews from entering the synagogue.
The protesters were heard shouting “Free, free Palestine – from the river to the sea” and “long live intifada.” Demonstrators blocked traffic, and several altercations reportedly broke out on the street and sidewalks.
Joe Biden issues statement
Following the incident, Biden shared a statement condemning the violence. “I’m appalled by the scenes outside of Adas Torah synagogue in Los Angeles. Intimidating Jewish congregants is dangerous, unconscionable, antisemitic, and un-American,” he wrote in a post on X.
“Americans have a right to peaceful protest. But blocking access to a house of worship – and engaging in violence – is never acceptable,” he added.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote on X, “The violent clashes outside the Adas Torah synagogue in Los Angeles are appalling. There is no excuse for targeting a house of worship. Such antisemitic hatred has no place in California.”
Rabbi Hertzel Illulian of the nearby JEM Community Center in Beverly Hills said that violence “doesn’t belong here,” according to KCAL. “I don’t think the Jewish people would go in front of a mosque or the Christian people would go in front of a mosque to do such a thing,” he said. “Nobody would accept this, but here, when it comes to Jews and Israel, everything is kosher, everything is okay.”