A group of pro-Palestinian protesters rallied outside the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in the Koreatown area Wednesday, with some people making their way into the synagogue and shouting at people inside.
The protest involving several dozen people began late Wednesday morning outside the temple at 3663 Wilshire Blvd. Video posted on social media showed protesters chanting and shouting outside the building.
Several protesters eventually made their way inside the synagogue, shouting at people in the building, according to the video. There was a report that a protester shattered a glass vase inside the synagogue.
The Los Angeles Police Department said no arrests were made.
Mayor Karen Bass issued a statement on social media saying protesters “interrupted a private at event at the historic Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Koreatown, calling attendees anti-Semitic names and damaging property inside the temple.”
“This behavior is abhorrent and has no place in Los Angeles,” Bass wrote. “I spoke with Rabbi (Joel) Nickerson to ensure he and his congregation know that the city of Los Angeles stands with them and fully condemns these attacks. I am grateful to the LAPD officers who addressed this disturbance. Additional LAPD officers have been deployed to patrol near areas of worship.”
Thank you for reporting this awful event. However, “Pro-Palestinian protesters” is a misleadingly benign label. “Pro-Palestinian” applies to many Jews, in the sense that we aspire to a time when both Palestinians and Israelis can live in peace and justice. These were instead without doubt anti-Israelis, who do not desire that Israelis live in peace. And protesters implies people engaged in lawful speech, which certainly doesn’t include breaking into or vandalizing any building, let alone a house of worship. Please be careful in your characterizations as well as your reporting of facts.