ADL Regional Director Reacts To Violent Pro-Palestinian Protest Outside Los Angeles Synagogue

[Music] hello everyone my name is CAD Oriel with Forbes breaking news and today I'm here with Jeffrey Abrams the regional director of ADL Los Angeles Jeffrey thanks so much for joining me today thank you I appreciate the time of course so on Sunday there was a violent clash between Pro Palestinian protesters pro-israel counter-protesters outside a Los Angeles synagogue what was the cause of this clash and what exactly happened well to be clear what happened this past Sunday was coordinated hate what we saw is a group of pro Palestinian supporters com into a largely Jewish neighborhood a neighborhood by the way that in February 2023 saw in consecutive mornings Orthodox Jewish men shot on their way out of synagogue simply because they were Jewish and this mob came to this neighborhood to a synagogue a synagogue a house of worship and basically to took control and prevented people coming in and out of this synagogue and then ultimately ultimately and predictably there was a violent Clash that is what occurred in this country in the city of Los Angeles yesterday afternoon and like you said this isn't the first incident but for this one in particular what have you been hearing in response how the Jew Jewish communities in Los Angeles and California felt after watching this latest event unfold well quite understandably the community feels feels terrorized and that is the intention and and it's not only that they intend to terrorize they also use tactics that are meant to do so this was not limited to the front of a synagogue but after they were started to be dispersed they trickled into the neighborhood this is a neighborhood that has a large Orthodox Jewish population Los Angeles is the second largest Jewish population in this country there's a reason for this fear right now and it's really come upon every person every member of law enforcement every elected official to use their voice right now in that VIN do you feel like the California and Los Angeles governments are doing in enough in support of the Jewish Community have you heard from um people like mayor Karen bass's team govern new's team have they reached out to the ADL at all to see what they can do offer resources the answer is yes the answer is that we have heard from our elected officials I'll be leaving shortly to to go to a meeting that includes mayor Bass then includes the CH chief of LAPD we are speaking with these people and we're speaking and demanding more and as we We Do privately we will do publicly every law needs to be enforced whether that's anti-masking laws or otherwise and if laws don't exist for buffer zones or time place and manner then we need to have those laws enacted and then in forced we saw what happened on campuses and we cannot allow this to spill into our streets M and what about on a federal level do you think the Biden Administration well I my question is actually has the Biden Administration even reached out like has this been getting um some federal support the Biden doj have you heard anything from them or just on a local and state level again we are so fortunate in Los Angeles to have these deep deep relationships I literally just got off the phone with us attorney Martin AR Martine estr and so they too will be looking at this in coordination with the FBI so the news here is that those who are responsible in leadership are working together elected officials law enforcement Jewish communal organizations but what we need now we need everyone to speak up everyone of good Grace it's not only the right thing to do it's also in people's self-interest we're seeing the breakdown of our democracy and when more police need to be deployed which is what we need it costs everyone in Los Angeles every taxpayer but more importantly we need people of good grace to speak up enough is enough in talking about the support from officials including President Biden I know they've condemn condemned the violence online um especially after this event but I'm curious from your perspective now eight months into the war do you think that the Biden Administration has been fully proactive and unequivocal in their support for the Jewish Community or do you find that Biden and other Democratic leaders are still sort of threading the need needle on this issue and caveat their support so I think all the words you use are real really important so these are very nuanced issues so to to to demand unequivocal Support also means you're not recognizing the complexity of the issues when it comes to the kind of support that is needed by and large by and large our elected officials including those in Washington including President Biden have been strong have been good could they do more of course but what we need now and maybe this is the turning point when we say enough is enough is that people people need to say enough is enough all of us together need to condemn what we saw the other day it starts with the Jewish Community as the US state Department's ambassador to combat anti-Semitism Deborah lipat says it may start with the Jews but it never ends with the Jews and this attack and that's what it was an attack on a house of worship yesterday is it attack on every house of worship which means everyone needs to speak up everyone needs to use their voice what other actions would you like to see people not just in the Jewish Community um but other um members of different faiths maybe take um have you met with other Interfaith leaders to discuss this problem we do and we try and we need every friend we can get the Jewish population in this country is a little more than 2% 2% that is all yet the hatred religious-based hate crimes here in LA county for example well over 75% last year targeted the Jewish community of religious hate crimes we need the help we need people to speak up and we need people to realize that in whatever passion to condemn actions of the Israel government what happened yesterday was not that it was not a protest at a consulate it was not a protest at the federal building it was not a protest even at a Jewish owned business it was a house of worship so everyone in Los Angeles everyone of good Grace has a duty has an obligation not just to the Jewish Community but to the greatest Society to themselves to speak up enough is enough the time has come to speak up

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Length: 7min 3sec (423 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 25 2024