WASHINGTON (JTA) – Several hundred protesters coordinated by IfNotNow, a Jewish anti-establishment group, spent hours dancing and chanting outside AIPAC’s annual policy conference in Washington, D.C.
The placards and chants targeted the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Sunday for what the protesters said was its backing for Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and not speaking out robustly against President Donald Trump.
Protesters bore a banner saying “Jews won’t be free until Palestinians are, reject AIPAC, reject occupation.”
Police allowed the protesters to reach the Washington Conventions Center’s glass doors. Some AIPAC activists stopped and took pictures of the protesters as the protesters looked back, some waving and grinning.
“How can we have a sustained Jewish community in this country and a democratic Jewish community in Israel” as long as an occupation persists?” asked Jeremy Zelinger, one of the protesters. “AIPAC does not represent us.”
AIPAC does not formally back the occupation and favors a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, albeit in relatively muted tones. It blames the Palestinians entirely for the absence of peace talks and does not criticize Israeli policies, including settlement building.
Another theme was AIPAC’s supposed failure to confront the Trump administration on a range of other issues, including its restrictive policies on immigrants and refugees. AIPAC has rarely if ever pronounced on any U.S. government’s policy not having to do with Israel or its interests.
Several protesters bore placards imprinted with the image of Dona Gracia Nasi, the 16th-century Jewish entrepreneur who used her wealth to rescue Jews fleeing the Inquisition. “Reclaim, reimagine, resist,” the posters said.
A dozen protesters carrying flags of the Jewish Defense League occasionally clashed with the protesters, and police intervened.
AIPAC has drawn 18,000 activists to its policy conference this year, the largest ever. The theme is bipartisan support for Israel, and speakers include Vice President Mike Pence and both parties’ congressional leaders.
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