LONDON (RNS) — First came the protest outside the Park East Synagogue in New York as it hosted an event promoting immigration to Israel.
Then on Sunday (Nov. 23), anti-Zionist protesters rallied outside St. John’s Wood Synagogue in London, for also holding an event encouraging immigration of Jews to Israel.
The protests were roundly denounced by mainstream Jewish communities on both sides of the Atlantic, prompting condemnation and widespread allegations of antisemitism and concern about Jewish safety. The protests also suggest that public fury over Israel’s devastating war in Gaza, and escalating settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, is far from over despite a ceasefire declared last month. Deep divisions over Israel’s conduct have become entrenched, causing fissures between Jews, Muslims and Christians and also among Jews themselves.
In the New York protest, a rowdy crowd outside the prominent Orthodox synagogue shouted “death to the IDF,” “globalize the intifada” and “We don’t want no Zionists here.”
The protest prompted New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who is Jewish, to apologize to Park East Synagogue members at Shabbat service for not providing adequate access to and from the synagogue for those Jews wanting to attend the event.
The event that prompted the protest was a gathering sponsored by Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organization that promotes Jewish immigration to Israel but also to dozens of settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani condemned the protesters’ rhetoric but also said “sacred spaces” should not be used to promote activities in vi …