MindTheTech, a well-funded conference in Midtown focused on supporting the Israeli tech industry, was disrupted by pro-Palestine protesters on Monday morning, who were promptly forced out of the event. Moments after I tweeted videos of the disruptions, I was also kicked out without explanation.

  • floofloof@lemmy.ca
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    8 months ago

    Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, also delivered remarks. He criticized the UN member nations for not unanimously supporting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza

    “That is what the UN has become, a weapon in the hands of jihadists,” Erdan said. He added that one third of the UN member nations are “Muslim countries,” eliciting murmurs from the audience.

    It’s becoming clearer to people around the world just how crazy Israel’s claim is that if you don’t support their wholesale slaughter of civilians you must support terrorism. What it’s doing in Gaza is harming global perceptions of Israel.

    About a minute later, another protester interrupted. I learned later that her name was Ilana, and that she’s an organizer with the anti-Zionist Israeli group Shoresh and Jewish Voices for Peace.

    “Google is complicit in genocide!” she shouted. Moments later, a nearby woman shoved Ilana and she hit the ground.

    “Go support terrorism somewhere else!” one man yelled, as two security guards pulled her out. The crowd applauded for Regev.

    And there it is again. Are these people really such crude thinkers that they can only imagine either wholehearted support for Israel in everything it does, or wholehearted support for terrorism? Can they really not imagine that there’s any other position a person might reasonably hold? Or do they just say this because it works for them rhetorically?