Pro-Palestinian activists have faced backlash for tearing down posters of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas, but some of them argue that the flyers are “disgusting,” according to The New York Times.
In the days following the Oct. 7 attacks, many Jewish Americans put up posters with pictures and information about the 220 hostages taken by Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, which Nitzan Mintz, a local artist who created some of the posters, said are to bring about “awareness of the kidnapped people” and “how hated [Jewish people] are as a community,” according to the Times.
Pro-Palestinian protesters, some of whom claim that the posters are “disgusting” and “bait,” have nonetheless repeatedly torn down the posters.
“It’s the lack of context that gets me. It’s so obvious that they don’t care about people’s lives. … I think they’re putting them up to bait people to take them down,” Miles Grant told the Times, saying that he is Jewish and a “pro-Palestinian who is not a Zionist.”
Read: Alan Dershowitz: These Protests Aren’t ‘Pro-Palestinian’ — They’re Antisemitic
“I think it’s disgusting how they’re trying to destroy people’s lives.”
One woman from Brooklyn told the Times that she tore down the posters after being told by a friend that they were anti-Islamic propaganda, to which she replied “Cool beans, let’s take them down.” Rafael Shimunov, a Jewish activist with the group Art V War, said that he did not endorse taking down the posters but that the posters needed to include Palestinians who have gone missing in the conflict, according to an Instagram post.
“These posters are being used to target Palestinians in our community,” Shimunov said. “When you’re reflexively attacking the people taking them down, maybe try to understand why they’re taking them down.”
Some protesters have been confronted for taking down the posters, and one activist in New York was approached by several men, who demanded to know why he was tearing them down, according to a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Why’d you rip it off,” one person asks the individual. “Why’d you rip it off? Put it back.”
Several construction workers also chime in later in the video, one identifying himself as a veteran and another telling the activist that he has no “f**kin’ right to touch that shit.”
“I’m not f**kin’ Jewish, he’s not Jewish, I don’t know if he is or not. Doesn’t f**kin’ matter,” the man says. “This is f**kin’ U.S.A. This is New York City. You don’t have a f**kin’ right to touch that shit. This is a free country. You can wear your Palestine flag and say death to the Jews or America whenever you want. But we can put up f**kin’ signs.”
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