Protesters displaying a Palestinian flags and shouting “Palestinian lives matter!” disrupted a New York City Council vote Thursday to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz. (RELATED: California School District Promises To Revise CRAZY Eighth-Grade Lesson Promoting Holocaust Denial)
News reports indicate that protesters chanted “Say no to apartheid,” “Say no to genocide” and “Don’t tour apartheid” before unfurling a Palestinian flag. In one video, protesters can be heard screaming and clashing with security officials, before unifying around the chant “Palestinian lives matter!”
WATCH:
Democratic Councilman David Greenfield, who is an Orthodox Jew, said he was horrified. “Somebody would engage in an anti-Semitic protest while we are having a conversation about 1.1 million people who were slaughtered during the Holocaust? That’s when you decide to protest?”
The activists were protesting an upcoming tour of Israel being held for members of the City Council. Protest leader Rosalind Petchesky claims the timing of the protest was an unfortunate coincidence, but promises to keep protesting.
Greenfield wasn’t buying their excuse in a passionate speech he made before the Council: “What you saw here today was naked, blind anti-Semitism… You want to know why they’re angry? You want to know why they’re unfurling that flag? Because Hitler did not finish the job! He only wiped out half of my family!”
The Council later released its own statement denouncing the protest. “At a time when the Council was voting on a resolution commemorating the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, this outburst was offensive, outrageous and counter to the values of the City Council.” (VIDEO: #BlackLivesMatter Protesters Disrupt MLK Day Events Across The Country)