The protest occurred during a vote on a Holocaust Remembrance Day proclamation
Pro-Palestinian protesters interrupt Berkeley City Council vote for Holocaust Remembrance Day proclamation
The protesters accused the City Council members of being bought by the Jewish community, heckled a Holocaust survivor speaking at the meeting, and claimed the City Council was a "Zionist stronghold" this week.
Pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted the City Council in Berkeley, California, on Tuesday, shouting "Zionist pigs!" and "End Israel!" during a meeting that included a vote on marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, video of the event shared by the Jewish Community Relations Council showed.
The anti-Israel mob also accused members of being "genocide" enablers, "traitors to this country" and "spies for Israel."
The protesters appeared to claim City Council members had been "bought" by the Jewish community, according to the council.
"How much money did these a------- give you?" one person is heard shouting in a video. He adds, "Cowards! Go chase the money! You money suckers!"
BIDEN HECKLED BY PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTER DURING HEALTHCARE SPEECH
Pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted a Berkeley City Council meeting in California on Tuesday. (JCRC Bay Area)
The council shared the videos on X, writing: "Yesterday, the Berkeley City Council held its final meeting before a one-month recess. The agenda of the meeting included an item on marking Holocaust Remembrance Day and funding educational programs around this commemoration. There was nothing on the meeting agenda about the Israel-Hamas War. Demonstrators called Jews ‘Zionist pigs,’ intimidated a Holocaust survivor, stole and threw a Jewish man's phone toward the dais and implied city council members were being bought by the Jewish community. Warning: Explicit language."
Protesters also repeatedly shouted "Lies!" while 89-year-old Holocaust survivor Susanne DeWitt urged the City Council to adopt the Holocaust Remembrance Day proclamation because of a "horrendous surge in antisemitism."
The protesters constantly interrupted DeWitt as she addressed the council and spoke about 1,200 Israelis being killed by Hamas and women being "tortured and raped."
DeWitt was taken to the Dachau Concentration Camp when she was 4 years old, the JCRC said.
"Stop heckling," DeWitt said, turning around to the protesters in the room as the moderator tried to quiet them. "Stop lying!" a protester replied.
"This is a Zionist stronghold," another protester claimed later, pointing to council members. "The city of Berkeley, the people of Berkeley love Palestine."
Anti-Israel protesters bang on the doors of a building on UC Berkeley's campus, where an Israeli soldier was scheduled to speak for an event hosted by Jewish student groups in February. (Elijah Feldman)
The protest comes as The University of California, Berkeley campus has been inundated with Pro-Palestinian protests and concerns about antisemitism at the school have risen since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, after Hamas terrorists' unprovoked attack on the country in October.
Last month, pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted an Israeli soldier's speaking event at Berkeley's campus, screaming slurs like at Jewish attendees.
