In Episode 232 [14] of the CounterVortex podcast [15], Bill Weinberg examines the politics of the ugly dust-up [16] between pro-Palestinian protesters and local Jewish residents in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Pico-Robertson—and notes the anniversary of June 1941 anti-Jewish pogroms in Bialystok [17], Poland, and Baghdad [18], Iraq. Propagandistic and distorted portrayals [19] of the LA protest as mere arbitrary anti-Semitism ignore the fact that the targeted synagogue was hosting a real estate event [20] promoting sale of lands to create "Anglo neighborhoods" in Israel, and probably in the occupied West Bank (which would be a clear violation of international law [21]). On the other hand, insensitivity to (or ignorance of) the historical context [22] (and contemporary context [23]) that makes an angry protest outside a synagogue an inevitably problematic "optic" only abets the propaganda. Listen on SoundCloud [14] or via Patreon [24].
Production by Chris Rywalt [26]
Related:
Gentrification, genocide and the shadow of Bialystok
by Bill Weinberg, The Villager
AMNY [27], July 12, 2012
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Photo: The Great Synagogue of Bialystok before it was destroyed by the Nazis in 1941. Via Jewish Historical Institute [17]
