closeicon
USA

Anti-Israel protestors harass mourners at Henry Kissinger memorial

Police were called to deal with around 100 demonstrators who targeted the temple Emanu-El in Manhattan

articlemain

Anti-Israel protestors have harassed mourners at a memorial service for Henry Kissinger at a synagogue in New York.

Police were called to deal with around 100 demonstrators who targeted the temple Emanu-El in Manhattan on Thursday.

They held banners that read “Kissinger Burns in Hell”, “Father of a Million Deaths”, “Demilitarize and Decolonize” and shouted “rest in piss”.

They followed people as they left the service, shouting that they were “war criminals”.

A small group followed one man as he left and berated him for wearing an Israeli flag on his jacket.

One protestor shouted: “We will come to your homes. You want to see an armed resistance.”

Police officers were forced to tell the group to stop throwing water at people.

Temple Emanu-el, on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, was the first Reform Jewish congregation in New York City and is one of the largest shuls in the US. 

Temple Emanu-El is led by Rabbi Joshua M. Davidson, a graduate of Princeton University who was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion

It comes amid a wave of antisemitism, which has spiked 360 percent in the U.S. since Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7.

According to the ADL, the antisemitic hate wave includes 628 incidents at synagogues and Jewish community centres.

“The American Jewish community is facing a threat level that's now unprecedented in modern history,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said.

“It's shocking that we've recorded more antisemitic acts in three months than we usually would in an entire year.”

Share via

Want more from the JC?

To continue reading, we just need a few details...

Want more from
the JC?

To continue reading, we just
need a few details...

Get the best news and views from across the Jewish world Get subscriber-only offers from our partners Subscribe to get access to our e-paper and archive