There is a meaningful difference, in my opinion, between hosting an event about buying land in Israel and hosting an event where it is literally sold, right there. Seeing some conflation.
Also, "Why I was protesting outside a synagogue" — again, in my opinion, you should avoid that series of words.
We're now pretending it was a literal auction (it was not) because many people prefer doing damage control to ever thinking strategically about the target of protests.
I don't think "the informational session panel includes a representative from a real estate company that advertises listings in Israel as well as illegal West Bank settlements" is sufficient justification to assemble a protest outside a synagogue in LA, for Gaza. I don't think it'll work out.
Biden has in fact tweeted about both things and blocking the entrance to a synagogue is a bad look no matter how you cut it - as would blocking the entrance to a mosque to protest 9/11.
Once again have to ask who the audience for these things are. It's not friendly media, because they don't believe in that. It's not unfriendly media, because holy Christ. It's just people who wanna get mad and be seen being mad.
I no longer discount the power of self-righteousness -- the belief that the cause is just and therefore you don't have to explain your actions to anyone who does not immediately "get" it. The people you should wish to persuade: fuck 'em!
I covered a protest in New Mexico back in 2020 where the people organizing it would not tell me, a reporter, why they were there. Now "fuck the media," sure, but I remember thinking (and admit I'm biased here): Shouldn't you want to tell me, in your own words? Isn't press coverage kinda the point?
In a separate thread someone was getting mad that people were criticizing this by pointing out how bad the optics were, even if the event itself was abhorrent. Protesting is often all about the optics! And the media coverage of this event has born that out.
There's not a single grain of possibility that this protest was ever anything but the worst people doing shitty shit.
DGAF what was happening, the entire thing looks like a prelude to Tree of Life or a lynching. If we have to create a moat around synagogues w public funds so be it.
