Van Jones Criticizes Far-Left Protesters For Synagogue Attack In LA
CNN’s Van Jones strongly condemned far-left pro-Hamas protesters who attacked Jews outside the Adas Torah synagogue in southern California. The protesters aimed to block entrance to the synagogue and disrupt a pro-Israel rally on Sunday.
Jones criticized the protesters for targeting a Jewish neighborhood and a place of worship. “You don’t bum-rush a Jewish neighborhood and run up on a synagogue. That’s not protesting a policy. That’s protesting a people,” he said. He emphasized that such actions cross a line and must be called out.
Jones noted the pre-existing trauma within the community, referencing last year’s back-to-back shootings of two Orthodox Jewish men in the same neighborhood. He described the protesters’ actions as not a protest but a “pogrom” — a violent attack against Jews.
He addressed the broader geopolitical context, stating, “The hostages have to be returned. People have called for a ceasefire, call for ceasefire on both sides. Hamas is still firing its rockets. They still have hostages kidnapped. So this is a complex issue.”
Jones stressed that while politics and geopolitics can be complicated, how people treat their neighbors should not be. “I haven’t seen Jewish people running up on mosques with Israeli flags. If they did that, I’d be denouncing that, too,” he remarked. He concluded by asserting that targeting Jewish community centers, mosques, or restaurants is not a protest but an antisemitic and bigoted act.
The incident and Jones’s response highlight ongoing tensions and the importance of distinguishing between legitimate protest and targeted harassment of communities based on their identity.
