Posted on 10/18/23
| News Source: FOX45
Over 150 anti-Israel protestors shut down portions of Charles Street in Baltimore Friday night to call for the destruction of Israel.
Heeding the call from former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal to wage “jihad” across the world, several Baltimore progressive groups demanded the end of what they claim is “American-Israel oppression of Palestine.”
To all scholars who teach jihad to all who teach and learn, this is a moment for the application [of theories],” former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal demanded.
Demonstrators met at the corner of Howard Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard to listen to an hour full of speeches prior to marching to Penn Station.
The speakers' common theme was to denounce American involvement in the Israel-Hamas war, calling for the end of Israel’s operations in the Gaza Strip.
Alec Summerfield, one of the event organizers representing the Socialist Unity Party, gave a fiery speech about his prospective as a self-described Jewish-American.
The state of Israel has to be destroyed,” Alec Summerfield declared to protestors. “It has to be destroyed for Palestinians, it has to be destroyed for Jews, it has to be destroyed for all people who consider themselves in the best interest of humanity.”
Summerfield’s statements were met with loud cheers. At the end of his remarks, Summerfield called for demonstrators to continue to take to the streets.
They need us in the streets because we are only going to win this by sticking together. And that’s how we defeat Zionism and that’s how we guarantee this scourge no longer gets to walk on our planet.”
Alec Summerfield is listed as an attorney for AFGE National VA Council, according to the labor union's website. FOX45 News reached out to the union, asking if Summerfield’s comments reflect the organization’s views.
Through an AFGE spokesperson, the labor union told FOX45 News they are reviewing the matter and condemned their attorney's remarks.
The views expressed by Mr. Summerfield are solely his own and do not in any way reflect the official position of AFGE or of the AFGE National VA Council," an AFGE spokesperson told FOX45 News. "We condemn these statements outright. We have publicly and strongly condemned the horrific attacks of Hamas terrorist against innocent Israelis."
Summerfield provided a lengthy written explanation to FOX45 News, doubling down on his protest comments.
I myself am a Jew. I love the Jewish community. It is my community. I also love the Palestinian community. To that effect, I simply do not believe that being Jewish means that I am required to support a militarized state that commits endless atrocities against the indigenous Palestinian people. Governments predicated on genocide do not have the right to exist in their current form," Summerfield told FOX45 News in a written statement.
After the speeches concluded, Baltimore police blocked off portions of Charles Street as the group marched to Penn Station.
During their march, the group shouted alternating chants of “free, free Palestine,” “end the occupation now,” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
Once the marchers arrived at Baltimore’s Penn Station, another round of speeches commenced. One representative introduced as a speaker for the Unemployed Workers Union told attendees resistance in the Israel-Hamas war is key for Palestinian success.
We will not allow them to attack resistance,” a representative from the Unemployed Workers Union declared to protestors. “Regardless of what you think of Hamas, they are resistance fighters. So I stand in solidarity with anyone that resists occupation, Zionism and capitalism.”
The Unemployed Workers Union could not immediately be reached for comment.
According to the U.S. Department of State, Hamas was declared a Foreign Terrorist Organization in October 1997, along with Hezbollah, the Palestine Islamic Jihad and several radicalized groups.
Hamas is the terrorist military organization that rules the Gaza Strip. The current conflict was sparked by Hamas terrorists invading Israel.
During Friday’s protest, FOX45 News was met with mixed response when asked for reaction from onlookers.
Power to the people,” one bystander told FOX45 News. “I think they’re protesting for something positive. It’s unfortunate that the war is going on, but power to the people. I love the solidary and unification.”
Another observer, a Baltimore business owner that wished not to be identified, was outraged.
Do they think killing babies and everything is justified?” questioned a Baltimore business owner.
The business owner was referring to a report of Hamas terrorists beheading up to 40 babies at the onset of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Some Baltimore Jewish leaders questioned the motivates behind Friday’s protests.
This [the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict] was a barbaric, savage targeted slaughter of 1,300 innocent Jews,” Rabbi Levi Druk explained to FOX45 News. “Anyone not outraged, to the contrary, demonstrating the response, clearly has moral ambiguity.”
Rabbi Levi Druk is the director of the Chabad Lubavitch of Downtown Baltimore, a center that focuses on providing religious, social and recreational services to Jewish young professionals and students in the city.
Israel is fighting a heinous evil in a war for survival that it did not begin,” Rabbi Druk voiced to FOX45 News.
The Israel Defense Forces weeklong bombardment of the Gaza Strip comes after Hamas terrorists' surprise attack on southern Israeli settlements and music festival that left over 1,000 civilians dead.