Media Distorts Mob Attack on Los Angeles Synagogue with ‘Both Sides’ Slander

The footage is as clear as day: a mob of anti-Israel protesters, some with keffiyehs and black masks wrapped around their faces, assault visibly observant Jews and then clash with riot police.

In one clip posted on the social media site X (formerly known as Twitter), a visibly observant Jew is attacked, and in another, several men in skullcaps try to pull one of the rioters away from an ultra-Orthodox man.

A journalist at the scene described Jews being sprayed with pepper spray, and another recounted seeing “Jews being pushed down and beaten bloody in the street.”

Armed with sticks and waving PLO flags, the mob massed outside the Adas Torah synagogue in Los Angeles for their anti-Israel rally on Sunday.

Reports suggest the location was chosen because it was hosting an Israeli real estate fair. But it’s clear that most of the mob was there because it was a synagogue — evident when the keffiyeh-clad crew linked arms around the building to prevent synagogue attendees from entering.

The video footage from the Palestine protest outside of a synagogue in LA are shocking.

Mob of protestors using violence against Jews in broad daylight.

How does this movement have any legitimacy? https://t.co/guPtwrHBG4 pic.twitter.com/5dNF3oOk8w

— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) June 23, 2024

California Governor Gavin Newsom condemned the disturbing scenes. “The violent clashes outside the Adas Torah synagogue in Los Angeles are appalling. There is no excuse for targeting a house of worship,” he posted on X, adding: “Such antisemitic hatred has no place in California.”

California Congressman Ted Lieu (D) also commented, describing the incident as antisemitic and calling for the prosecution of the people who targeted the synagogue.

Yet, for reasons unknown, much of the media was quick to use the “both sides” narrative, and create a moral equivalency between the mob and their Jewish targets.

The press refused to describe the incident as anything but exactly what it was: an antisemitic attack by a baying anti-Israel mob.

There’s nothing “Pro-Palestinian” about a mob protesting outside a synagogue, @CNN.https://t.co/GclC1WK490 pic.twitter.com/btWgk5csFV

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) June 24, 2024

The Los Angeles Times, for example, described what occurred as a “violent clash” in a headline that reported the presence of one protester carrying a “spiked flag,” while CNN said “violent scuffles” had erupted without stating which group was responsible for the violence.

CBS News had the gall to claim that the counterprotesters, who had assembled to protect the synagogue and its congregants from the attack, were taking part in the “dueling protests.”

The same report also attempted to imply that antisemitic rioters were the victims in the incident, with a CBS journalist saying that one side was simply “demanding a ceasefire and decrying Israeli policies towards Palestinians as pro-Israel groups countered them verbally and physically.”

“With one side demanding a ceasefire & decrying Israeli policies towards Palestinians as pro-Israel groups countered them verbally and physically.”

Is @CBSNews‘s @kcalnews seriously implying that peaceful “pro-Palestinians” were the victims of pro-Israeli violence? pic.twitter.com/snGzt6BXpp

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) June 24, 2024

The facts are these: Jews were attacked at a synagogue. They were attacked by antisemitic thugs because they are Jews. This wasn’t about Israel, and it wasn’t about the Palestinians.

There are no two sides to this story. Shame on the media for pretending there was.

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.