Israeli Flag Burned At KKK Rally…By The Counterprotesters

Israeli Flag Burned At KKK Rally…By The Counterprotesters 

Someone posted a series of photos on her Facebook site showing people in the counterprotest area first attempting to burn an Israeli flag, then tearing it and stomping on it. 

“I was shocked to see that,” Stathes said. “I saw some counterarguments (in the comments) as to why they might have done that, but at the same time it’s totally unacceptable. It made me feel sick.” 

According to Stephanie Hausner, deputy director of the Israel Action Network of Jewish Federations of North America, Students for Justice in Palestine equates Zionists and the KKK as fascists. Native American rights activist Corine Fairbanks of Dayton took the series of photos, which have been widely circulated on social media. 

Fairbanks posted them at her Facebook page just before the end of the rally and counterrally, with the heading: “More Allies, and Palestinian Relatives, wanting to burn flag – FREE PALESTINE!! Deport the KKK.” 

Jen Mendoza, with the Cincinnati Palestine Solidarity Coalition, is a friend of Fairbanks. Mendoza is shown in the images wearing sunglasses and attempting to set the Israeli flag on fire with a cigarette lighter. 

And how did the counterprotesters come to burn an Israeli flag? In an interview with The Observer, Mendoza said the incident occurred after she saw three young men with an Israeli flag and entered into what she described as a confusing discussion with them. 

“And so recognizing the state of Israel as being of the same ideology (as) American capitalist imperialist settler colonialism, and seeing that flag on our side (counterprotesters area) was jolting,” Mendoza said of her reaction at the sight of the Israeli flag. 

“One of them said that he was from Israel. And then the other two boys looked Arab,” she added. 

“The other kid, he was the one doing a lot of the talking, he made comments about God giving them the land, and at that point I was like, ‘Well, you’re on the wrong side of this fence if that’s what you believe.’” Mendoza said that after the conversation went on and he said “some extremely Zionist, racist things,” he asked her if he should throw it on the ground and stomp on it. 

She told him she’d be happy to burn it for him. “And then he flipped and was like, ‘Yeah, let’s burn this flag right now,’” Mendoza added, “and he helped tear it apart — and then he told us that he was doing a social experiment to find out where people really stood on fascism. And then he began chanting ‘Free Palestine.’” 

Think about how messed up this is. At a rally against people who hate Jews, a hater impersonates an Israeli with the sole purpose of riling up the crowd against Israel. And it works.