U.S. courts will find it much harder to accept the “we’re just anti-Israel” defense after a federal judge ruled that yanking an Israeli flag from a Jewish person’s neck constitutes racial harassment.
Judge Trevor McFadden delivered the landmark decision Monday in a case that began during a heated November protest outside the U.S. Capitol when a Jewish activist had tied an Israeli flag around her neck as a cape when a member of CODEPINK approached from behind and yanked it off causing the victim to briefly choke.
Court filings show the defense employed what’s becoming a go-to legal strategy: claiming the Israeli flag represents governmental policy rather than Jewish identity, therefore making the attack political criticism instead of ethnic targeting.
But the Trump-appointed judge wasn’t buying it.
“The Star of David—emblazoned upon the Israeli flag—symbolizes the Jewish race,” McFadden wrote, adding that “targeting the Star of David is as racially motivated as the highly offensive racial slur, [the N-word].”
McFadden called the defense argument “quite a stretch,” writing that Ali had no reason to believe Sumrall was affiliated with the Israeli government. “It is quite a stretch to say that yanking on a flag tied around someone’s neck is an objection to state policies.”
With the same protection afforded under the 1866 Civil Rights Act, legal experts say the ruling could have major implications for campus protests and anti-Israel demonstrations nationwide.
“It’s a crystal-clear example of moral clarity and common sense that should be followed by other courts everywhere,” Mark Goldfeder, director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center tells JewishOnliner. “Of course the Jewish star represents the Jewish race — it did so in Nazi Germany when our enemies forced us to wear it.”
CODEPINK is an anti-war activist group in the United States that engages in regular actions to harm the State of Israel. The organization aggressively promotes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and has been criticized for maintaining close ties to the Hamas regime in Gaza.
With members wearing the group’s signature pink color, CODEPINK has conducted marches, protests and high-visibility publicity stunts in pursuit of its goals. Often members post videos of themselves accosting Congressmembers who support Israel, calling them “baby killers” and supporters of “genocide” in Gaza.
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