[Photo by Matt Abban]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 18, 2024

Media Contact: Melissa Garriga | [email protected] 

Florida Zionists Assault Non-violent Protesters Who Demand Peace for Palestine

DAVIE, Florida – On Sunday, the Zionist Organization of America held a "Heroes of Israel" awards banquet with honorees such as Rep. Brian Mast, Sen. Marco Rubio, and a video appearance from disgraced attorney Alan Dershowitz. Members of CODEPINK South Florida, Christians for a Free Palestine, and other peace organizations protested the genocide-supporting event.

The protest aimed to expose and discredit the narrative perpetuated by Mast and similar proponents of the Zionist project. By disrupting the event, the coalition hoped to shed light on the true implications of supporting such ideologies and actions. The protesters were met with Zionist counter-protesters who assaulted the non-violent peace activists.

"After learning that Congressman Brian Mast, Sen. Marco Rubio, and Rep. Elise Stefanik were being honored as Israeli heroes at the David Posnack JCC, as concerned US citizens and members of CODEPINK, we organized to protest this treacherous event. As US tax payers, our elected officials should never be honored as heroes of a foreign nation.
Such honor should be illegal because it borders on treasonous and can pose a serious security threat for our country. We protested this event for this reason," explained protest Amna, a Palestinian-American. 

[Photo by Matt Abban]

The coalition of peace organizations targeted Brian Mast and the Zionist Organization of America for their support of the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. The protestors highlighted the immorality of funding and endorsing genocide - denouncing the event's celebration of the murder of over 30,000 men, women, and children. 

"We refuse to allow events like 'Heroes of Israel' to continue unchallenged, as they perpetuate violence and suffering. With bombs still dropping and people living under occupation, those who fund and endorse such genocide must be held accountable. Our goal is to inform the South Florida community about the realities of what figures like Brian Mast represent. The Zionist project must not be allowed to deceive the public into endorsing murder and oppression," said Atticus with CODEPINK.

Inside the event, a disruptor called for a ceasefire before Brian Mast received his genocide supporter award. A chant of the counter-demonstrators was "Finish Gaza". 

In the early part of the demonstration, 10 to 12 counter-protesters were holding the Israeli flag, taunting the peaceful demonstration. At one point, one of them came across the street and attacked one of our protesters, leading to a broken nose and black eyes. Police did not arrest the attacker even though they had clear video evidence of the assault. 

However, the police brutally repressed the peace activists through the arrest of a peaceful bicyclist who stopped in support of anti-zionist actions. Pro-peace activists were threatened and kicked by police. Meanwhile, the police allowed physical attacks and assaults by Zionist counter-demonstrators on the peace activists that resulted in one broken nose. 

As the demonstration went on, and the pro-Palestinian side chanted peacefully and held their signs, Zionist counter-protesters grew in number and aggression to the point where police had to hold them off with a caution line and park two cruisers between them and the Palestinian side.

Caitlynne Palmieri with Christians for Free Palestine, said,"It’s clear that when standing against a genocide peacefully brings this much aggression from Zionists and even police, what you are standing for is powerful. Nothing that happened last night will stop us from doing what it takes until these politicians stop shoveling our money to the Israeli war and occupation machine and Palestine is finally free. We will not be silent and we will not be intimidated."

"The death and starvation could stop today if our government wanted to and we won’t leave them alone until they make it happen," they continued. 

The Zionists also brought auditorium speakers and played electronic club music with Zionist messaging in an attempt to disrupt the pro-Palestinian songs and chants. Eventually, the police ordered them to unplug the speakers because of noise nuisance.

The disgusting, violent display by the Zionist counter-protesters perfectly captures the violent and disgusting genocide they support. They made it clear that they are driven by hate, and when the members of the audience said, "Finish Gaza," they meant it. They don't mean to "bring Hamas to justice" as they try to sell to the general public - they mean for Israel to kill every last Palestinian and take Gaza for itself. The protest aimed to expose the cult-like violence of Zionists and their intent of genocide in Gaza; the Zionists in the audience, as well as the Zionist counter-protesters outside, did just that. 

Click here to view more photos.

For more videos/photos or to interview those involved, please contact Melissa at [email protected]. 

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