Watch: Protestors Lay Some Truth on Jared Kushner During ADL Speech
When the Anti-Defamation League announced that it was giving an award to Donald Trump’s son-in-law and former White House official Jared Kusher, it received a lot of criticism, given the organization has a supposed reputation for opposing antisemitism and the Trump administration…did not.
On Wednesday, that criticism came in full view as protesters interrupted Kushner’s big award ceremony.
As Kushner was accepting his award for his “vital and deeply impactful work on the Abraham Accords,” he was jeered and heckled by protestors in the audience, who attacked his record and also called for a cease-fire in Israel’s war on Gaza.
“Do unto others as you would have them do to you,” says Jared Kushner during his speech today at the ADL conference in NYC.
— Talia Jane ❤️???? (@taliaotg) March 6, 2024
“You’re not doing shit like that!” yells a woman in the audience. “You are not a civil rights ally, you fascist! You’re a fucking racist!” pic.twitter.com/wuhh9NIB0l
BREAKING: Anti-genocide activists disrupt the ADL’s ‘Never is Now’ conference in New York City as the Zionist org honors Jared Kushner, whose speech to a half-empty room was repeatedly disrupted with shouts of “Warmongerer!” and “It’s not antisemitic to stop bombing!” pic.twitter.com/gdVJBPlWOy
— Talia Jane ❤️???? (@taliaotg) March 6, 2024
“You’re not doing shit like that!” yelled one woman in the audience in response to Kusher using the line “Do unto others and they would do unto you.”
“You are not a civil rights ally, you fascist! You’re a fucking racist!” the woman continued as security escorted her from the room.
“Warmonger! What about the Palestinian people? It is not antisemitic to stop bombing the Palestinian people!” another protestor shouted. “Cease-fire now!”
According to Forward, three people in total were removed from the ADL’s “Never is Now” conference for disrupting Kushner, while “several dozen” people walked out silently when Kushner began his remarks. Kushner finished the speech as protesters were removed from the room.
The Anti-Defamation League has been criticized in recent years for ignoring the threat of white nationalism and instead focusing on anti-Zionist activist groups like Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, even admitting that it considers that activism as antisemitism. That shift seems to have been accelerated by its president, Jonathan Greenblatt, who on Wednesday introduced Kushner by stating, “I really don’t care how you vote.”
The Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and two countries, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, were signed in September 2020, during the last months of the Trump administration. Kushner is credited with helping to bring the parties together. In recent months, following Israel’s war on Gaza, the agreements have faced criticism for ignoring the fate of the Palestinian people.