Pittsburgh says ‘IDF not welcome here’
Pittsburgh PA – On Monday, November 2, anti-war organizers protested the visit of a former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer to a local community center.
The Pittsburgh Jewish Community Center (JCC) hosted the latest installment in its “Israel engagement series,” a series of dialogues moderated by Yisrael Klitsner, a former member of AIPAC and Diaspora Affairs Advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. After October 7, 2023, Klitsner moved from Pittsburgh to Israel to rejoin the IDF unit he served in two decades ago.
The event was the fourth discussion out of six planned and focused on the recent Israeli elections. Despite advertising “a diversity of views,” none of the speakers present represented a pro-Palestinian or anti-Zionist perspective.
“When we talk about Israel elections, it's not just taxes and social services on their ballot,” said Dot Bodwell, one of the protest organizers. “Both major parties are discussing in the media how best to escalate genocide against the people of Palestine. No matter who wins, the Israeli occupation forces will continue to massacre civilians and run them out of their homes. The people of Pittsburgh want no part in this genocide, and do not welcome the perpetrators of this genocide into our community.”
The protest was organized by the International Solidarity Committee of Pittsburgh (ISCPIT), and featured speakers from Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO). Gathering around 40 participants, the crowd was twice the size of any other action which ISCPIT, a newly-formed group, has yet organized.
Marigold Cameron, who organizes with ISCPIT and FRSO stated, “For years, this neighborhood and the JCC especially have been seen by organizers here as a bastion of Zionism which is we cannot hope to confront, to the point that when we were talking with other groups about this demonstration some people were telling us that it's too dangerous and we should stay away. And now that we're here, we see that we are safe and fine, whereas the Zionists are indignant because they have to see Palestinian flags outside their genocidal dialogue. And I think that this really shows the importance of pushing past what some people tell you are the acceptable limits on anti-war organizing.”
In December, Klitsner plans on returning to the JCC, to moderate a discussion titled “The Wild West: What should Israel do with the West Bank,” whilst ISCPIT organizers are already discussing how they might double turnout for the next protest.