WATCH: Jewish Defense League Clashes With Protestors At AIPAC

JDL members clashed with IfNotNow protesters at AIPAC’s annual conference. Image by Facebook

By Sam Kestenbaum March 27, 2017

Protesters carrying flags of the Jewish Defense League clashed with demonstrators outside the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee gathering on Sunday.

The scuffle was caught in a Facebook video from the New York-based Jewish Voice website.

Some of the activity is off screen, but during the altercation one man, wearing the JDL insignia, beat another using a JDL flag as a bludgeon. A Palestinian flag was also thrown to the ground. The fight was ultimately broken up by police and bystanders.

A dozen JDL members or sympathizers also appeared in the video, confronting a much larger group of left-wing protestors who carried signs that read #JewishResistance.

Founded in 1968 by the firebrand Jewish nationalist Meir Kahane, the JDL is seeking to re-establish itself in the United States after decades of inactivity. Leaders of the nascent American branch can be seen in the same the video as well as the current head of the Canadian branch of the movement.

Email Sam Kestenbaum at kestenbaum@forward.com and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum

Sam Kestenbaum is a contributing editor and former staff writer for the Forward. Before this, he worked for The New York Times and newsrooms in Sana, Ramallah and Beijing. Contact him at kestenbaum@forward.com and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum and on Instagram at @skestenbaum.

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