IfNotNow walks back condemnation of synagogue vandalism

This proved unpopular among other Jewish Twitter users, who were unhappy with the group acceptance of such an act.

AUGUST 29, 2020 07:40

A pro-Palestinian mural on a graffiti wall at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons) — A pro-Palestinian mural on a graffiti wall at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg

(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Far Left Jewish group "IfNotNow" walked back a condemnation they made against a man who vandalized a synagogue with graffiti reading: "Free Palestine."

While the group initially joined other Jewish groups in condemning the act, IfNotNow later amended their statement, saying that the tweet's "phrasing fell short" and that it distracted from the real issue at hand at the moment: "Police violence and anti-black racism," the new tweet read.

This proved unpopular among other Jewish Twitter users, who were unhappy with the group's implied acceptance of such an act.

After hearing from friends in and outside the movement, we’d like to do teshuvah for the ways in which our tweet's phrasing fell short and contributed to distracting from the most urgent issues facing our country today: police violence and anti-Black racism. pic.twitter.com/wQuxhDLEzj
— IfNotNow (@IfNotNowOrg) August 27, 2020

IfNotNow is a Jewish organization that has repeatedly criticized Israel. Its goal is to "end the Israeli occupation” and the “weaponization of antisemitism in the debate over Israel." The organization was founded in 2014 in the wake of Operation Protective Edge.

This was not the only case of graffiti reading "Free Palestine" graffitied on a synagogue in recent times, as unidentified perpetrators spray-painted graffiti reading “Free Palestine” on a synagogue in the Austrian city of Graz last week.

The graffiti, which included another slogan, “our country and our language are red lines,” were discovered on Wednesday at the city’s only synagogue, Elie Rosen, president of the Jewish Community in Graz, told the Wiener Zeitung.