Left-wing Jewish protesters on Thursday stormed a talk held by Israeli Ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely in protest of her "racist views."
The protesters, who are members of the organization Na'amod, had come to the Zionist Federation event honoring Hotovely's first year as an ambassador with banners reading "racism isn't kosher" and "stop hosting Hotovely," as well as handing out pamphlets highlighting her "racist views," accusing her of "Nakba denial" and of supporting the right-wing extremist organization Lehava.
The organization, whose members call themselves Na'amodniks, tweeted videos of the incident.
"We reject our communal institutions' continued platforming of Hotovely despite her racist words and actions," the organization said on Twitter.
"We know most of our community opposes racism and we must challenge it together."
TONIGHT: Na’amodniks staged a walkout at a @ZionistFed event hosting Israeli Ambassador @TzipiHotovely.We are protesting her racist views and continued platforming by communal institutions.#RacismNotKosher #NoHechsherforHotovely pic.twitter.com/t9QHTPR0Is
— Na'amod: British Jews Against Occupation (@NaamodUK) October 21, 2021
The organization noted that most communal institutions in the UK Jewish community had pledged to combat racism following the recent Black Lives Matter protests, but noted that "these commitments are meaningless when these organizations continue to host anti-Palestinian racists like Tzipi Hotovely."
Na'amod stressed that "Hosting racist figures like Hotovely will be met with protest. Racism isn't kosher."
The organization later shared another video, with its members explaining why they protested the event.
"I grew up in a Jewish community where the value of equality for everybody and respect for human dignity was so important," one Na'amodnik said. "Tzipi Hotovely is a racist and we shouldn't give a Hechssher - a stamp of kashrut - to somebody that's a racist and invite her to our events."
“Anti-Palestinian racism is just unacceptable”“This is our community and we want to get it back” Na’amodniks explain why they protested the @ZionistFed event with Israeli ambassador @TzipiHotovely last night.#RacismNotKosher#StopHostingHotovely pic.twitter.com/sBCNlx5mjP
— Na'amod: British Jews Against Occupation (@NaamodUK) October 22, 2021
Despite this incident, however, many who attended the event said it did not interfere with the speech.
According to witnesses, Hotovely continued her speech unfazed despite the disruption, the Jewish Chronicle reported.
“She really was very good and engaged on a personal level with the audience, particularly after the event formally finished,” Zionist Federation CEO Steve Winston told the JC regarding Hotovely's "dignified" response. “She was in little hurry to leave.”