(Image Credit: Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
On January 29, Palestinian organizers in New York City gathered at a park for a vigil to mourn the one-year anniversary of the death of Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old killed last year alongside her family and paramedics by the Israeli military in Gaza. At Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan, attendees laid candles, alongside photos and art of Rajab.
That same day, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism” that “demands the removal of resident aliens who violate our laws” and calls on the Department of Justice to “protect law and order, quell pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation, and investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities.” It comes on the heels of an earlier anti-immigration order signed during Trump’s first day in office that called for increased vetting and crackdowns on visa holders and people trying to enter the U.S. based on their political and cultural views.
Emboldened by the pair of orders, Betar U.S., the American branch of an international organization founded by the early Zionist writer and settler colonialist Ze’ev Jabotinsky in 1923, took to social media ahead of the vigil for Rajab, which it derogatorily dismissed as a “Jihad rally.” Betar invited its supporters to show up and “assist @ICEgov in deportation efforts,” promising to “document all attendees” to submit to the Trump administration as a part of his recent orders.
At the vigil, a small group heckled attendees, yelling, “Show us your faces so we could get you deported” and “We’re with ICE,” then repeatedly chanting, “ICE, ICE, ICE,” according to video posted on the group’s accounts.
“We’re here for a 6-year-old girl,” one vigil attendee pleaded to an NYPD officer, before being drowned out by counter-protesters accusing them of a “fake genocide” and using “human shields.” After the vigil concluded, Betar claimed on social media to have identified the attendee using face-recognition technology and said it had reported him to the Department of Homeland Security.
Free speech experts and Muslim and Palestine solidarity advocates worry that such harassment and discrimination from Betar and other far-right groups will only spread thanks to Trump’s recent orders. Amid growing calls to deport political foes and defenders of human rights, they fear a new climate where political speech is silenced — and those brave enough to speak out risk severe punishment.
