‘Israel Doesn’t Represent Jews!’ Cries Man Accosting Random Jews About Israel

Jews are responsible collectively for Israeli policies and that Jews have nothing to do with Israel.

New York, November 15 – A pro-Palestinian activist who insists that Zionists have created a false link between their movement and the religion that follows the Torah, and who claims that any such link exists only in the tendentious imaginations of Zionists, also finds it appropriate to arbitrarily select from among the adherents of that religion to harass them about Zionism and their assumed support for its aims.

Jamal Henderson, 23, has cultivated a practice in the last year or two of reacting to the presence of visibly-Jewish people and demanding that they either answer for or denounce Israel, according to observers, even as he argues that any connection between Israel and Judaism or Jews is a product of false Zionist propaganda.

“You support genocide and ethnic cleansing!” Henderson yelled at a Hasidic woman pushing a stroller in Brooklyn. The woman tried to ignore the provocation and to move away, prompting Henderson to block her path on the sidewalk and harangue her about how Zionists have “hijacked” Judaism to include support for a Jewish sovereign presence in the ancestral Jewish homeland. The confrontation ended when the woman managed to evade him and enter a store that had not previously appeared in her itinerary.

“Zionism isn’t Judaism!” he screamed after her. “If you support Israel you support colonialism!”

The incident marked the fourth time in six days that Henderson has sought such confrontation, but only the second that produced any sort of reaction. His other “successful” attempt occurred Saturday as he encountered a pair of yeshiva students on their way home from synagogue and threatened them with violence if they did not say, “Free Palestine.” The students ran away, but Henderson classified the encounter as a success, having registered a public demonstration that Jews are responsible collectively for Israeli policies and that Jews have nothing to do with Israel.

Henderson’s other activities feature a similar duality: he has attended rallies with other activists to protest over-policing of ethnic minority neighborhoods, and yelled at community representatives for insufficient law enforcement in his neighborhood, where violent crimes have risen over the last several years and the authorities’ refusal to keep repeat-offenders in custody has contributed to the problem.

Observers note that Henderson appears to believe that undoing the sovereignty of Jews six thousand miles away will improve his situation, and that the effect of that undoing will be so drastic that it will improve his life despite his refusal to look for gainful employment.

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