Arielle Klagsbrun

JVP Philly - Spreading Incitement 2021

On May 15, 2021, Klagsbrun participated in an anti-Israel protest in Philadelphia, where she held a sign that said: “ANOTHER JEW AGAINST ZIONISM.”  
On May 15, 2021, JVP Philly co-hosted an event with other anti-Israel groups, including Philly BDS and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters at Temple University and Drexel University in Philadelphia, titled: “PHILADELPHIA: #SaveSheikhJarrah.” 


Protesters held signs that said: “RESISTANCE IS JUSTIFIED” and “WHEN INJUSTICE BECOMES LAW… RESISTANCNCE (SIC) BECOMES A DUTY!!!” Other signs said “F**K ISRAEL,” claimed that “ZIONISM IS GENOCIDE” and called to “END ZIONISM.” 

Zionism is the belief in the right to self-determination and statehood of the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland, Israel. The word Zion originates in the Bible, where it refers to the land of Israel and Jerusalem.

Demonstrators also displayed signs that read: “FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA PALESTINE WILL BE FREE” and “HANDS OFF OF OUR LAND.”

The chant “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state. It is a chant calling to dismantle the State of Israel.

The cover photo on the Facebook page of the event JVP Philly co-hosted was a flyer featuring a graphic of Palestinians armed with rifles and text that read: “RESISTING COLONIALISM SINCE 1948.”

Hatred of Israel

Klagsbrun retweeted a May 10, 2021 tweet that said: “Everything Israel is doing to Palestinians right now should be understood in the context of an ethnic cleansing campaign. Palestinians are getting evicted, attacked, and now bombed because of who they are.”

Demonizing a Philadelphia Philanthropist

In 2021, Klagsbrun participated in three JVP Philly protests held at the office and outside the private residence of Philadelphia-based philanthropist Jeffrey Yass. The protests were part of a JVP Philly campaign of harassment against Yass.

On September 23, 2021, Klagsbrun led a JVP Philly protest on the Jewish festival of Sukkot, where JVP Philly activists erected a tent on the private lawn of Jeffrey Yass to protest his funding of various causes in the United States and Israel.

JVP Philly protesters gathered there with signs that said: “YASS FUNDS FASCISTS” and “YASS FUNDS ISRAELI APARTHEID,” as well as “YASS CASH HARMS OUR PLANET” and “YASS CASH HARMS OUR SCHOOLS.”JVP Swarthmore also participated in the protest. 

A JVP Philly Facebook post about the protest claimed: “...his money is making the world a more dangerous, violent, and unequal place…But we are watching…His neighbors are hearing about it. His employees are hearing about it. The word is out. #AllEyesOnYass 🧿.” 

JVP Philly passed out a flyer to Yass’s neighbors that claimed Yass was financing “Israeli apartheid policies which cause great harm to Palestinians and any possibility of peace in the region.” 

The flyer also said: “TIRED OF SEEING US HERE? TELL JEFF HIS CHOICES ARE NOT JUST HARMING THE WORLD, THEY’RE BUGGING HIS NEIGHBORS TOO. MAYBE THAT WILL MAKE HIM CHANGE HIS WAYS!”

The protest reportedly marked the launch of JVP Philly’s “All Eyes on Yass” campaign, following two other protests they had held earlier that year against Yass.

On June 4, 2021, Klagsbrun participated [00:02:46] in a JVP Philly protest with around 100 activists outside Yass’s home. JVP Philly accused Yass of funding “the displacement and murder of Palestinians” and demanded that he stop his support of pro-Israel initiatives.

Protesters stood in Yass’s front yard holding [00:00:24] a large sign that said: “ISRAELI APARTHEID FUNDED HERE,” and shouted [00:01:30]: “shame” while banging on tables.

In a Facebook live stream of the protest, Elana Baurer, a JVP organizer, said [00:00:35] the protesters were calling on Yass to “stop participating in the ongoing Nakba.” 

The term “Nakba” is generally translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic, referring to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term often used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel by defining it as a catastrophe.

At the protest, Alissa Wise, a JVP leader, said [00:11:30] into a megaphone: “last week we were at his office…this week we’re at his house because his employees, his staff, his colleagues, his neighbors, they know what he’s doing,” and continued [00:12:20]: “we must build outrage in everyone in his community until we get what we want.”

On May 21, 2021, Klagsbrun participated [00:00:14] in a JVP Philly sit-in at the lobby of Yass’s office in Philadelphia. In a Facebook live stream of the protest, Klagsbrun claimed that Yass and his business partner, Arthur Dantchik, were [00:04:09] “funding murder and genocide and ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians. 

Protesters held anti-Israel banners and chanted [00:00:52]: “Israeli apartheid is funded here, Jews say Free Palestine.” 

Klagsbrun read [00:21:02] out the text of a flyer protesters had placed on employees’ cars that accused Israel of “the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians… and violent murder and destruction.” 

Klagsbrun also announced Yass’s office phone number on the Facebook live stream and encouraged [00:23:00] viewers to call and tell [00:23:23] Yass and Dantchik to “stop funding apartheid policy and ethnic cleansing.”

The protest ended with JVP Philly leader Alissa Wise leaving a voicemail on Yass’s personal number, saying [00:21:08]: “what you’re doing to the Palestinian people is a shande [disgrace]...we’re really disgusted by what you’re funding and we want to urge you to cease funding it now...and we’ll keep coming back as long as it takes.”  

Anti-Israel Activism

On June 4, 2017, Klagsbrun participated in a JVP protest to disrupt the 69th Celebrate Israel Parade in New York City. Five JVP activists were arrested for third-degree trespassing and disorderly conduct. Protesters promoted JVP’s“Deadly Exchange” campaign and disrupted [00:01:05] a contingent of Jewish LGBTQ groups with chants of “no pride in apartheid.”

In 2017, JVP launched the “Deadly Exchange (DX)” campaign, which accused American Jewish organizations of promoting human rights abuses. JVP also released a video that blamed [00:04:04] U.S.-based Jewish organizations for violence that occurs against Black and Brown communities, immigrants and activists in the U.S.

JVP posted a video from the protest to Facebook, showing Klagsbrun running up [00:00:06] to the participants of the parade and shouting [00:00:15]: “Free Palestine” and “End apartheid,” as the police separated her from the group she accosted.

JVP

JVP was founded in Berkeley, California in 1996, as an activist group with an emphasis on the “Jewish tradition” of peace, social justice and human rights. The organization is currently led by Rebecca Vilkomerson and its board members include Israel critics Naomi Klein, Judith Butler, Noam Chomsky and Tony Kushner.

JVP, which generally employs civil disobedience tactics to disrupt pro-Israel speakers and events, consists of American Jews and non-Jewish “allies” highly critical of Israeli policies. A staunch supporter of the BDS movement, JVP claims to aim its campaigns at companies that either support the Israeli military (Hewlett-Packard) or are active in the West Bank (SodaStream).

Although several Jewish groups critical of Israeli policies, like J Street and Partners for a Progressive Israel, make efforts to operate within the mainstream American Jewish community, JVP functions outside. The group is often criticized for serving as a tokenized Jewish voice for the pro-Palestinian camp and is widely regarded as the BDS movement’s “Jewish wing.” 

JVP denies the notion of “Jewish peoplehood” and has even gone so far as to refer to its own Ashkenazi (Jews who spent the Diaspora in European countries) leadership as “white supremacy inside of JVP.”

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has accused JVP of being “the largest and most influential Jewish anti-Zionist group in the United States,” and said the group “exploits Jewish culture and rituals to reassure its own supporters that opposition to Israel not only does not contradict, but is actually consistent with, Jewish values.”

The ADL also claimed that “JVP consistently co-sponsors rallies to oppose Israeli military policy that are marked by signs and slogans  comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, demonizing Jews and voicing support for groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.”

According to the ADL website, JVP “uses its Jewish identity to shield the anti-Israel movement from allegations of anti-Semitism and provide it with a greater degree of legitimacy and credibility.”

JVP Philly Chapter Overview  

JVP Philly whitewashes terrorism, shows support for terrorists, demonizes Jewish organizations and actively promotes the BDS movement. In 2021, JVP Philly led a campaign of harassment against a Philadelphia-based philanthropist Jeffrey Yass and organized a series of anti-Israel protests.

JVP Philly - Promoting BDS 2021  

JVP Philly signed a May 19, 2021 statement by Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine (PAO) that called on the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) to “divest from companies that profit from and/or are complicit in the Israeli occupation of Palestine.”

JVP Philly - Whitewashing Terrorism 2019  

On May 6, 2019, JVP Philly shared a Facebook post by anti-Israel agitator Linda Sarsour that said: “...Friday, Israel gunned down 4 Palestinians peacefully protesting. No condemnations. No one saying how immoral it is to kill Palestinians…”

On May 3, 2019, two Israeli soldiers, patrolling near the Gaza border, were shot and injured from sniper fire in Gaza. In response, the Israeli Air Force struck a Hamas base nearby, killing two members of Hamas’s armed wing. Two other Palestinians were killed while participating in riots along the Gaza border.  

On March 30, 2019, JVP Philly held a “GreatReturnMarch Memorial and Teach-In.” The Facebook event description claimed: “Since March 30th, 2018 tens of thousands of Palestinians have marched peacefully every Friday along the Gaza/Israel border…” A JVP Philly email promoting the event described it as “A Martyrology Inspired Memorial Teach-In.”

Approximately 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza approached Israel’s border on March 30, 2018 as part of the “March of Return,” which was organized and funded by Hamas. This was used as a campaign of violent protests to spotlight the Palestinian demand to “return” to Israel. 
JVP Philly retweeted a January 30, 2019 tweet by JVP that said: “Another day, another Palestinian child murdered Samah Mubarak was killed by the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] at a checkpoint for an alleged ‘knife attack’...”

Social Media and Weblinks

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/arielle.klagsbrun

Twitter: https://twitter.com/aklagsbrun

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aklagsbrun/ [Private]