Mother Jones illustration; CBS News

On Thursday, April 24, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was halfway through a tour of the East Coast, speaking to large audiences about his plans to starve the people of Gaza. That night, he was scheduled to speak at 770 Eastern Parkway, the headquarters of the Chabad Lubavich Hasidic Jewish movement, in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. 

In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for Ben-Gvir’s arrest, though United States leaders subsequently denounced that warrant and said they would not enforce it. Every stop on Ben-Gvir’s tour was met with protests, and April 24 was no exception. 

E*, a 29-year-old Israeli American woman, went with a friend to protest Ben-Gvir’s appearance at Chabad’s headquarters—in part because E*, who grew up in the tri-state area, attended Chabad synagogues with her family as a child. But within an hour, she left Crown Heights in an ambulance: hundreds of Chabad members and supporters of the far-right minister surrounded a few dozen anti–Ben-Gvir protesters, she said, and one threw something at her head. 

Six people were arrested. One video from the scene shows a woman being surrounded by a group of men chanting “Death to Arabs” and lunging at her; another shows a woman being attacked by a man who stole her Palestinian flag. The incident........

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