Protestors Slam Hanukkah Party at Trump Hotel — as Jewish Leaders Celebrate Inside
Protestors outside the Trump Hotel in Washington during the Conference of Presidents Hanukkah reception Image by Nathan Guttman
By Nathan Guttman December 15, 2016
Protestors outside the Conference of Presidents Hanukkah reception at the Trump Hotel in Washington Image by Nathan Guttman
Under the banner of “Jewish Resistance,” several hundred activists protested Wednesday evening outside the Trump Hotel in Washington, where the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish American Organizations held its Hanukkah reception.
Protesters marched from nearby Freedom Plaza along Pennsylvania Avenue and gathered outside the brand new hotel to express their dismay with the decision of the Jewish umbrella organization to holds its event at a property owned by Trump.
“Trump does not speak for me,” said protestor Samantha Waxman. “He has aligned himself with anti-Semites and White Supremacists and here we have the Conference of Presidents saying ‘yay Trump, yay White Supremacists, screw all the Jews who don’t agree with us.’”
Several Jewish organizations invited to the event also decided to boycott it.
Another participant, Akiva Wolberg, said the Conference of Presidents presents itself as a group speaking for the entire Jewish community “but they kiss up to Trump, they support the occupation, and most Jews don’t support that.”
Protesters, many of them organized by IfNotNow, an activist group speaking out against the establishment Jewish organizations’ views on Israel, also raised signs and chanted slogans against the continuation of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.
A group of two dozen pro-Trump Jewish activists staged a counter-demonstration outside the hotel, carrying “Jews Choose Trump” signs and raising pro-Trump banners.
While protestors were huddled outside in the cold Washington night, Jewish organizational leaders, ambassadors and other invitees celebrated inside the Trump hotel at the reception, which was co-hosted by the Conference of Presidents and by the embassy of Azerbaijan.
Noah Pollak, director of the Emergency Committee for Israel who participated in the event, said it was well attended. Still holding a jelly doughnut from the reception, Pollak took issue with Jewish organizations that decided to boycott the event because it was took place at the Trump hotel. Speaking of Jonathan Greenblatt, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, Pollak said he was “willing to meet with [Turkish leader] Erdogan, but won’t show up to a Jewish event at Trump hotel.”
Contact Nathan Guttman at guttman@forward.com or on Twitter @nathanguttman
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
