Background: 92Y. Inset: Jerry Seinfeld in 2016 by slgckgc via Wikimedia Commons
Two individuals were issued summonses at an anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protest outside the 92nd Street Y (92Y) on Sunday evening.
The crowd was gathered to protest Bari Weiss – a former NY Times columnist and the founder of The Free Press who was at the Upper East Side venue to give its annual State of the World Jewry address. The incident gained more attention, though, because of Jerry Seinfeld’s brief appearance.
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“You support genocide!” one woman could be heard yelling as the comedian exited the venue. Others could be heard yelling “f*ck you” as he entered a black SUV.
Weiss, a supporter of Israel, had been at odds on social media with Refaat Alareer, a Palestinian writer and professor who died in an Israeli airstrike.
Per a Dec. 10 report by Reuters, Alareer “mocked victims of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas gunmen on social media and dismissed multiple accounts of sexual violence against Israelis during the Hamas assault as ‘lies and anti-Palestinian bigotry.'”
Max Blumenthal, a journalist, author and editor of thegrayzone.com – “which is known for its apologetic coverage of authoritarian regimes such as the Chinese, Russian, Syrian, and Venezuelan governments” – claimed in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that a “…wave of death threats [against Alareer] was inspired by neocon pundit @bariweiss, who took to Twitter to falsely accuse Refaat of mocking a Jewish baby who had been baked in an oven by Hamas.”
Before his death, Alareer himself shared on X that “If I get killed by Israeli bombs or my family is harmed, I blame @bariweiss and her likes.” A large printout of this post was held up by protestors at Sunday’s demonstration.
