Hundreds of far left, Muslim extremist and Neturei Karta (a radically anti-Israel fringe hareidi group) protesters held a vocal anti-Israel demonstration on Sunday outside the Jewish American AIPAC conference in Washington DC.The protesters tried to block the entrance before moving on, and succeeded in blocking one entrance completely. Participants in the conference were advised to wait inside the building for their own safety, out of concerns that the aggressive protesters might turn violent.
While the protesters have so far not used violence, they were very clamorous in chanting hate slogans and calling to close down AIPAC.
At one point a group of protesters noticed the kippah on the head of one of the Arutz Sheva reporters covering the event, and began shouting anti-Israel and anti-Jewish slogans and likewise hurled the epithet "terrorist" at him.
Police were forced to get involved to protect the Arutz Sheva team after members of the Anonymous anarchist group tried to initiate a clash.
From their calls it became clear the protesters were angry that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was coming, equating AIPAC with him even though other candidates are to put in an appearance as well. Several Jewish groups plan to boycott his speech.
All presidential candidates from both parties are to speak at the conference, except for the Jewish Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, who evidently did not fit the event into his schedule.
More protesters have turned out to demonstrate against the conference this year than in previous years, as it appears the anti-Trump crowd has been brought in as well.
Many of the signs of the protesters featured a link to the anti-Israel group Al-Awda: The Palestinian Right to Return Coalition.
