A Jewish human rights group in Chicago has spoken out against Israel in the ongoing row over last weekend’s Dyke March.
Jewish participants were asked to leave the peaceful demonstration in support of gay rights in the city because their flags bore the Star of David.
Organisers approached a number of individuals, demanding that they either leave or take down the flags which they described as “offensive”.
The Chicago Dyke March Collective, which organized the march, responded on social media that the women had been asked to leave for expressing support for Zionism.
Now, an organisation called the Chicago Jewish Voice for Peace has come out in support of organisers, claiming “Israel has appropriated Jewish identity and symbols”.
A statement from the group said it shared the collective’s “opposition to state violence, anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, anti-Black, anti-immigrant, anti-queer and trans, anti-woman and anti-Person of Colour bigotry”.
It concluded by saying: “As a Jewish organisation committed to justice and equality for Palestinians, we invite everybody to work with us in opposing the state of Israel’s use of Jewish identity, trauma and symbols in its oppression of Palestinians.”