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CAIR Submits Complaint Over Proposal To Prohibit Protests In Front of Synagogues
Illustrative: Pro-Hamas protesters in front of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City’s Upper East Side neighborhood. Source: X/Twitter
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has submitted a complaint against the Los Angeles City Council over a proposal to ban anti-Israel protesters from demonstrating in front of synagogues.
CAIR, which has been dogged for years by allegations of association with Hamas and other terrorist groups, argues that establishing “100-foot protest buffer zones” around “sensitive sites” such as Jewish institutions and houses of worship could hamper speech rights of anti-Israel activists. The organization stated that the proposal represents the latest in a series of attempts to unfairly target so-called “anti-genocide” protesters.
“Though the goal of the motion is to protect public spaces, such as religious institutions and healthcare facilities from those who may block or impede the entrances to these facilities, it is important to examine the underlying context, which directly threatens the free specch and assembly rights of community members who peacefully advocate on behalf of Palestinian rights,” the organization wrote.
JUST IN: CAIR has come out against two LA city council proposals that would, among other things, require pro-Hamas protestors to keep an 8-foot distance from people entering synagogues and prohibit them from intentionally blocking entrances pic.twitter.com/P6A7S32PwQ
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) September 15, 2024
CAIR slammed the proposed rules as “arbitrary” and “impractical,” adding that they are likely to result in the “unjust criminalization of individuals who are peacefully assembling.” The organization pointed to the recent anti-Israel demonstrations at UCLA and in front of a Los Angeles synagogue as instances in which “peaceful protestors were subject to extreme violence and intimidation.”
Police violence against anti-Israel protests could increase as a result of the measure, the group warns. The organization worries that “excessive force” could be deployed against anti-Israel agitators while “pro-Zionist demonstrators” are allowed to “act with impunity.”
“We respectfully urge you to reconsider the harmful implications of this motion and to protect the fundamental rights that underpin our democracy. The right to protest and voice dissent, even on the most controversial of subjects, is a right that cannot be restricted without serious consideration of the constitutional violations that are sure to follow. Moreover, protests serve a critical function in a democratic society. They ensure that individuals can challenge the status quo and call for justice, especially on matters that disproportionately affect those systemically marginalized and dispossessed,” the group continued.
In August, Los Angeles City Council proposed making it a misdemeanor for protesters to prevent entry into schools, religious institutions, or hospitals. The motion amid simmering anger over violent pro-Palestine demonstrations across the city. Pro-Palestine protesters swarmed Adas Torah synagogue in June to prevent a real estate auction of Israeli land.
“Even here in Los Angeles County, we have seen how intimidation is used to prevent community members from entering facilities to receive essential services,” Los Angeles Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said in a statement.
A number of Jewish advocacy organizations and leaders expressed support for the proposal, claiming that that it will “ensure the safety” of those trying to enter religious institutions.
CAIR has long been a controversial organization. In the 2000s, it was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing case. Politico noted in 2010 that “US District Court Judge Jorge Solis found that the government presented ‘ample evidence to establish the association’” of CAIR with Hamas.
According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), “some of CAIR’s current leadership had early connections with organizations that are or were affiliated with Hamas.” CAIR has disputed the accuracy of the ADL’s claim and asserted that CAIR “unequivocally condemn[s] all acts of terrorism, whether carried out by al-Qa’ida, the Real IRA, FARC, Hamas, ETA, or any other group designated by the US Department of State as a ‘Foreign Terrorist Organization.’”
CAIR has found themselves been embroiled in even more controversy since Oct. 7. The head of CAIR, for example, said he was “happy” to witness Hamas’ rampage across southern Israel.
“The people of Gaza only decided to break the siege — the walls of the concentration camp — on Oct. 7,” CAIR co-founder and executive director Nihad Awad said in a speech during the American Muslims for Palestine convention in Chicago in November. “And yes, I was happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land, and walk free into their land, which they were not allowed to walk in.”
The post CAIR Submits Complaint Over Proposal To Prohibit Protests In Front of Synagogues first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.