Michigan synagogue member sues anti-Israel protesters, city

[ripcord]

A member of a Michigan synagogue is suing anti-Israel protesters and Ann Arbor city leaders over 16 years of protests outside the Beth Israel Congregation, arguing the protesters have been uniquely provocative and that some restrictions on them would not violate free-speech protections in the U.S. Constitution.

The regular Saturday protests of up to a dozen people outside the synagogue, with signs the lawsuit describes as hateful and anti-Semitic, amount to harassment of worshipers, so don't qualify for full First Amendment protections, according to the 85-page filing in U.S. District Court for Eastern Michigan.

"The First Amendment right of free speech does not entitle a speaker to use that right repeatedly to bludgeon, for weeks and years at a time, in the same location," the lawsuit said. “The First Amendment … is subject to appropriate limitations on its continued and repeated usage.”

The lawsuit filed on behalf of Marvin Gerber, a member of the Beth Israel Congregation, contends the protests violate Ann Arbor ordinances on such public gatherings. It seeks an order putting restrictions on the demonstrations and demands an end to what it calls "harassing conduct." It also seeks unspecified damages for emotional distress.

Those named as defendants include protester Henry Herskovitz and his two organizations, Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends and Deir Yassin Remembered, which say they were founded to advocate for Palestinians.

Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor is also among the defendants.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/michigan-synagogue-member-sues-anti-israel-protesters-city-n1107241


It should be interesting to see if the courts limit the speech of a Holocaust denying hate group.

[juxtaposed]

1. I didn't read anything about holocaust denying in the article? Is it else where?

[ripcord]

3. Sorry I keep forgetting no one can keep up with all these groups.

https://www.michiganradio.org/post/ann-arbor-organization-labeled-hate-group-splc

Mark Potok, senior fellow with the Southern Poverty Law Center, the organization that compiles the list of hate groups annually, said "Deir Yassin Remembered" was listed as a hate group for sympathizing with anti-Semitic causes.

“We list them because over the years they have come to more and more explicitly embrace real-life Holocaust denial,” Potok said.

Potok says Holocaust denial goes deeper than simply disputing historical facts.

“The kind of Holocaust denial that these people practice is essentially a defense of Germany and National Socialism,” Potok said.

[juxtaposed]

5. thanks

[X_Digger]

2. Should the same apply to protesting Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist church? n/t

[sinkingfeeling]

4. Does this also apply to weekly and monthly protests at Planned

Parenthood and other abortion providers, which have gone on for decades?

[marble falls]

6. Free Republic calls "Jewish Witnesses for Peace" the kind of Jews that led other ...

Jews to the gas chambers. Odd comment from a group that denies the holocaust.

https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3803588/replies?c=3

This is how Deir Yassin Remembered reports on the vigils/protests:

https://blog.deiryassin.org/tag/jewish-witnesses-for-peace-and-friends/

Its also been labeled as a hate group by SPLC:

https://www.michiganradio.org/post/ann-arbor-organization-labeled-hate-group-splc