A Palestinian flag waved prominently at a protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Seattle “makes absolutely no sense,” Randy Kessler, executive director of StandWithUs Northwest, told JNS.

“It demonstrates a kind of bizarre groupthink that has taken root in many progressive communities, where every struggle is tied to the Palestinian cause no matter how relevant it is,” he said.

Kessler told JNS that “Israelis and Palestinians are real people with a real conflict that will only be settled through an agreement by both sides.”

“They and their flags should not be used to score cheap promotional points at unrelated protests,” he said.

The flag was displayed on Wednesday, as hundreds gathered outside the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building in Seattle as part of a nationwide response to the shooting earlier that day of a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis by federal agents.

Some officials, including the mayors of Minneapolis, New York City and Seattle, have referred to the woman being murdered, while the Trump administration has said that the agent shot the woman in self-defense. Video footage appeared to show the woman driving her car right at the agent, and there is a widespread debate about whether the agent’s life was in danger.

“Anti-Israel and antisemitic groups will continue to attach their harmful hate-filled allegations against Jews and Israel,” Regina Sassoon Friedland, regional director of the American Jewish Committee in Seattle, told JNS.

“These protests are  being weaponized, furthering false narratives through attempts to intersect causes and ideologies,” she said, of the flag.

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