Anti-Israel groups slapped with class action lawsuit for orchestrating traffic blockade

Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute president Anna St. John told the Washington Free Beacon the lawsuit seeks accountability for those ‘who use intimidation and obstruction to push their agenda.’

By Jessica Costescu, The Washington Free Beacon

Several anti-Israel organizations that blocked major roadways in Washington D.C. last year were slapped with a class action lawsuit Friday by a legal group representing a traveler trapped in the traffic jam.

Left-wing groups, including Jewish Voice for Peace, the Palestinian Youth Movement and its fiscal sponsor, the Westchester Political Action Committee Foundation, among others, shut down access to several major roadways in D.C. on Feb. 1, 2024, for close to an hour.

A total of 23 anti-Israel activists were arrested on charges of “crowding, obstructing or incommoding.” Three were also charged with resisting arrest.

The keffiyeh-clad activists chained themselves together in the middle of highways while others linked arms with PVC pipes, forming human chains to block roads.

Many of the activists held signs that said, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Must be Free,” and chanted slogans including “We Don’t Want No Jewish State” and “If We Don’t Get It, Shut It Down!”

The Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute filed its lawsuit Friday on behalf of Daniel Faoro, who was trapped by the blockade. They called the traffic jam “perhaps the most disruptive action by anti-Israel activists” and said commuters “were trapped in their vehicles with no inkling as to when their freedom of movement would be restored.”

“Thousands of commuters were late for work or school, or missed critical appointments and important events, some of which may have been scheduled weeks in advance,” the complaint said.

“Plaintiff Faoro and other innocent class members traveling into and around the District that morning had nothing to do with the conflict thousands of miles away, or the debate within Congress regarding support for Israel; many probably have no opinion at all on the issue.”

Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute president Anna St. John told the Washington Free Beacon the lawsuit seeks accountability for those “who use intimidation and obstruction to push their agenda.”

“Blocking roads is not free speech—it’s lawlessness. These activists disrupted daily life for countless individuals. HLLI’s lawsuit seeks to ensure that those responsible face consequences and that this kind of behavior is not repeated,” St. John said.

Other defendants named in the lawsuit include, Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, a D.C. activist group, and its president, Dornethia “Nee Nee” Taylor; the Party of Socialism and Liberation and its founder, Brian Becker; Maryland2Palestine and its co-chair Hannah Shraim; and the 23 activists arrested at the illegal protest.

“NO BUSINESS AS USUAL FOR WAR CRIMINALS. FIVE major roadways are blocked coming into DC,” DMV Dissenters, a local affiliate of another defendant, wrote in a February Instagram post.

“We are ensuring those who facilitate and benefit from the ongoing genocide in Gaza are unable to make it to work and carry out those criminal acts.”

“Another major US-city was shutdown for Palestine—this time in the capital of American empire,” wrote another local group involved, DMV Palestinian Youth Movement.

“DC law enforcement was caught off guard and struggled to expel and arrest protestors, causing severe traffic jams all throughout the capital and delaying politicians and bureaucrats complicit in Israel’s crimes from arriving to work on time today.”

HLLI filed a similar class action lawsuit in September against anti-Israel organizations that formed an illegal blockade across the highway leading to Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

Left-wing groups, including the Tides Center—a George Soros-funded dark money network—Community Justice Exchange, and National Students for Justice in Palestine, among others, coordinated a “multi-city economic blockade” on April 15 targeting major airports, highways, and bridges.

None of the organizations named in the lawsuit responded to requests for comment.