Comedy show raising money for Oct. 7th victims targeted by protesters, who called attendees “Nazis.”
By World Israel News Staff
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, pro-Palestinian activists across the U.S. have threatened and harassed organizers and attendees of events linked to Israel and the Jewish community.
Restaurants serving Israeli food or owned by Israelis, concerts by a pro-Israel singer, and even charity events with Israeli patrons have all been subject to intimidation campaigns and even physical violence.
In response, organizers have been forced to keep key event details, like the exact time or location, under wraps until the last possible second, as well as screen people interested in purchasing tickets.
Israeli-born Erez Safar learned this lesson the hard way, when a New York City comedy show he had organized to raise money for victims of Hamas’ October 7th onslaught was deluged by pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
Before the show, Safar took precautions, such as requiring the purchase of a ticket and an RSVP before being informed about the location, in order to protect the event.
“We were completely like, ‘No chance we can leak this location,’” Safar told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
“Even buying tickets, we didn’t make [purchasing] available [to the general public]… so you had to [send me a direct message], and then I was vetting people and then sending them a link.”
Safar said that keeping the details a secret until the last minute was “a little fun,” as it adds to the excitement before an event. However, he added that it is “depressing and ridiculously sad that we have to do this.”
But despite his efforts to protect the show from disruption, pro-Palestinian activists still found out about the event. A large crowd stood outside the theater, calling attendees “Nazi scum” and “Zionist freaks.”
The protesters also distributed fliers with text that said “no matter where they are, they shall not know peace.”
He added that the pro-Palestinian mob who picketed his event had failed in their mission, as their aggression caused the Jewish and Israeli community to grow even closer and support each other.
“Their entire point was to stop it, ruin it, whatever, but it kind of did the opposite, so it just brought us all together,” Safar told JTA.
“I think if anything it almost helped that night get to that level of flipping that really dark energy into this insane amount of light.”