Antisemitic, Pro-Hamas Events Set for McAllen this Weekend
Under the cover of “anti-Zionism” local Jew haters prepare to rally for Hamas and Islamic Jihad
A so-called peaceful, solidarity rally for Palestine is set for Sunday evening at Archer Park in McAllen. A drag show is scheduled at the Flying Walrus after the hate rally for the same purpose. A ‘bike ride for Palestine’ is also scheduled for Nov 5. While these events are billed as ‘pro-Palestine’, they are actually pro Hamas and Islamic Jihad. They don’t support a two-state solution that recognizes Israel. They agree with Hamas that Israel should be destroyed and replaced with an Islamist state. Even if they don’t explicitly state their true allegiances, a proposition that would incorrectly assume that the organizers value integrity, the political and military demands they advance, which simply copies and pastes Hamas propaganda, exposes them, for they can only serve to benefit Hamas.
The pro-Hamas events are being organized by Food Not Bombs RGV, a pro-Hamas front group ran by Mariam and Layla El Haj. The two sisters, whose father is Palestinian, have a long record of openly and proudly calling for the destruction of Israel while making excuses for Hamas’ fascist and nazi-style assaults on working people in both Israel and the Palestinian territories. Mariam, who made a name for herself protesting ‘gun violence’ at the hands of her father and flaunting her sexuality (or lack thereof as a supposed “asexual”) on social media, has no problem excusing gun violence Hamas gunmen used against Jews, particularly women and children.
Their preferred deflection strategy from criticisms of Jew hatred is to hide underneath the supposed banner of “anti-Zionism” which is nothing more than a thin and promiscuous veil for their venomous hatred of Jews and the ‘Jew lovers’ who support Israel, whom they equally despise. In the days following the Nazi-style Pogrom of October 7, Layla El-Haj called me a U.S. puppet on Facebook, in response to my condemning Hamas’ attacks.
When I asked her if she condemned Hamas’ actions, she refused to answer my question, instead deflecting, “Anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism.” This echoed something written on their event page, “Zionism is not Judaism.” Such Orwellian phrases are nothing but pseudo-academic babble that’s supposed to sound profound but actually means nothing. Jew hatred in the twenty-first century is sublimated into calling for Israel’s destruction, so called “anti-Zionism.” That’s what’s happening here.
Zionism was a political movement that originated in the late 1800s and called for the creation of a Jewish homeland, in response to centuries of pogroms and persecutions. After the holocaust, and the second world war under the fog of which the crime was committed, the creation of Israel became inevitable, in 1947, when the United Nations voted to establish two states in Palestine. Immediately, Israel’s existence was challenged by regional powers who refused to recognize the Jewish state. Surrounding Arab countries waged war on Israel after its declaration of independence. In subsequent decades and wars, the Israelis conquered more and more land.
While there may have been a legitimate argument against the original dispossession of Palestinians from the lands of their birth, at the inception of Israel, there’s no question that Israel has earned the right to exist as a nation in the last 75 years. Even in the years and decades after its inception, many honorable Marxists and socialists opposed Israel’s existence and called for what used to be knowns as, “the demand for a secular and democratic Palestine”, a unitary state with equal rights for Jews, Arabs and all nationalities and religions. This demand was dropped a long time ago by Palestinian groups. Israel, now a member of the United Nations and one who is becoming more and more recognized by the world with its growing economy, is a sovereign government and thus has earned the right to defend itself.
Therefore, the so-called two state solution — a contiguous Israeli and Palestinian state running along side by side each other, based on the 1947 borders — has been settled on as the most just solution by both sides. The Israeli government has declared it is for a two-state solution and has tried to achieve this on multiple occasions. The Palestinian Authority has also publicly declared it is for two states. The United Nations is for two states, as is the United States and the Russian Federation.
A two-state solution is what the vast majority of people involved in the dispute desire. This outcome has been vetoed at every turn, however, by religious extremists who don’t want to compromise: Jewish settlers to a small extent and Islamic jihadists to a gigantic extent. This last episode, it was entirely the jihadist side that derailed things.
As I reported in my first peace on this issue, Israel was making moves towards mutual recognition with Arab and Muslim governments in the region and beyond, actions which could’ve led to mutual recognition and peace with Palestinians. Just as Riyadh was getting ready to join the list of recent Arab-Muslim capitals to recognize Israel, Tehran and Gaza City launched their horrendous and medieval attack on October 7, which they hoped would derail moves towards normalization of ties with Tel Aviv. Hamas and its allies do not hope for a peaceful solution with Israelis. They aim to destroy Israel and drive Jews out of the Middle East, “from the river to the sea.”
Food Not Bombs RGV openly supports this aim.
The hate rally is also being co-sponsored by a front group called “Red Star Texas”. Its event description says absolutely nothing about the horrendous murder of Jews and others on October 7 in Israel, the largest slaughter of Jews since the first holocaust. It says nothing about the particularly dangerous effect Jew hatred has on society or the world, except for a vague parenthetical note at the dead end which reads, “antisemitism will not be tolerated”. (Shady groups of this ilk like to play word games with the word “Semitic”, in order to obscure and derail the topic of Jew hatred.)
Nor does it place any responsibility on Hamas and its allies for the current situation in Gaza. It does, however, exclaim clearly that they do believe Israel is genocidal and should bear all responsibility for what’s happening in Gaza today.
They’re also calling for a so-called humanitarian cease fire whose only effect would be to allow Hamas to flee, regroup, and rearm, as well as give regional militias allied to Hamas an opportunity to prepare a counter-offensive against Israel. While the El Haj sisters intentionally conceal their true aims, their sole purpose is to serve Hamas’ military objectives and preserve Hamas’ existence as a political movement.
Food Not Bombs RGV, which would do better if it was called “Food Not Rockets” or “Food Not Paragliders”, is nothing but a political mouthpiece and advanced guard for Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s military operations against Jews and the only Jewish state in history.
Food Not Bombs RGV has hosted a monthly food distribution event (which I’ve attended and donated to once) over the years, reaching out to the local homeless population, doubling as a clothing and book drive. For this event, they will also be distributing co-called “harm reduction” materials, things like overdose medications and drug testing strips which enable drug use, under the guise of “making it safer”.
The supposed “harm reduction movement”, composed of cynical poverty pimps trying to make a buck off of the suffering of addicts, is a reactionary and regressive movement that actually accomplishes the opposite of what it claims to achieve — it induces harm. Thus, this antisemitic rally aims to appeal to the unemployed, beggared, drug addicted, overweight and mentally ill underclass of the region — trademarks of incipient fascist movements, which is exactly what FNBRGV is.
Anybody considering attending this Nazi rally should not. Don’t be fooled into thinking it’s a rally truly concerned with the well-being of Palestinians. If you attend, you will publicly announce you are part of a Jew hating movement. And if you opt for cowardice, and attempt to conceal your face, it won’t work. I will find you out. I already know who many of you are. You will be photographed. Counter-rally instead against Jew hatred, against Hamas, and for two states. Defend Israel’s right to exist!
jonathansalinas@substack.com