Pro-Palestinian protesters took the proverbial mask off in California last week, and what was revealed wasn’t pretty.
The New York Post reported that the protesters spray-painted “Free Gaza” and “Intifada” on a wall outside the Los Angeles National Cemetery, where nearly 90,000 veterans of World War I through the Vietnam War are buried.
“Intifada” refers to violent uprisings against Israel in the 1980s and early 2000s.
Protesters also chanted, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and accused President Joe Biden of enabling “genocide,” according to the Post.
SICK: this is Los Angeles National Cemetery, which has 85,000 American soldiers buried from 19th, 20th, and 21st century wars.
First, pro-Hamas people defaced it with “Free Gaza.” Then they defaced it again with “Intifada” (incitement to violence).
Remember: the pro-Israel side… pic.twitter.com/HZoyt4G9FG
— Sia Kordestani (@SiaKordestani) January 7, 2024
It is not known whether any arrests have been made for the vandalism, but the cemetery indicated in a statement on Facebook that the incident is under investigation by law enforcement.
The cemetery also shared photos of the anti-Israel messages being cleaned off the wall a few days later.
Several public officials condemned the protesters’ actions.
Department of Veterans Affairs spokesman Terrence Hayes told Fox News that “VA national cemeteries are where our nation’s heroes are laid to rest, and any act of vandalism is unacceptable.”
Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman of California argued on X that the incident is “more proof that people who hate #Israel, also hate America.”
BREAKING: The entrance to Los Angeles National Cemetery was vandalized as a pro-Palestine protest in West Los Angeles shut down Wilshire Boulevard between Interstate 405 and Glendon Avenue outside the U.S. Federal Building. pic.twitter.com/m1ZrjuHLom
— Austin Dave (@AustinDave_) January 7, 2024
Inevitably, the issue of free speech is going to be raised in this situation. Some will claim that the protesters were doing nothing more than exercising their First Amendment rights.
But it should be understood that the First Amendment has never been interpreted as conveying an absolute right to free speech. The Supreme Court has routinely upheld speech restrictions aimed at curtailing the use of “fighting words.”
Furthermore, the issue at hand isn’t whether the protesters were engaged in constitutionally protected speech. The more critical issue is the hatred that they have for the country they call home.
One has to ask why anyone would be defacing an American military cemetery in protest of a war that America is not even directly a part of. After all, what kind of message are they trying to convey?
The answer seems pretty clear: These protesters hate America almost as much as they hate Israel.
For all the division in modern American politics, everyone should be able to agree that those who sacrificed their lives so that we can live in freedom should be respected. Any malevolence toward them is unequivocally anti-American and should be universally condemned.
But these protesters couldn’t care less about the sacrifices of our nation’s veterans.
Instead of supporting their own country, they would rather back Hamas, a group that once had a senior official state, “Oh Allah, destroy the Jews and their supporters. Oh Allah, destroy the Americans and their supporters. Oh Allah, count them one by one and kill them all, without leaving a single one.”
Hamas hates the U.S. and would love nothing more than for our country to be wiped off the planet along with Israel. That is the group these protesters support.
And that is what is most concerning about this situation — that our fellow Americans can utterly hate our country, disrespect our veterans, call for the extermination of our allies, and many largely turn a blind eye.
Hopefully, this situation will inspire our leaders to work to protect our nation from those who hate it most.
