On the last day of the Global Conference for Israel in Denver, protestors and attendees say they feel unsafe
While the Jewish National Fund's Global Conference for Israel wrapped up on Sunday, a local chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace held a march that shut down part of Speer Boulevard in Denver.
"Our Jewish values tell us that all life is sacred," said Siena Mann with Jewish Voice for Peace. "That we should fight for peace."
All week, pro-Palestinian protestors picketed the conference, which was held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. Several people at the conference say they felt threatened.
"They called out saying, 'Yuval David we're watching you. We know where you live. Die jew die,'" said Yuval David, a Jewish activist.
"The fact that they were here protesting peacefully was very questionable," said Virag Gulyas, the head of the JNF speakers bureau.
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The conference attendees shared a photo of a protestor with a sign reading "Palestinian liberation by any means necessary" as evidence.
"They are looking to erase and eradicate the one and only Jewish homeland the right to self-determination in any borders," said Alyza Lewin, president of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.
Organizers for the protests say that the person in the photo is not affiliated with the Colorado Palestinians, Jewish Voice for Peace or the Party for Socialism and Liberation; the organizers of the action against the JNF.
They say their message is being purposefully misconstrued by Israel's supporters who attended the conference.
"We've never been calling for the destruction of Israel by any means possible," said Reema Wahdan with the Colorado Palestinian Coalition. "We are asking for the freedom of Palestinians by any means possible which means allowing us to have basic human rights."
They say they were harassed and attacked just like the conferencegoers were.
Stefan Oberman, a JNF spokesperson, said the man pictured on the left was "absolutely not an attendee" of the conference and the man on the right with a conference lanyard "was a participant though holds no role within our organization." The man on the right told JNF the other man unzipped his hoodie just as protesters took a photo, according to Oberman.
After an emotional week, they just want safety for all people and denounce hate.
"That is not what we want in this issue. We want peace," said Zoe Mardiks, a CU Boulder student who attended the conference.
"We've been always on the side of peace, and you can see our coalition of members who have been united on that front of peaceful messaging for Palestinians and Israelis," said Wahdan.
