Holocaust survivor recounts being shouted down by anti-Israel protesters in Berkeley

Holocaust survivor Susanne DeWitt speaks to Channel 12 news, May 6, 2024 (Video screenshot; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Holocaust survivor Susanne DeWitt speaks to Channel 12 news, May 6, 2024 (Video screenshot; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Channel 12 interviews a survivor whose comments to the Berkeley City Council in March regarding commemoration of the Holocaust were interrupted by anti-Israel and antisemitic protesters when she mentioned the October 7 Hamas attacks. The activists screamed at her and others speaking that they were “Zionist pigs” and “traitors to this country.”

“I was in a state of rage,” Susanne DeWitt, 90, recounts. “They were denying me my freedom of speech although they are always clamoring for freedom of speech. I was given one minute to speak and I was shouted down.

“They don’t make a distinction [between Israel and Jews in general]. A Jew so far as they’re concerned is someone who should be annihilated. And that is the message that seems to come across from these protesters.”

She adds: “I would like to say to the president: Please, please stand by the Jewish people.”

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