The HAMAKOM synagogue in Los Angeles conducted town hall meetings on Tuesday in response to the outrage that had arisen in the community over images that had circulated showing that posters of Israeli hostages hung in the building had been covered in preparation for the use of the space by the Islamic Society of West Valley for Ramadan.
As a result, hundreds of congregants reportedly threatened to leave the congregation. According to the synagogue website, it counts as many as 900 families as members.
In a statement on Wednesday, the synagogue’s leadership team revealed that “our co-presidents have tendered their resignations from their positions.”
The synagogue also canceled the rental agreement with the Muslim group upon learning that, as it said in another statement, “there was a speaker this evening, Hussam Ayloush, who has spoken out against Israel and its rightful actions to defend its people.”
The synagogue stated, “We cannot give audience to comments that denigrate Israel’s right to protect itself after Oct. 7.”
Ayloush is the longtime executive director at the LA chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. On March 1, he told a San Diego mosque, “What is happening in Palestine is an American genocide. It is a Biden genocide against the Palestinian people.”
On Dec. 1, Ayloush told an Oklahoma City mosque that Israel did not have the right to defend itself on the grounds that “no occupier has the right to defend itself from the occupied.”