Illustrative: Pro-Hamas protesters outside the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago, Illinois on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. Photo: Ron Sachs via Reuters Connect

Jewish CNN anchor Dana Bash was confronted by angry anti-Israel protesters during a book event at the popular Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington, DC. 

The pair of anti-Israel demonstrators interrupted Bash and hurled a series of unsubstantiated and, in some cases, seemingly antisemitic accusations at her, lambasting the journalist for being “complicit in genocide” and being paid “millions from Zionists.”

“After World War II, every single journalist that was complicit in their war crimes was charged,” a protester wearing a surgical mask yelled at Bash. 

“You belong behind bars,” the protester continued. “We know who you are. We know what you’re saying.”

The agitator then tore into Bash for reporting on the ongoing conflict in Gaza as a “war,” insisting that Israel’s military operations are equivalent to a “genocide.”

“It is not a war. It has never been a war. It is ethnic cleansing. It is genocide. There are children being bombed, bombed, bombed, bombed,” the protester said. 

“You are complicit in the genocide. Do you understand that five days ago when you tweeted about the hostages [kidnapped and murdered by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas], that there are over 10,000 political prisoners in Israeli death camps? They are concentration camps for Palestinians, and you are complicit in all of those deaths,” the activist continued.

The protester then accused Bash of facilitating the death of Palestinians in Gaza by “telling lies on public air.”

“Every time she lies, a neighborhood in Gaza dies. She is killing people. You know you are. Look me in the eye!” the protester screamed. 

“Take your mask off,” Bash replied, calmly. 

“You are a killer! Bloody Bash! Bloody Bash!” the protester yelled as bookstore security escorted her off the premises. 

Another protester then confronted Bash, accusing her of “not reporting” on the deaths in Gaza in order to collect huge sums of money from “Zionists.” The agitator also accused Bash of accepting “Zionist” money to “spew lies about the Palestinian people.”

“You call yourself a journalist. Report the truth. But instead, you want millions from Zionists. You want millions from AIPAC,” she said, referring to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. “You’re taking millions, and you’re living in that house all alone, that multi-million dollar house.”

“You lie about people who have been bombed in hospitals. You lie about the students and the encampments. They are just trying to exercise their free speech to help their family and friends back home,” the protester continued. 

Video of the confrontation circulated on social media. Bash was at the bookstore promoting her new history book, America’s Deadliest Election, alongside journalist Kara Swisher. 

BREAKING: CNN’s Dana Bash had her event, America’s Deadliest Election, at DC Bookstore, Politics and Prose, interrupted multiple times by pro-Palestine protesters who accused her of being complicit in genocide.

Bash’s response: “Take off your mask.” pic.twitter.com/mSPk4MFAbK

— Stu (@thestustustudio) September 6, 2024

Numerous figures in the Jewish community immediately came to Bash’s defense. 

Fellow CNN anchor Jake Tapper, who is also Jewish, called the targeting of Bash an example of “antisemitism.”

“These protesters target Dana at her home and this event because she’s Jewish,” he posted on X/Twitter. “There is nothing about her coverage of the Israel-Hamas war that is different from most other news coverage, covering both Jewish/Israeli and Palestinian pain. This harassment is antisemitism.”

Tapper himself faced a deluge of antisemitic criticism from anti-Israel social media personalities.

“Lot of this today…From the Left AND the Right! Horseshoe theory,” Tapper wrote in response to several posts attacking him for being Jewish and a Zionist.

US lawmakers even commented on the targeting of Bash and Tapper.

“Pro-Hamas agitators are trying to bully college students, elected officials, and now even the press into silence. Good on Dana for standing up to them,” said Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY).