A group of peaceful pro-Palestine protesters in New Jersey faced the shock of their lives when a rude man flipped them off and even encouraged his daughter to do the same. A viral video posted on Reddit captured the moment a group of protesters were speaking up against the Israel-Gaza war. “Parents teaching their kids hate at Israeli flag raising in New Jersey,” the caption read. They could be heard chanting into speakerphone, “free Palestine!” and “Israel bombs kids!” The protest appeared well-organized, as several security personnel and police officers were seen walking around.
However, a young man dressed in a plaid printed shirt, a pair of jeans, and sunglasses, walked past the protesters and rudely held up two middle fingers. He moved closer to the group of protesters and called one of them a “motherf*cker” before walking over to his daughter, who appeared to be between eight and 11 years old.
Pointing to the protesters, the culprit raised two middle fingers again and gestured to his daughter to do the same. After brief hesitation, the little girl flipped off the protesters, too. Her father nodded in support and kissed her affectionately on her forehead. The protester recording the video called out the man for his actions, saying, “Oh, you got your daughter to give us the finger?” but the man ignored him and walked on.
In the comment section, several users reacted to the incident, pointing out that the man was teaching his daughter to become hateful. One user commented, “Hate isn’t instinctive, it’s taught,” and another agreed, “Hate isn’t born into a person. It’s taught.”
A user admitted to feeling bad for the daughter because she had no choice, and “he forced her to do that smh.” Another user remarked, “These people are indoctrinated into hatred and ethnic supremacy. As the phrase goes in my country, they didn’t lick it off the ground.” Another added, “Israelis: teach religious supremacy in public school and also accuse others of indoctrination.”
Enraged, one user asked, “What kind of grown man tantrums out in public and devolves into a finger throwing mess in front of his kid?”
Despite the man’s efforts to destabilize the gathering, the protesters carried on, not paying attention to his rude gestures. The security personnel and police officers present at the protest appeared oblivious to the interruption and looked on as the group continued.
