A Jewish group that has protested Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza is suing the City of Miami Beach, its mayor and a commissioner, accusing them of violating the group’s First Amendment rights by trying to silence their protests.

Jewish Voice for Peace South Florida, the local chapter of a group that calls itself “the largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organization in the world,” filed the lawsuit on Wednesday after what it describes as repeated attempts to stifle dissent, including calling for an injunction blocking an ordinance passed last year restricting protests.

The ordinance does not mention Israel or Palestine, but was passed by the Miami Beach City Commission in the wake of several pro-Palestine protests by the group. The policy prohibits protesters from blocking streets or sidewalks, making it a crime to obstruct a public right of way after being ordered to leave by police. The ordinance says police should provide protesters an “adequate and available alternative forum” nearby.

“The Miami Beach commission passed a flatly unconstitutional anti-protest ordinance that attempts to give police 100% discretion to silence protesters whenever they or the mayor sees fit,” Katherine Giannamore, the group’s attorney, said at the Wednesday press conference.

She said the group seeks to “invalidate the unconstitutional ordinance.”

Mayor Steven Meiner did not respond to a request for comment. A City of Miami Beach spokesperson declined to comment, saying the city had not confirmed that the lawsuit had been filed, though court records show a summons has been issued to the mayor informing him of the complaint.

Commissioner David Suarez, named as a defendant in the lawsuit, made a brief appearance at Wednesday’s press conference, zipping in front of reporters on an electric scooter. He did not make any remarks, but afterward provided a statement to the Miami Herald.

“We are in a time where antisemitism is on the rise everywhere in the world,” he said. “Miami Beach is and will continue to be a beacon for Jews to live and prosper safely and freely without persecution or intimidation.”

Convention center protests

Jewish Voice for Peace South Florida staged several high-profile, pro-Palestine protests in Miami Beach over the past two years, drawing scrutiny from Meiner and several commissioners.

During Art Basel in December 2023, protesters gathered outside the Miami Beach Convention Center, where artists unfurled a “Let Palestine Live” banner. About 100 demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

Police kept them away from the entrance, arresting two people — one for resisting arrest without violence and the other for resisting without violence and disorderly conduct.

Days later, Meiner placed an item on the City Commission agenda noting protesters’ use of the slogan, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” His proposal called for setting “parameters for reasonable time, place and manner restrictions for protests, including discussion of incitement to violence vs. free speech,” and for requiring police to notify elected officials within an hour of learning about upcoming demonstrations.

The measure never made it to a vote but resurfaced months later after another protest by the group on March 11, 2024.

That day, Miami Beach police directed pro-Palestinian activists away from the Aspen Ideas Climate Conference, designating a “free speech zone” nearly 200 yards from the Convention Center’s entrance. According to the lawsuit, this made it impossible for protesters “to hand flyers to attendees … or have them read their signs.” The group says its goal was to “bring attention to Israel’s ongoing destruction in Gaza and in particular on climate-related issues in Gaza.”

At the following City Commission meeting on March 13 when the ordinance was passed, a Jewish Voice for Peace member accused Meiner of trying to “put us in a place where we couldn’t be seen or heard … at the climate justice gathering,” the lawsuit reads.

The mayor responded: “To the extent that you mention it, I’m actually proud of it,” the lawsuit states. Meiner later added that he moved protesters in part because he “did not want the images that we’ve seen on other occasions,” referencing the widely circulated photos of the “Let Palestine Live” banner at Art Basel, according to the lawsuit.

Israel’s war campaign in Gaza has increasingly drawn criticism on a global stage. This week, the prime minister of Spain announced an arms embargo against Israel, saying the effort is aimed at stopping what he called “genocide” in Gaza. Local officials in Gaza say more than 64,000 people have been killed there during the war, according to the Associated Press.

Supporters of Israel, which launched its offensive after Hamas terrorists entered the country on Oct. 7, 2023 and killed more than 1,200 civilians — including women and children — have pushed back strongly against claims that the nation is engaged in genocide.

‘Question our Jewish identities’

Various members of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) who spoke at Wednesday’s press conference said that Meiner has questioned their Jewish identities for their anti-Israel views and for speaking up for Gaza.

Donna Nevel, a lifelong Miami Beach resident and JVP member, said her activism is rooted in her upbringing in a Jewish community shaped by Holocaust survivors. She recalled hearing stories “often translated for me from Yiddish” that left her with one lesson: “Silence is complicity,” she told reporters outside of Miami Beach City Hall

Now, she said, that lesson drives her opposition to “Israel’s horrifying genocide against the Palestinian people of Gaza … (and) starvation campaign against the entire population.”

“As much as Mayor Meiner and Commissioner Suarez wish to silence our voices, they will not succeed,” Nevel said.

Hayley Margolis, another speaker, said that “as Jewish Americans, now is the time to speak up against Israel to stop starving Gaza.”

“The United States needs to stop sending bombs to a country that never represented the Jewish values of human rights and social justice,” she said.

Nevel said Meiner and Suarez have yelled over JVP members, shut off their mics and accused them of not “actually being Jewish” during public hearings.

“I’m not sure when determining who is or isn’t Jewish became part of their job descriptions, and of course, trying to deny our right to protest,” Nevel said.

The lawsuit asks a federal court to declare both the city’s anti-protest ordinance and the Miami Beach Police Department’s actions unconstitutional, arguing they violate the First Amendment rights of JVP and its members.

The group vowed to continue protesting, calling on the U.S. government to halt funding and support for “Israel’s genocide and starvation campaign,” urging elected officials to oppose U.S. military aid to Israel and denouncing South Florida governments for their “complicity” and investment in Israel Bonds.

“This lawsuit is about our rights under the First Amendment,” said Ken Barnes, a member of JVP. “We did, in fact, protest on a public sidewalk, and it is for us, the protesters, to decide where, when, and what to protest, not the mayor, commissioners or police.”

In attendance at Wednesday’s press conference was Wilfredo Ruiz, communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations Florida.

“Mayor Meiner and Commissioner Suarez represent the antithesis of our what our country is, of what our city is,” Ruiz said. “This is the United States of America, and we cherish our freedom of speech, and our freedom of speech have cost many Muslims, Jews, Christians, Atheists, their sweat, blood and tears, and we’re not going to give up that right.”

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