J Street is outraged by the violence perpetrated last week by members of the Jewish Defense League (JDL) against peaceful protesters outside the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, DC.

We are glad that the assailants, who seriously wounded a Palestinian-American professor and a member of the anti-occupation group IfNotNow, have been arrested and charged with assault and hate crimes. We stand firmly behind the rights of non-violent protestors to protest without intimidation, harassment and assault.

The JDL is an ultra-nationalist Jewish hate group with a long history of violent attacks on both Muslims and Jews in Israel, the United States, and around the world. There can be zero tolerance for their radical brand of hate and xenophobia. Pro-Israel and American Jewish organizations must be vigilant to ensure that this violent extremism is not allowed to take root anywhere in our communities, and to uproot it if it does.