Anti-Semitic 9/11 conspiracist set to speak to progressive Jewish groups

NEW YORK — An author who has blamed Israel and the Jews for 9/11 will speak in Brooklyn at a workspace for progressive groups.Christopher Bollyn will speak Wednesday about “9-11 and Our Political Crisis” at The Brooklyn Commons.The description for the event, which was reported on by the progressive Jewish site Jew School, calls 9/11 a “false flag terrorist act” and says “Bollyn’s message is a rare voice exposing the neocons and their Zionist partners-in-crime who had the means, motive, and opportunity to pull off this game-changing event.”Bollyn was one of the first people to promote conspiracy theories linking the 2001 terrorist attacks with Jews and Israel, according to the Anti-Defamation League.On his website, he accuses Jews of controlling the government and the media, and quotes “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” a notorious anti-Semitic screed that purports to describe a Jewish plan for world domination.Nine organizations affiliated with the venue condemned the event.“[W]e reject the anti-Semitic politics of Christopher Bollyn,” read a statement by the groups. “We do not have any say in event booking and management at the Commons but agree that such politics should have no place in leftist spaces.”New York City Councilman Brad Lander called the lecture “highly distressing” in a Twitter post.