http://www.jewishjournal.com/israel/article/leaders_crowds_rally_to_support_israel_in_losangeles/ Leaders, Crowds Rally to support Israel in Los Angeles
By Ryan Torok
(Photo by Jill Cutler)
(Photo by Jill Cutler)
Leaders, Crowds Rally to support Israel in Los Angeles
A large crowd of demonstrators closed down Wilshire Boulevard in front of the Israeli Consulate in mid-city Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon, June 2, to show support for Israel and listen to dozens of speeches by city, state and Jewish leaders. Organizers of the rally estimated a turnout of approximately 3,000 people.
Appearances by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Israeli Consul Jacob Dayan, numerous rabbis and political and other Jewish leaders addressed the crowd, which followed a week of local protests for and against Israel following the boarding by Israeli navy commandos on May 31 of a flotilla of ships carrying aid to Gaza. Nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed on one of the ships in the incident.Sunday’s rally was organized by the consulate, the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and multiple other groups to send a message of solidarity with Israel to the international community. Israel has been widely criticized for the deaths onboard the Mavi Marmara during the ships’ attempt to cross Israel’s long-established blockade of Gaza.
Throughout the afternoon Sunday, the crowd waved both Israeli and American flags and carried signs reading slogans like, “Shame on Turkey,” a reference to the fact that the flotilla was sponsored by Turkey, an ally of Israel before the incident. Other signs said, “Stop Launching Rockets from Gaza,” a message to the terrorist-led Hamas government in Gaza, which has repeatedly sent rockets to nearby Israeli towns, hurting and killing civilians.
Standing behind a giant banner with the words, “L.A. Supports Israel” Gov. Schwarzenegger spoke of his longtime support for Israel, “going way back into my body building and showbiz days,” he said.
As he spoke to the crowd, standing alongside Dayan, Schwarzenegger used the opportunity to make a plea to the crowd to cry out for the release of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier captured by Hamas in 2006 who is still being held in captivity. In front of the crowd, Schwarzenegger made a phone call to Noam Shalit, Gilad’s father.
“We’re all thinking about you and thinking about your son Gilad,” Schwarzenegger said into the phone. “We hope he will be released as soon as possible.”
Schwarzenegger held the phone to his microphone for everyone to hear Shalit’s response, and Dayan repeated the message for those who couldn’t hear. Shalit described his son’s captivity as a “never ending nightmare” and said “Hamas is holding Gilad in a very cynical way, for extortion, in order to gain [on their own] political interests.”
“I want to use this opportunity to call on everyone here,” Shalit said. “Please help us release our son Gilad. Please help us, before it is too late.”
Jay Sanderson, president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, introduced each of the day’s speakers. Calling Dayan to the microphone, he called the consul general “the heart and soul of our community.”
Dayan described the international outcry against Israel an attempt to delegitimize the Jewish state by way of provocation and misinformation. “Enough of the campaign of lies spread by the defenders of terror,” Dayan said. “Those on the flotilla were not peace activists,” he said.
“They were terrorists!” a voice from the crowd responded.
“Wake up,” he said repeatedly, addressing the international community and receiving enormous applause from the crowd. “Israel is on the front line of the free world.” The United States of America, he said, is Israel’s greatest ally. Dayan also denounced the IHH, a Turkish humanitarian organization that sponsored the flotilla, pointing to the organization’s alleged connections to Hamas.
The crowd did not react as favorably to a speech by David Pine, west coast regional director for Peace Now. The organization’s mission calls for the “evacuation of settlements and the creation of a viable Palestinian state,” and boos from demonstrators drowned out Pine’s words at the microphone. Sanderson tried to mitigate the situation, stepping in and saying, “The difference between us and our enemies is we respect all points of view…Stop now. Let’s stop now,” but the crowd continued to be disruptive to Pine, with someone yelling out “Traitor!”Michael Weiner, a demonstrator from Manhattan Beach, said Pine’s views do not represent his own. Of Peace Now, Weiner said, “they want to push peace with the Palestinians even if it means giving in to their demands. I didn’t hear much because of the booing, but in general, I’m sorry, I don’t agree with him…they want much more than even some left-wing Israelis would give.”
Other speakers received warmer receptions, including actor Jon Voight, who denounced President Obama for not supporting Israel “in the way he promised.” Voight also said that to end the blockade of Hamas-controlled Gaza would be “suicide for Israel.”Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, condemned longtimeWhite House press correspondent Helen Thomas for her recent remarks that Jews should “get the hell out of Palestine” and “go back home to Poland, Germany, America and everywhere else.” Hier said Thomas’ statement “shows off her bigotry”, and he added that “the Jews are not in Palestine. They’re in the State of Israel, where they belong, where their ancestors lived for 2,000 years.”
City controller Wendy Greuel asked the crowd why the international community is condemning Israel and not Hamas, saying, “Where is the outrage from the international community that Israel must impose a blockade in the first place?”
Roz Rothstein, CEO of StandWithUs, complained that Israel is being held to a double standard:“Israel is being condemned guilty before being proven guilty,” Rothstein said.
Among the congregational rabbis who spoke were Rabbi David Wolpe of Sinai Temple, Rabbi Denise Eger of congregation Kol-Ami, who is also president of the Board of Rabbis, and Rabbi Sharon Brous of IKAR. Wolpe took a somewhat lighter approach:“We are here because of love,” he told the crowd in a brief address, while Eger focused on why Israel’s blockade of Gaza is necessary –Hamas. “The city of Gaza is oppressed by a violent regime,” she said.
Brous acknowledged that the deaths of the activists onboard the Marmara were tragic and unfortunate, but raised the hope that the events should be used as means to bridge the divide between Israelis and Palestinians, to “transform tragedy into possibility” and “create a Palestinian country by [Israel’s] side.”
Among the politicians present was Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who echoed Wolpe’s statement: “I love Israel, and I love the Jewish people,” Bachmann said. “In this hour, we will not be silent. Israel is our greatest ally. Israel is our greatest friend.”
Steve Poizner, California state insurance commissioner, who is running in the Tuesday’s Republican primary for governor, brought Iran into the conversation, calling on President Obama “to crack down on Iran.”
The rally also featured singing and Israeli dancing. Cantor Nathan Lamb of Stephen S. Wise Temple led the crowd in singing both the Israeli and American national anthems. At the end of the rally,
Daniel Pereg, a local teenager who received a great deal of attention this week for being the sole pro-Israel demonstrator to wave Israel’s flag at an anti-Israel demonstration, came onstage to sing the Hatikvah again with Dayan.
There were no security checks at the rally, but Marina Rozhansky, speaking on behalf of the Israeli consulate’s office in Los Angeles, said precautions were taken to ensure the safety of the crowd.
“We were working with the LAPD and the state department, and they had security procedures down,” Rozhansky said. “It was very heavily secured.”
Problems with the sound system also brought complaints that the speakers could not be heard. Rozhansky said sound checks earlier in the day had not indicated problems, but they had not anticipated the size of the crowd, which may have caused the problems.
The lineup of speakers also included Jewish Journal columnist Judea Pearl, president of the Daniel Pearl Foundation; Los Angeles City Councilmembers Paul Koretz and Janice Hahn; State Assembly Member Mike Feuer; Chairman of The Jewish Federation Richard Sandler,; Congressman Brad Sherman;
California State Senator Curren Price; American-Israeli community leader Eli Tene, as well as several Christian Clergymembers
Topic: Big rally in L.A. for Israel peace now speaker Booed, Voight and Bachmann there (Read 863 times)