SAN DIEGO — The meeting on Thursday evening, July 26, to organize a San Diego chapter of J Street, the lobbying group that describes itself as pro-Israel and pro-peace, will draw pickets from the conservative Zionist Organization of America, local ZOA President Howard Dyckman has announced. “J Street is not only far left; although they claim to be pro-Israel, they have crossed the line and have taken positions that are anti-Israel. We in ZOA feel it is important to make people aware of the facts,” Dyckman stated in a press release.Murray Galinson, a local philanthropist and Democratic party activist, who while not a spokesman for J Street has lent his name to the organizing meeting, disagreed with Dyckman’s characterization of J Street. He said he considers the organization quite pro-Israel, adding that it takes position intended to bring about peace and improve Israel’s position in world opinion.
Galinson complimented Dyckman for calling in his press release for a peaceful protest without confrontation.
“I’m pleased that they plan to be very civil, with no shouting,” Galinson said. In the ZOA press release, Dyckman wrote: “We want to be sure our demonstration is dignified and non-disruptive. Please no shouting. No harassment of people going in to the meeting. We just want to make people aware of our opposition to J Street and give them our fact sheet with details.” The J Street meeting has been scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday evening, July 26, at the old Temple Beth Israel building in Heritage Park in the Old Town section of San Diego. The ZOA protesters plan to bring their picket signs to the site about 5:45 p.m.
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Kavod Elementary Charter School, which was to begin this fall as a public charter school at which Hebrew language was to be emphasized, has delayed its debut for one year to September 2013.
Organizers of the school had located a building in the Clairemont area of San Diego in which to conduct classes, but the building could not be brought in time into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), according to one parent who planned to enroll her child in kindergarten there.
Tamar Caspi Shnall , board president and founder of the Kavod Elementary School, notified parents on Wednesday that the school’s directors and senior staff have decided “to delay the opening of the school until 2013.
“Our facilities are not going to be ready in time for the deadline set by the San Diego Unified School District and rather than wait until September 4th and compromise the integrity of the school, we have chosen to make this difficult decision now in order to give parents more time to make arrangements for the coming school year,” Shnall said.
“We plan on using this extra year to create an even stronger infrastructure and broader base,” Shnall told the parents. “Thank you so much for all you have done for Kavod Elementary this summer, we truly appreciate your support and we look forward to updating you with exciting developments in the near future.”
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com