Stand With Us speaker calls for military action against Iran

Story by Donald H. Harrison; photos by Herb Targum

SAN DIEGO — It was a catered first anniversary party for the San Diego chapter of Stand With Us but for most of the evening, Wednesday, Sept. 5,  the mood of the estimated 500 guests was far from celebratory as the substitute main speaker, Wall Street Journal columnist Bret Stephens. laid out the necessity for bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Stephens, a former editor of the Jerusalem Post, likened Israel’s “grim” situation to the existential crisis it faced just before the Six Day War of 1967 when much of the world was either siding with the Arabs, or urging Israel to allow diplomacy to deal with enemies who were clearly preparing for war.

The columnist told supporters of the year-old Israel advocacy group, that just as Israel’s leaders were courageous standing up to the threats of Egypt and Syria in 1967, so too is courage necessary to deal with the leaders of militaristic Iran.

To make himself heard, Stephens had to deal with a brief sound system failure as well as wait out the roar of numerous Lindbergh Field-bound jets flying at low altitudes over the rotunda of the San Diego Air & Space Museum in Balboa Park, which is just below the flight path.

He said the latest report of the International Atomic Energy Agency indicated that Iran has enriched 200 kilograms of uranium to a 20 percent level.  Translated into lay terms, he said, that means Iran is about 87 percent of the way towards sufficiently enriched uranium to make a nuclear bomb.  He said 250 kilograms are required, and that Iran is only months away from realizing nuclear weapons, having deceived the world about its real intentions.

While Iran deceived, he said, the United States self-deceived, telling itself that computer-virus warfare and economic sanctions would persuade the Iranians to give up their nuclear program.  However, he said, Iran’s leaders were willing to send children to clear minefields during that country’s war with Iraq.  Concerning sanctions, he said, it is folly to believe that such a country would care about the increase in the cost of diapers.

Another example of self-deception is the argument heard in some corners of Washington that the United States can live with a nuclear Iran, Stephens said.  After all, goes the argument, Russia had the bomb, Communist China had the bomb, North Korea has it, why not Iran?

He said Iran senses American weakness, especially now that American strategy seems to be less about containing Iran and more about containing Israel, which is being painted increasingly as a war-mongering country.

He said there needs to be far more clarity in Washington about exactly what it will mean if Iran becomes a nuclear power. He predicted that in such an event, America will be pushed initially out of the Persian Gulf and eventually out of the entire Middle East.

Stephens attributed more self delusion to the American media, which has dismissed comments by Iran’s President  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about wiping Israel off the map as simply a metaphor for Israel as a Zionist state evolving into a state with another form, like the independent nation state of Texas became part of the United States.

But various ayatollahs have described Israel as a cancer that needs to be excised, and have even talked about Iran being better able than Israel to survive a nuclear war, Stephens said.

These speeches by Iranian leaders, as horrifying as they are, are doing the world a favor —  like the blast of a shofar they should galvanize Israel and the United States into action, said the columnist.

“It is not half time, it is crunch time,” Stephens declared.  Unless action is taken, Iran will be allowed to tiptoe across a nuclear line.

Stephens said Israel is well aware of the consequences of attacking Iran.  Besides the rain of missiles that will hit Israel from Iran, more rockets will be fired by the Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.  Casualties will be worse for Israel than in the Yom Kippur War;  it will be the greatest crisis in its military history, Stephens said.

The columnist wound up his presentation to Stand With Us by saying that in the world today, Israel has many phony friends, who give the Jewish state lip service, but condition their support for it on such issues as withdrawing its settlements or withdrawing to the boundaries it occupied before the Six Day War.

Real friends are those who make themselves counted when it counts, said Stephens to cheers.

Stephens was a pinch-hitting speaker for Douglas Murray, a conservative British  television and print commentator, who is considered a friend of Israel and a foe of fundamentalist Islam.  Speakers said that he was detained by U.S. Immigration officials and sent back to Britain on grounds that his visa did not permit him to accept paid speaking engagements in the United States.

Panicked when she learned that her guest of honor would not be available for Stand With Us’s big bash — for which some guests who attended a buffet dinner before the speeches paid $125 — Audrey Jacobs, regional director of Stand With Us, telephoned Stephens and persuaded him to fly from the East Coast to San Diego.   He agreed, but played a practical joke on her– calling her to say he had missed his flight.  Luckily for Jacobs, she overheard directions being given to passengers  by flight attendants.

A feature of the Stand With Us celebration was an appearance on stage by El Al pilot Boaz Roseman and flight attendant Lana Shalit-Ravitz, who have joined El Al’s program in which its personnel speak up for Israel during their layovers in foreign countries.   Shalit, who did all the talking during their brief presentation, said that she was a child immigrant to Israel from the former Soviet Union, and that she grew up to marry a Jew whose roots were in Morocco, an indication of Israel’s multiculturalism.  Models of El Al planes inside the Air & Space Museum were juxtaposed with full-scale airplanes from other nations that were on display.

Master of ceremonies for the event was Marcus J. Freed, a British actor who also serves as director of the Bibliyoga company, which Stand With Us regional director Audrey Jacobs described as teaching “Kosher Jewish yoga.” Freed drew ahhs of approval when he blew the shofar to start off the evening’s proceedings, and lingered longer than most people can on a long, unwavering “tekiah godol.”

Tibi Zohar led the crowd in singing the national anthems of both the United States and Israel, and held a note almost as long as Freed did, as he sustained the last syllable of the word “Yerushalayim” in the Hatikvah.    Other music was provided by a band led by local musician and Spanish-language TV and radio personality Zeji Ozeri.

Both Roz Rothstein, the founder of Stand With Us, and Jacobs, the San Diego regional director, addressed the group, with Rothstein, a daughter of Holocaust survivors who began the organization 11 years ago in Los Angeles, saying that of the 16 chapters in the Stand With Us organization, San Diego grew to large size more quickly than any other — a tribute to Jacobs’ organizational ability.

Jacobs, who was described by Freed as the “Golda Meir of San Diego,” described herself as verklempt (choked up) as she heard the sustained applause.

Thanking Charles Wax and Bruce Abrams for serving as the event’s co-chairs, she announced that rental fees, food, and other expenses had all been paid for, so therefore whatever money would be raised from donations that evening would go entirely to Stand With Us programs, which include advocacy for Israel on college campuses, countering anti-Israel demonstrations, speaking up for Israel in media interviews, and developing pro-Israel educational programs.

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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World.  He may be contacted at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com