Story and photos by Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO — In rallying in support of Israel , the Jewish Federation of San Diego County demonstrated it has a big heart but a small speakers’ platform.
Several leaders who did speak at Nobel Park expressed compassion on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 18, for civilian victims on both sides of the Gaza -Israel border, saying that Israel was now engaged in military action against the terrorist organization Hamas and not against the people of Gaza.
In demonstration of the point, Claire Ellman, chair of the Jewish Federation, announced that stuffed animals that had been brought by attendees of the rally for the children of Israel would also be distributed to the children of Gaza, if a way could be found to do so.
She also announced that in an emergency session, the board of the Jewish Federation had appropriated $50,000 for relief of civilian victims in the war.
On the program with Ellman were Michael Sonduck, the interim president of the Jewish Federation; Congresswoman Susan Davis, who is a member of the House Armed Services Committee; Rabbi Michael Berk, senior rabbi of the Reform Congregation Beth Israel and this year’s president of San Diego Rabbinical Association; Israeli Deputy Consul General Uri Resnick; Yosi Herzog, a former IDF soldier who now serves as an education ambassador for the pro-Israel advocacy group Stand With Us; songleaders Cara Friedman and Tibi Zohar, who led the crowd in the Star Spangled Banner and Hatikvah; the Tarbuton Children’s Choir which sang “Lu Yehi” (“I Wish It Were So”); and, Rabbi Jeff Wohlgelernter, spiritual leader of the Orthodox Congregation Adat Yeshurun, who offered prayers both for government leaders and for members of the Israel Defense Force.
Seated or standing at the side of the podium were San Diego’s Mayor-elect Bob Filner, who will take office as head of the city early next month; Congressman-elect Scott Peters; and aides to Congressman-elect Juan Vargas and Congressman Duncan Hunter. Filner, who still is a voting member of Congress, had offered to say a few words, but his offer was declined. “I think that’s a mistake,” a disappointed Filner told San Diego Jewish World.
Asked later why the Jewish Federation was unwilling to add the mayor-elect to the program, Sonduck responded: “The organizers of the program planned a community-involving program. There were lots of public speakers here, lots of new and existing public officials. We asked Congresswoman Susan Davis to represent the community; she has been the longest serving elected official of the people who were here, and that is who we asked.”
(In this Sonduck was apparently misinformed. Filner was elected in 1992 to Congress, in which he remains a member until he resigns to take the oath as mayor; while Davis was not elected to Congress until 2000.)
Although there was no official crowd count, the rally seemed to have met Jewish community organizers hopes that up to 1,000 people would be in attendance. The rally was organized via email and telephone calls in the wake of the flare-up of rocket and missile fire along the Gaza-Israel border, and the mobilization of Israeli reserve troops for a possible ground operation against Hamas.
On the edge of the rally, Palestinians who were vastly outnumbered by the Israel supporters chanted anti-Israel slogans–some of them recycled from the U.S. war in Vietnam, such as “Hey, hey, what do you say, how many kids did you kill today?” Police officers kept the smaller Palestinian group away from the Israel rally, and upon dispersing the rally, Ellman called for those attending to leave the park in a different direction than where the Palestinians had stationed themselves so as to avoid any incidents.
Rabbi Berk set the tone of the speakers remarks when he pointed out that two Jewish holidays follow each other in close succession: Purim and Passover. He said Purim teaches that Jews must not be naive, but instead must be able to defend themselves. On the other hand, he added, Passover teaches that people should not take joy in their enemy’s defeat, but feel compassion. He shared a midrash about God chastising his angels who wanted to join in the Israelites’ singing and dancing after the Egyptian forces sent by Pharaoh drowned in the sea. He told the heavenly host not to celebrate the demise of the work of His hands.
“I cannot recall ever Israelis taking to the streets to sing and dance after a remarkably successful pinpoint attack to kill someone who had done terrible things to Jewish men, women and children– Never!” Berk said. “This is not who we are. We don’t drag the bodies of our enemies out for public humiliation.”
Uri Resnick, Israel’s deputy consul general stationed in Los Angeles, said that “we deeply regret and empathize with those civilian innocent victims on both sides of this conflict.”
He stated that Israel “goes to tremendous lengths to avoid civilian casualties. The IDF has distributed tens of thousands of fliers to residents of Gaza to warn them to distance themselves from the terrorists … The IDF has made phone calls to thousands of Gazan citizens — what other army in the world would do this?”
While Israel is willing “to do very much for peace” the country is “not willing to sit idly by while terrorists fire thousands of missiles at our people,” Resnick added. “We will not resign ourselves to a reality in which sudden death can land at any moment from the sky on our children. And we will not destine our children to a life of fear and terror.”
Congresswoman Davis said that the conflict had already claimed “far too many innocent lives in both Israel and Gaza.” However, she said, this was a conflict not of Israel’s making, but of Hamas’s which has been firing hundreds of rockets at Israel.
Some of the rockets have fallen in Sha’ar Hanegev, the partnership region of San Diego’s Jewish Federation, Sonduck noted. He said that a firefighter from Nahal Oz was seriously injured in one of the attacks.
In the audience was Rachel Baranes, a private, Hebrew-language teacher now living in San Diego whose cousin Itzik Amsalem, 24, who resided in Kiryat Malachi “was killed Thursday morning (November 15) along with two others — a pregnant woman and an elderly man. What happened: the whole night he was going to the shelter, up and down (from a fourth-floor apartment), and this one time, he missed. ” Ironically, she noted, the surname “Amsalem” means “the nation of peace.”
Notwithstanding her cousin’s death, she said in an interview, “I still think we should continue the peace process. It’s difficult. Since 2007, we have been hit with over 12,000 missiles. Even today, we have been attacked by an aggressor. It has to stop. There are only three things that we are asking from the Palestinians. First they should put down their arms. Second, recognize Israel as a Jewish state. And three, to demilitarize. If those three things were to happen there would be peace.”
Herzog, a former Israeli soldier, told the crowd that Israelis and Americans stand together for freedom, shoulder to shoulder against the onslaught of Islamist fundamentalism.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com
As a Republican, I say it was disgraceful that very liberal Congressman, Mayor-elect Bob Filner was excluded from the podium. The purpose of the rally was to be inclusive in support of Israel. A public apology should be made to Bob Filner.
As to R. Berk, maybe in the safety of his minyan it is impolite to celebrate the death of a murderer out to kill Jews. Israelis have better sense.
As to the motley pro-Palestinians there, I and my family refused to exit to avoid them but walked through them. To see what happened, read here: http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/archives/21014-Stand-With-Israel-Rally.html#comments
As far as I’m concerned, those who — no matter how pro-Israel — argue to be polite to homegrown pro-Palistinians are as foolish and dangerous as those who counsel Israel to be polite to its enemies.