Russian Jews do battle with Israel foes at Boston rallies
By Hinda Mandell
The Jewish Advocate
When it came to speaking up for the Jewish state at several rallies protesting Israel's offensive in Lebanon this summer, one group was especially well represented at the barricades: members of Boston's Russian Jewish community.
This mobilizing effort represents a marked contrast with mainstream Jewish agencies that often organize their own Israel solidarity rallies rather than assert themselves as a reactive counter presence.
"With regard to confronting anti-Israel forces, we are very strategic in the actions that we take," said Seth Brysk, director of the Israel Action Center, an agency under the Jewish Community Relations Council. "That means we also don't take certain actions."
Last Friday, an estimated 30 counter-protesters, the vast majority of them Russian Jews, waved American and Israeli flags across the street from a rally organized by Justice for Lebanon at Copley Square that drew hundreds of supporters.
The Russian Jews' activism has led to national exposure. Seva Brodsky, a former electrical and software engineer who is now a law student in Boston, was a guest on Fox TV's "Hannity & Colmes" after he was verbally and physically assaulted while videotaping a rally held late last month by the Muslim American Society at Boston's City Hall Plaza.
Asked at last Friday's rally whether he intentionally acts as a provocateur, Brodsky admits that he is trying to pinpoint anti-Israel activists' weak spots. "That's just tough if they can't behave in a civilized manner," he said.
Brodksy makes no apologies for acting in a sometimes combative, if nonviolent, manner. "It's a media war," he said "It's a battle for the hearts and minds of the American public."
Brodsky's video recording of the July 21 rally was posted on the right-of-center, Boston-based blog Solomonia.com, where Brodsky posed the question: "Why was it that I was the only pro-Israel person who was out in the open?"
In an effort to answer his own question, Brodsky organized a counter-rally on July 28 for a Justice for Lebanon event at Copley Square. About a dozen counter- protesters showed up then, the majority of them Russian Jews.
According to Greg Margolin, editor and publisher of the Jewish Russian Telegraph Web site in Boston, the lack of a strong Jewish American presence at these counter rallies is not because the organizer is a Russian Jew – and therefore better connected with the Russian Jewish community.
"Seva knows a lot of people, and it is hard to find another person who would be so well-connected in the American Jewish community," said Margolin.
Charles Jacobs, founder and president of the Israel advocacy group The David Project, backed that view.
"Every city I've been to, the Russian Jews have been at the forefront of Jewish causes," he said.
Members of the Russian Jewish community said that having grown up under a totalitarian regime, they are familiar with fear tactics and the workings of the propaganda machine – not to mention institutionalized anti-Semitism. They said they will not hesitate to speak out in support of Israel when they view it is under attack.
"Basically, Russians played an active role in starting this [counter- protest]," said Serge Bologov, president of the League of Russian Voters and executive director of the Russian Community Association of Massachusetts. "Also, because Russians have been through a lot, generally speaking, they know you have to fight for your freedom."
Whether in-your-face counter- protests are an effective way to respond to anti-Israel messages, however, is subject to debate.
According to Brysk of the Israel Action Center, one concern is that by generating strife at rallies, anti-Israel groups are given a higher platform.
"The first few times [there were anti-Israel rallies], there was no press coverage because there was no local conflict for the press to cover," Brysk said.
Martin Solomon, of Solomonia.com, said that it's a given that at a counter-protest that you want to maintain the higher ground. "And that's always the danger when you're out there," he said. "You want to put a positive face on it."
Solomon suggested that the lack of a strong native-born Jewish American presence at the counter- rallies was due to the negativity associated with people expressing their politics in public, particularly if they are in the minority both as a religious group and as part of a counter-protest. "We've learned to be quiet about our Jewishness. There's a little bit of shame," he said.
Margolin of the Jewish Russian Telegraph agreed with that premise. "American Jews are plain scared. You can spin it any way you want it. We lived through the KGB, some of us. This freedom we have in America is a very, very precious thing to us. Clearly we will not be scared."
