Rallying for Israel
By Edward A. Brown
Brookline TAB
A sea of Israel supporters chanted, sang and prayed in front of Congregation Kehillath Israel on Harvard Street Tuesday, emphatically declaring its support for the Jewish nation in the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict.
Almost 2,500 people wore stickers, waved flags and held placards displaying pro-Israel slogans at the rally, which was sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council and Combined Jewish Philanthropies.
The rally was organized in response to escalating violence in Lebanon and Israel over the past week. Rockets and missiles have rocked each country since two Israeli soldiers were kidnapped by militant forces last Wednesday.
A number of speakers braved the sweltering heat and threat of thunderstorms to deliver rousing speeches to receptive spectators.
"Israel did not instigate this conflict - we are not trigger-happy, and violent confrontation is not our preferred lifestyle," said Meir Shlomo, consul general of Israel to New England. "All we want for our people is that which is taken for granted by any other people or by any other country and rightly so - a peaceful, ordinary life."
"Israel prefers diplomacy, but when our enemies force us to meet at the battleground, we will rise to the challenge and they will find us stronger and more united than ever," he said, adding that "Syria and Iran's poisonous influence" has placed Lebanese sovereignty under threat.
Rabbi William Hamilton, leader of the host Congregation Kehillath Israel, praised the various Jewish constituencies for uniting at the event. He then turned his attention to those caught in the middle of the turmoil.
"Our hearts do go out to the innocents in Lebanon and Gaza that did nothing to earn their place in the cross-hairs of this bloody conflict," he said.
Hamilton had harsher words for the Hezbollah, the Islamic group that captured two Israeli soldiers last Wednesday and has since launched rocket attacks on Israeli cities, including Haifa, Boston's sister city in Israel.
"Why does the vision of Arab and Israeli children playing together, dreaming together, require you to spill blood?" he asked. "Israel will disarm and defeat Hezbollah, the world's largest terrorist organization - and Israel will disarm and defeat Hamas."
Halfway through the program, a school bus drove past the scene, slowing in front of the podium as scores of youths leaned out of the vehicle's windows waving Israeli flags and singing, to the crowd's delight.
Shortly afterwards, a biker rode the same path but instead shouted "Stop bombing Lebanon." The biker was one of five anti-Israel protesters who made themselves visible at the rally. The other four stationed themselves on the edge of traffic on the far side of Harvard Street.
Two of the dissenters shared a sign bearing the message "We are Jewish and we do not support Israel right now," while another drew attention to the alarming number of Lebanese casualties since fire opened - 220 as of Tuesday evening, versus 24 Israelis.
"While Israel, of course, has the right to defend itself, it does not have right to collectively punish the Lebanese people for the act of one faction of Lebanese society," said Brookline resident Michael Rainho, who attended Tuesday evening's rally. "If the average U.S. citizen knew a lot more about the facts, both historical and political today in this region, we would have a much more even-handed foreign policy towards Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Syria - and Iraq, obviously."
Surrounded by police, who tightly monitored the event from beginning to end, Rainho became involved in a series of heated exchanges with passersby who engaged him after reading his poster.
Standing nearby, Newton resident Alan Zaitchik admitted he was exercising some restraint in not doing so.
"Like most people here, I am here to show support as an American and as a Jew for Israel and to urge others to do the same," he said. "I think Israel has taken great risks for peace ... the response has unfortunately been rockets, kidnapping and refusal to recognize Israel's existence."
"I think there is definitely a possibility for peace, but it may take another generation for [those who exercise] this kind of blind hatred to come to the realization which other Arabs have come to," Zaitchik said. "Its better to have half the loaf and have peace than to have the entire loaf and not have anything in the end."
The rally was being held on the sixth day of battle since Israel retaliated to the abduction of their soldiers with aerial attacks and the deployment of ground troops into Lebanon.
The situation has since escalated with alarming pace, with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasralla vowing all-out war and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert refusing to halt strikes on Lebanon until prisoners are freed and Hezbollah presence along Israel's northern border is withdrawn.
President George W. Bush has publicly backed Israel's right to defend itself and accused Syria of harboring Hezbollah, which is considered a terrorist group by both the U.S. and Israel.
