SHORT

Jewish Women for Justice in Israel and Palestine

SHORT (?) REPORT ON TODAY'S ACTION AT THE
"STAND WITH ISRAEL" RALLY

by Marty Federman, April 14, 2002

First, before anything else, Thanks to all of you who attended the action
today at Faneiul Hall. At one point I counted at least 150 people, and I
think that, over the course of the hour or so we were there, there may well
have been more. An amazing turn-out in any case, but especially when we
organized this in just a couple of days. No one can deny any longer that
there is a significant - and obviously growing - Jewish voice that is not
hostile to the idea of Israel as a Jewish state, but will not allow the
institutional community to claim a monolithic, uncritical support of the
Israeli government's self-defeating policies and horrific actions. Good
for us for telling them otherwise!

As to what happened:
We gathered at noon with lots of signs, many of which asserted our view
that supporting the occupation or the current invasion of most of
Palestine, was not the best way to "Stand With Israel." While the
sentiments covered a wide spectrum, there was nothing extreme, nothing that
should have been seen as innately hostile to Israel, Israelis, Jews, or
anyone else. (As most of you know, there was some disagreement over
whether we should "protest" from within the main rally, or separately as a
group. Without much discussion, but I think out of a spontaneous sense of
the event, almost all of us stood together, just a bit behind the rally.
The spontaneity of the decision felt like a really good, supportive thing.)
At the same time the supporters of the JCRC/CJP rally (a few hundred
people) were gathering. They also had signs, some indicating group
affiliations like Hadassah, a couple of synagogues, etc. Some signs were
obviously professionally produced and distributed by the organizers. There
were two very large flags, one Israeli, one American - which emphasized one
significant strain of the day, which was reflected in a variety of signs
with themes like "Support Israel & America against Terrorism." This
linkage around "terrorism" was quite evident. There were many overtly
hostile signs against the Arabs and Palestinians including large blow-ups
of Arafat calling him a liar. (Some of us were confronted by rally-goers
with this sign, as if we thought Arafat was some sort of saint, and as if
our mutually agreed upon distrust of Arafat in any way responded to what
the Israelis are perpetrating in Palestine right now.)

We agreed that we would not be confrontational, that we would neither
interfere with the rally, give anyone cause to think we were, or interfere
in any way with the Holocaust Commemoration that began at 1:15. We asked
people to respond quietly and conversationally with anyone who confronted
us, but to not allow ourselves to be pulled into disruptive or explosive
situations - and we were overwhelmingly successful (although it was often
difficult). Except for one spontaneous outburst by the folks from the
Workmen's Circle - who broke out wonderfully in song, singing one of the
pieces from the show running yesterday and today at the JCC ("I Sing
Because I am a Jew") - we remained, as a group, silent.

Some of the folks from the rally were not so committed. The first awful
experience happened even before either group officially began (around 11:45
a.m.), when a young woman affiliated with a large synagogue, arrived early
and held a sign supporting Israel, but not its current policy, within the
rally area. She was accosted, felt physically threatened, and verbally
abused. When I first saw her, she was devastated, trying to figure out how
other Jews could do and say the things she had just experienced and heard.

During the next hour there were numerous incidents when rally-ers came back
to where we were standing and confronted individuals. A few people,
although very intense, and in some cases upset by our position, basically
tried to enter into conversation. But by and large the confrontations were
hostile, with much shouting and little listening. We were accused of
supporting the killing of Jews, wanting to see the end of Israel, and not
being Jews ourselves. At times a number of people would crowd around one
of us and just go on about how dangerous, awful, and self-hating we were.
In at least one interaction that I saw, we were told by an obviously Jewish
man, that we all deserved to die. Overwhelmingly our people resisted being
pulled into ugly confrontations - although at times that was very difficult
for some of us. (Thanks to those of you who gently touched my elbow or
rubbed my back to keep me from crossing the line!)

At 1:00 we began to disband, lowering our signs and disbursing, as we had
planned, in order not to interfere - or even appear to interfere - in any
way with the Holocaust Commemoration. Unfortunately, a large contingent of
the worst elements from the rally, rather than either leaving or going into
Fanieul Hall for the Commemoration, turned to us, moved closer, and began
to shout and chant at us. At one point the entire group began to chant, in
an almost eerily angry way, "Shame, Shame, Shame, Shame . . . ." over and
over. A number of them tried to confront us, mostly a number of them
focused on someone they thought would react. For the most part we did not,
and, with these people pushing farther and farther forward as we left, the
action ended.

This is really (believe it or not) a short summary of what happened. I am
excited and energized by the turn-out and what it represents - on the other
hand, I hate the fact that we have to do this, and am incredibly upset by
having to acknowledge (over and over) that Jews who claim their credibility
from the same traditions, values, and texts as I do, can act in this way.

As so many of you know, Shalom does not mean "Peace" in the same way we use
that word in English. The root shalem means wholeness, completeness. This
afternoon is a reminder of how much work we have to bring this sense of
fullness to our own "family," much less the world. But it is also a
message that our voice can and must be heard - and the touches, hugs, and
words of so many of you that were there today are the sparks that we all
need to energize each other in this incredibly important (dare I say
"holy"?) work.

B'shalom,

Marty Federman

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Tzedek, tzedek tirdof - Justice, justice you will pursue.
Devarim (Deuteronomy), 16:20

Some Are Guilty; All Are Responsible.
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

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