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Stand 4 Israel

For the second time, Jewish Detroiters take their
support of Israel to the streets of Oakland County.

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RONELLE GRIER

Special to the Jewish News

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n April 11, the seven-month
anniversary of the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks, several
hundred Jewish demonstra-
tors gathered at 10 suburban locations
to show their support for Israel and to
protest Palestinian suicide bombings.
The event was the second such
"Stand 4 Israel" event organized by
Don Cohen of West Bloomfield, an
Israel advocacy activist who has been
organizing pro-Israel events both inde-
pendently and as a consultant.
The first demonstration, which took
place April 1, attracted about 65 peo-
ple at eight Oakland County sites.
The largest crowd last Thursday was at
the intersection of Maple and Orchard
Lake roads in West Bloomfield, where
approximately 150 people carried signs
and chanted slogans of peace. The group
included many students from Hillel Day
School of Metropolitan Detroit in
Farmington Hills and the Jewish
Academy of Metropolitan Detroit
(JAMD) in West Bloomfield, accompa-
nied by teachers, parents and siblings.
Rabbi Lee Buckman, head of •
JAMD, urged all students to attend.
At the school's weekly Friday assembly,
the school distributed laptop comput-
ers, so every student could e-mail a
legislative representative in support of
Israel. Rabbi Buckman also
announced that the school would be
closed Monday, April 15, to allow as
many students as possible could
attend the pro-Israel rally in
Washington, D. C. Nearly 60 JAMD
students made the trip.
.
The demonstrators at Maple and
Orchard Lake roads were rewarded
with horns honking, shouts of "thank
you," thumbs-ups and waves. Some
cars doubled back to see the group
again. Only a few passing cars gave
negative reactions.
"Standing on this corner, I'm proud
to be a Jewish American, fighting ter-
rorism alongside the people I care
about," said Alli Pilcowitz, 13, of
Bloomfield Hills.
Nitzana York of West Bloomfield Was
there as an American and also because
of her extended family in Haifa.
"I talk to my parents and my sister

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2002

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all the time; and they're scared and
upset and sad. My sister is afraid to go
to the mall, afraid to send her kids to
school," York said. "I cry every day."
"We need peace in the Middle East,"
said her 13-year-old daughter, Orian.
"For Israel, this is a war of existence,"
said Zivit Shamir, who lives in
Bloomfield Hills and was born in Israel.
"If the Americans aren't going to sup-
port us, the terror will end up here."
Phyllis Altman of West Bloomfield
waved an Israeli flag, then revealed the
tattooed number on her forearm, a

Gale, assistant director of the Jewish
Community Council of Metropolitan
Detroit. "We're at a time in Jewish
history when public expressions are
more important than ever."
A group' of about 25 people that
included New Americans" and
Orthodox Jews gathered at 10 Mile
Road and Greenfield.
"It was the blend of people that really
struck me," said Diane Baum of West
Bloomfield, who directs the Circle of
Friends program for New Americans at
Congregation Beth Shalom.
"The New Americans felt especially
proud. People kept saying how they
could never have done this in the Soviet
Union. They were thrilled to be doing
something to help Israel," she said..
Cohen was pleased with the turnout
and the energy of the group.
"People are happy to be able to do

Debra Darvick of Birmingham joins others demonstrating at Maple and Orchard Lake.

remnant from two years in Auschwitz
during World War II.
"It makes me sick to watch the killing
and see what's going on with our people
again," said Altman, tears flowing.
"We've got the right to live, too. But it
makes me feel good to be here today."
Several passersby, including Laurel
Felsenfeld and her daughters, Emily,
11, and Rachel, 7, saw the crowd gath-
ered and stopped to join the cause.
"We wanted to join in and show
our support," said Felsenfeld of
Farmington Hills. "A gathering like
this makes you relate to the vulnera-
bility that Israeli Jews feel every day."
"I was passing by and saw some-
thing going on that I believe in," said
Barry Levine of West Bloomfield. "I'm
standing where every one of us should
be standing."
"This is very emotional; it's given
people a needed outlet," said Allan

something," Cohen said, "and it's great to
get so many kids involved. I think it
struck a chord in a lot of people."
Take Frayda Kresch, 15, Southfield,
for example.
"I wanted to do something really dif-
ferent [for the demonstration]," said
Kresch, a JAMD student, who also went
to the rally in Washington with fellow
students. With the help of her father,
neighbors and relatives, she collected
enough money to pay for an airplane to
carry a banner over the demonstration
sites for two hours. The banner sported
an American flag and the words, "USA
& Israel — United Against Terror."
"I. saw the plane on the news (ABC
and Fox) multiple times that night,"
Frayda said. "They wanted to keep
each group of demonstrators small, so
things didn't get out of hand, and hav-
ing the plane really made something
little look so big."

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