EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK

Spurned Protests

Ann Arbor

F

Sabbath from the activities, politics and business of the week,
ree speech is the bedrock of America. But some-
I find them offensive and misguided.
times enough is enough. Whatever rights a group
"I am concerned about the plight of the Palestinians and
of pro-Palestinian protestors outside Beth Israel
pray for peace with them. But I am unswerving in my support
Congregation in Ann Arbor have, I don't see the
for the people of Israel."
merit of its weekly Shabbat protests.
I was taken by Beth Israel's plight after reading Dr. Gross'
The protest group, Jewish Witnesses for Peace, has been a
Aug. 8 e-mail note where he called the unrelenting protests on
bane for congregants, who must pass signs declaring "Zionism
Shabbat "antithetical to the American ideal of free religious
Begets Nazism," or something similar, en route to the sanctu-
expression." He's a professor in the Department of Radiology
ary to pray, learn and grow. It's outrageous to compare Israel's
at U-M.
defensive thrusts into the West Bank and Gaza in response to
It's egregious to mock the sanctity of the Sabbath day
Palestinian terror with Nazi Germany's
through the transparency of a political protest steeped in a
brazen efforts to annihilate Jewry.
simplistic look at a complicated conflict hardened over the
Legal as the sign toting is, it's a crass ploy.
centuries.
The small group of protestors consists of
Speaking for Beth Israel, here was a thoughtful, undeterred
Jewish and non-Jewish Palestinian sympathiz-
congregant holding to the non-confrontational principle
ers who choose to desecrate the holiness of
espoused by the synagogue board and rabbi — and helping
Shabbat with exaggerated slogans and wild
turn frustration into a positive for the people of Israel.
assumptions. The group contends the Israeli
occupation, checkpoints and anti-terror bar-
ROBERT A. riers "are antithetical to the precepts of
A Satisfying Gesture
Judaism and to the memory of those who
SKLAR
With pride, Dr. Gross told me about last week's kickoff of a
perished in one of the worst of the 20th cen-
Editor
grassroots coalition forming to counter the Jewish Witnesses
tury's genocides."
for Peace — SPURN (Synagogue Protest Unacceptable!
So reads a leaflet circulated by the Jewish
Respond Now).
Witnesses for Peace. The group holds sidewalk vig-
SPURN is giving weekly donations to one of
ils with five to 14 picketers each Shabbat outside
Israel's most important human service agencies,
Beth Israel, a 470-family synagogue. Skirmishes
Magen David Adorn, the national emergency med-
have been minor.
ical and rescue service. Pledges typically are tied to
The leaflet condemns what it calls Israel's killing
the number of protestors each week, but also
of a Palestinian family walking across the family
include spontaneous gifts.
field, confinement of Palestinians to ghettos and
MDA was chosen because it is nonjudgmental
demolition of Palestinian homes tied to suicide
and embraces all Israeli victims of violence and ter-
bombers. "Is the uprooting of a farmer's olive trees
ror. It was not an idle choice. Its lifelines should
on his land, and destroying his livelihood, justified
satisfy congregants- wherever they are politically.
somewhere in the Torah or Talmud?" it asks.
SPURN has raised about $400 so far. -
Ignored is the fact that Israelis are fighting to
"We want to unite across-section of us," Dr.
survive against Yasser Arafat-prodded Islamists
Dr. Barry Gross
Gross
said, "to demonstrate we will not sit passively
bent on claiming the Jewish homeland as theirs.
while enemies attempt to impede the practice of
Beth Israel's Eileen Freed, program coordinator
our faith."
of the Sol Drachler Program in Jewish Communal
This is not a congregation of only right-wingers;
Leadership at the University of Michigan, eloquent-
some want settlements gone and sacrifices made to
ly sized up the protest: "They even had the
secure Israel and create the climate for Palestinian
extremely poor taste to protest during the High
statehood. Even Israel's hard-line prime minister,
Holidays, the holiest time of the Jewish year —
Ariel
Sharon, is seeing the merit of a cogent with-
representing themselves as Jews who care about
drawal
from Gaza and of rerouting the West Bank
Jewish law and practice, with the implication that
barrier around West Bank population centers.
others don't and making a poor attempt to use
But anyone who sees a call for Palestine and
Jewish values to explain their values."
against Zionism as anything but a call to disenfran-
Israel has gone too far in some cases in response
Eileen Freed
chise Israel is being duped. Dr. Gross is right:
to 46 months of Palestinian terror that has killed
Anyone can be targeted from "this affront to simple
almost 1,000 Israel residents and visitors and has
human decency" unless religious and civic leaders, in Ann
maimed thousands more. But to be told, week after week,
Arbor
and elsewhere, rise up in outrage. The stain of hostility
that you're "praying for Palestinian genocide" when you enter
could
easily
spread to surrounding areas, including metro
the synagogue on Shabbat morning is extreme. I don't see
Detroit.
value or purpose by continuing what congregant Dr. Barry
SPURN pledges are coming and support is growing.
Gross calls a protracted siege.
What I especially admire is Beth Israel's will to stand with
Picketing a synagogue at a political lecture or board meeting
Israel no matter how intimidating the protestors.
is one thing. Doing so on Shabbat, and punctuating it by ask-
Dr. Gross put it well: "I hope SPURN convinces the protes-
ing passing drivers to honk their horns, is something different
tors
that their picketing is counterproductive. But ultimately, I
— and demeaning.
am
not
concerned with their response to this campaign.
This is a moral matter, not a legal one.
"Instead, I want the campaign to move forward because of
Take it from Freed: 'As an American, I am in favor of this
what it says about us."
groThp's free speech. But as a Jew who attempts to separate the
He added, "I am proud of what I see as a real success story"
So am I.
To give to SPURN, log on to:
It illustrates the power of forced ingenuity. ❑
vvvvw.aaspurn.org

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