The annual Salute
to Israel Parade fills
New York's Fifth
Avenue on June 5.

Orange Protest

Annual Israel parade in New York adds a color.

RACHEL POMERANCE

SAKE .;F: JERUSAL

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

New York
casual observer might have
thought Israel's national col-
ors were blue, white and
orange.
Sunday marked the annual rite of
passage for Zionist New Yorkers,
with hundreds of thousands on
Fifth Avenue to cheer for Israel on a
blistering summer day. Prominent in
the crowd, however, were opponents
of Israel's upcoming Gaza withdraw-
al, wearing orange T-shirts, carrying
signs and handing out literature
against the government's plan.
As usual, the Salute to Israel
parade brought out the community
— scores of day-school students
sporting tie-dyed versions of the
parade T-shirts advanced along the
avenue, while parents searched for
their marching children. Couples
fanned sleepy babies or held them
atop their shoulders for a look at the
festivities.
All along the way, sweaty hugs of
reunion took place between old
friends and acquaintances. "It's like a
village," said Brigitte Dayan, a
Jewish communal worker in New
York. "You walk down the street and
you see many people you know," she
said. "I'm here because it's the next

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Musicians entertain in Central Park during a rally against Israel's Gaza pull-
out plan, held after the Salute to Israel parade.
Photo byTzvi Kahn/JTA

best thing to being in Israel."
But this year, the traditional sea of
blue-and-white flags was spotted
with orange. The parade took place
against the backdrop of Israel's with-
drawal plan. Anti-withdrawal
activists could hardly be missed,
with their vivid orange T- shirts stat-
ing a bold warning: "Jews should
not expel Jews."
The activists had peacefully joined
the crowd and were selling the T-
shirts and handing out literature to a

crowd — much of which was
Orthodox and politically conserva-
tive — that seemed to take kindly to
them.
Jason Koenig, 30, who attended
the parade with his wife and three
children, said all the activists were
unified in their support of Israel.
"Everyone has a different view of
what that support is," he said. "If
they were sitting here booing, obvi-
ously I would have a different opin-
ion."

Chani Holzer, 44, and Karyn
Feinberg, 49, think the protesters
have a point. "I don't know that I'd
want to leave my house in Lawrence
now after living there seven years,"
Holzer said, referring to her Long
Island town. "It's my community.
It's the place where my kids go to
school." Feinberg objected to the
exit strategy. "[The Palestinians] are
killing us, and we're handing them
something on a silver platter," she
said.
Daniella Vloch, 28, an Israeli
dancer, said she identifies with the
right-wing in Israeli politics, and
opposes the withdrawal plan. "From
our side, we see this as one more
step toward peace. From their side,
it means nothing," Vloch said. "In
their eyes, until we clean out of
every single part of the State of
Israel, there will never be peace and
quiet."
Richard and Barbara Baum,
attending the parade with relatives,
were discussing their concern about
the withdrawal. "I don't really know
how I personally feel about it,"
Barbara said. "I'm very torn. I think
everyone's very torn."
But even some who were torn felt
that it wasn't appropriate to protest
at the event. Daniel Bettinger, a
Manhattan businessman attending
the parade with his Israeli-born wife,