World
Counter Point
Flotilla fallout becomes rallying cry for U.S. Jews.
Uriel Heilman
campaign to delegitimize Israel's right to
defend itself.
"Why did Israel even have to resort to
blockade?" syndicated columnist Charles
Krauthammer wrote. "Because blockade is
Israel's fallback as the world systematically
delegitimizes its traditional ways of defend-
ing itself — forward and active defense'
"If none of these is permissible, what's
left?" Krauthammer asked rhetorically.
"Nothing': he answered. "The world is tired
of these troublesome Jews, 6 million
— that number again — hard by the
Mediterranean, refusing every invitation to
national suicide."
As with the Gaza war, and the Lebanon
war of 2006, Israel's defenders see in the
global assault on Israel's enforcement of the
blockade of Hamas-run Gaza — a territory
controlled by an organization committed to
Israel's destruction — nothing less than a
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
New York
T
he last time American Jews took to
the streets in significant numbers
to make the case for Israel's right to
defend itself, during Israel's war with Hamas
in early 2009, rockets were raining down on
southern Israel from the Gaza Strip.
This time it's a public relations war rather
than a military one that has sent American
Jews into the streets warning of a campaign
to wipe Israel off the map.
In indignant statements to the news
media, and at rallies around the country,
American Jews jumping to Israel's defense
are casting the fallout to the Gaza flotilla
incident — and the mounting opposition
to Israel's blockade of Gaza — as part of a
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threat to Israel's existence.
"Once again, my friends, Israel is under
siege," Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the Simon
Wiesenthal Center, declared at a pro-Israel
rally Sunday in Los Angeles opposite the
local Israeli consulate.
Some 3,000 people showed up for the
demonstration, including California Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger. The international
outcry against Israel is an attempt to dele-
gitimize the Jewish state, Israeli Consul Jacob
Dayan warned the crowd. "Enough of the
campaign of lies spread by the defenders
of terror," Dayan said. "Those on the flotilla
were not peace activists:'
The precipitating incident occurred May
31, when Israeli commandos killed nine
Turks upon encountering violent resistance
to their effort to board a ship in international
waters that was part of a Gaza-bound flotilla
bearing aid materials and pro-Palestinian
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June 17 • 2010
activists. The incident became a rallying cry
for pro-Palestinian activists, who held rallies
across the country and around the world
protesting Israel, including at some Jewish
sites.
Many Jewish groups said the worldwide
reaction to the flotilla incident smacked of
hypocrisy.
"Why did we not hear the same voices of
condemnation raised as thousands of rock-
ets poured down on Israel or on behalf of
Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped by Hamas
more than four years ago and held incom-
municado ever since?" the main U.S. Jewish
umbrella group, the Conference of Presidents
of Major American Jewish Organizations,
asked in a statement.
Jews held rallies of their own in communi-
ties across the country.
American Jews have not been uniformly
supportive of Israel's actions on the high
seas. Some American Jewish groups ques-
tioned the wisdom of Israel's blockade of
Gaza and the way the flotilla raid was con-
ducted. J Street, Americans for Peace Now
and Ameinu all issued statements critical of
Israel's Gaza policies.
"There wouldn't have been a flotilla
if Gazan children had enough food, had
schools and clean water to drink," said
Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, the
left-wing pro-Israel lobbying group.
"This is not a hasbara problem': he said,
using the Israeli term for public relations.
"For decades, Israel and friends of Israel
have complained about a hasbara problem.
What they have is an occupation problem':
Ben-Ami said. "We can either complain
about the way the world views Israel or
change the way we behave."
While some American Jews and many
Israelis said they support the blockade of
Gaza in principle, but disagree with elements
of its implementation, and the way the Israeli
Navy handled the flotilla interception, that
nuance was not readily apparent in the pro-
Israel rallies across the U.S.. The message at
rallies was simple: We stand behind Israel.
In Philadelphia, Steve Feldman, director
of the greater Philadelphia district of the
Zionist Organization of America , summed
up the approach he expected of support-
ers of Israel.: "I would not be satisfied until
every Jewish person in the Philadelphia area,
every person of good conscious in the area,
everybody who knows right from wrong
in the area, will be out supporting Israel,
because Israel is in the right." E