20 | MAY 27 • 2021

M

ore than 100 people attended a
pro-Israel rally on the west side
of Orchard Lake Road in West
Bloomfield on Friday, May 14, to show
support for Israel in its ongoing clash with
Hamas. The event was helmed by the
Zionist Organization of America’s Michigan
Region.
In attendance was Eugene Greenstein,
former ZOA-MI president, who hoped the
rally expressed the local support for Israel.
“We felt we needed to come out and
say something and get some attention,”
Greenstein said. “We think it’s important
to make a statement. We care about Israel,
we’re here to show support for Israel, and we
shouldn’t be afraid to show this is something
we believe in.”
Greenstein is concerned for what’s hap-
pening in the Middle East. “It’s very scary,”
Greenstein said. “Every life is precious; it
doesn’t matter if it’s Jewish or Arab.”
Executive Director of ZOA-MI Kobi Erez
led the rally and stood firm in his support
of Israel.
“We are standing with our brothers and
sisters in Israel, and we want to show our
support and solidarity, that we are proud
to be Jewish and have a strong connection
to Israel,” Erez said. “We believe America

should stand beside Israel as well.”
Erez said another reason for the rally
was due to “anti-Israel rhetoric all over the
place.”
“It’s important for us to show Americans
that we are proud of Israel, that Israel is
America’s best friend and to show we believe
in the morality of what Israel is doing.
“We don’t want to stay silent to antisemi-

tism or to hatred, and we urge everybody to
support Israel in words and actions, and to
reach out to Congress and reach out to your
neighbors and friends,” Erez said.
Rabbi Asher Lopatin, the executive direc-
tor of the Jewish Community Relations
Council/AJC, attended the rally on a per-
sonal level.
“I love that it’s such a positive rally,”
Lopatin said. “It’s about peace, about love

for Israel, and that’s exactly what we need.
“I hope that on the other side, you could
have pro-Palestinian peace. All of Israel
should be about peace and love and, God
willing, we’ll have an end to the hostilities.”
The recent conflict began with clashes in
eastern Jerusalem over expected legal Israeli
Supreme Court evictions of six Palestinian
tenant families from an eastern Jerusalem
neighborhood and by restrictions of access
to Palestinians on the Temple Mount after
violent clashes broke out.
Then, Hamas and other terrorists
launched more than 4,000 unguided rockets
at Israel from Gaza and encouraged the riot-
ing by some Israeli Arabs. Israel followed
with targeted assassinations of terrorist lead-
ers in Gaza and bombardments of military
targets, often intermingled in civilian areas.
A ceasefire was reached on May 21.
The Health Ministry in the Gaza claimed
243 people had been killed since hostilities
erupted on May 10, with 1,910 wounded.
Hamas’ rocket fire killed 12 Israelis. Scores
more have been injured.
President Joe Biden spoke May 17 with
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
expressing his support for a ceasefire, while
also supporting Israel’s “right to defend itself
against indiscriminate rocket attacks.”

ZOA-led rally held at
Orchard Lake Road.
Solidarity with Israel

“IT’S IMPORTANT TO
SHOW AMERICANS WE

ARE PROUD OF ISRAEL.”

— ZOA’S KOBI EREZ

OUR COMMUNITY

LEFT: Eugene
Greenstein and Kobi
Erez. RIGHT: Scenes
from the May 14
Rally for Israel

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER