10 | NOVEMBER 30 • 2023 
J
N

PURELY COMMENTARY

student’s corner

The Rich Irony of Hate

A

s a senior in high 
school, things that 
would typically be 
consuming my thoughts, like 
getting college applications in 
on time, taking a “gap year” 
after graduation and other 
“details” that once seemed 
important, were brought into 
stark relief following the ter-
rorist attack against Israel on 
Oct. 7.
The world, at least the world 
I thought I knew, changed that 
Shabbat. I remember my dad 
coming home from synagogue 
saying something terrible was 
happening near Gaza, but the 
grizzly details were not known 
to us until after Shabbat ended. 
Each day since Oct. 7 has 
been filled with stories of 
anti-Jewish, anti-Zionist pro-
tests that pile on the other, cre-
ating a gravity that consumes 
more of the world I once 
thought I knew. And still, as a 
Jew, I do what we Jews do best: 
carry on.
When the March for 
Israel on Nov. 14 was first 
announced, I was, ironical-
ly, on my way home from 
Washington, D.C., having been 
on a class trip with my A.P. 
U.S. Government teacher and a 
handful of classmates.
The Jewish Federation of 
Detroit chartered several 
flights to take residents and 
students to the rally that would 
be held on the National Mall. 
Our mom had flown in earlier 
that day, but my brother, Ari, 
15, a sophomore, and I decided 

to travel with our peers from 
Frankel Jewish Academy and 
Farber Hebrew Day School. 
We looked forward to standing 
up against antisemitism, exer-
cising our First Amendment 
rights to assemble and protest 
peacefully. 
Landing at Dulles airport in 
northern Virginia, we waited 
for the buses that had been 
chartered to transport us to 
Washington, D.C. We waited 
longer. And we continued to 
wait until the complete picture 
became clear.
We were told the bus drivers 
who were supposed to take us 
to the rally had, at the literal 
11th hour, called in “sick” after 
learning they would be trans-
porting groups to a “pro- 
Israel” rally. My first reaction 
was a feeling of disbelief. 
We traveled all this way 

to rally against antisemitism 
and, in rich irony, were being 
prevented from doing so by 
the very antisemitism we 
planned to protest against. I 
felt depleted. The next three 
hours were filled with ripples 
of hope as organizers scram-
bled to find alternative trans-
portation. 
We deplaned onto the tar-
mac; we went back on the 
plane. We deplaned again. 
With the hours passing, one 
notable aspect of our ordeal 
was a refusal by fellow pas-
sengers to allow spirits to be 
dimmed. No one sulked or 
acted bitter. Instead, collec-
tively, we sang Israeli songs 
and made the best of an awful 
situation. 
After it became clear we 
would not make the rally, we 
spent the rest of the day — 

and well into the next, as we 
ultimately didn’t leave Virginia 
until 2:30 a.m. — in an airport 
hanger. I expected to come 
back from D.C. feeling a sense 
of pride in attending a rally 
with my brother, my friends 
and 300,000 of our fellow cit-
izens.
I anticipated having amaz-
ing stories to share, imagining 
running into camp friends 
who had also flown in — from 
Los Angeles, New York and 
Miami — collectively calling 
out hate. Instead, I have a dif-
ferent story to tell: How hate 
for my community instilled an 
even greater sense of purpose 
in me to stand up for my reli-
gion and Zionism. 
Rather than feel defeated, I 
turned a sour moment into an 
overall uplifting and moving 
experience. Despite spending 
24 hours at an airport instead 
of shoulder-to-shoulder with 
others at the Mall, I was still 
able to show my love of and 
support for Israel. 
What will I do with this 
experience? I’m not sure. But 
I know what I won’t do: be a 
bystander. I will continue to 
use my voice to advocate for 
Jews and for the right of Israel 
to exist peacefully in the face 
of hate. 

Joely Gottlieb, 17, a senior at Frankel 

Jewish Academy of Metropolitan 

Detroit, lives in Huntington Woods 

with her parents, Amy and Bryan, and 

her brother Ari; her sister, Bella, is a 

sophomore at Yeshiva University in 

New York.

A senior at Frankel Jewish Academy recalls her trip to Washington, D.C., 
and an up-close lesson about antisemitism.

JOELY GOTTLIEB

Spirits remained high among Detroiters stuck at Dulles airport after 
their transportation to Washington, D.C., became disrupted by drivers 
refusing to transport the delegation. Pictured from left: Eliana Israilov 
and Joely Gottlieb (seniors, FJA); Grace Kleinfeldt (junior, FJA); and 
Cami Katzen (senior, FJA).

