Tuesday, July 18, 2006
This afternoon I attended the Rally to Support Israel in Brookline, Massachusetts, just outside Boston. It was an urban setting with plenty of sun and temperatures in the 90's. Sweat abounded.
What a great event. The attendance was measurable in the thousands, no question. Folks were stacked up and down the block and on both sides of the street. It was a sea of blue, white and red.
The messages were not hateful, and the speakers routinely expressed regret for violence and sympathy for innocent victims on all sides while asserting Israel's obligation to self-defense in the face of attack and terror. It was a diverse ideological crowd to judge from some of the faces I reognized, but all came together to support Israel. Although it may look a little "elderly" from the pictures around me, it was a very mixed-age gathering. I was sort of in the center of the crowd so I may have missed them somewhere out on the periphery, but the "usual suspects" -- the hateful pro-terror crowd -- were absent. There were only a small handful (less than a handful, acutally) of clueless youths in opposition.
Mayor Menino couldn't attend due to travel obligations, but he sent his support, and there was also a very strong letter of support for Israel and her actions read to the crowd signed by the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation -- including, it must be stated, Senators Kerry and Kennedy. If I can come up with the text I will post it.
Here are some photos (click thumbs for full-sized versions) and some video.
First, here's some video of something you won't see at any of the anti-Western (International ANSWER-sponsored) rallies. The crowd sings the Star Spangled Banner and HaTikva (starts late because it got going before I had the video ready).
Let me introduce you to Reverend Hurmon Hamilton, Presbyterian Minister from Roxbury. Some may remember him as a man who fought divestment within his denomination. Here's his great speech:
Here's Peter Meade, formerly of Catholic Charities and current ADL Board Member:
The podium:
There was plenty of MSM there:
The crowd is gathering:
Israel Wants Peace, Hamas Wants War:
Israel is Fighting for Her Survival, We Will Have Peace When the Palestinians Love Their Children More Than They Hate Us:
Israel Deserves A Real Peace:
The signs the ADL distributed were surprisingly (and refreshingly) hard-hitting. They reminded me of my Why There's a Fence and Why There Are Checkpoints series'.
The VIPs:
Shot of the crowd:
Get Syria and Iran Out of Lebanon:
Here's a little scan of the crowd as the rally was breaking up:
Sign Guy:
Club clueless, but mild compared to the people who usually show up to disrupt these things. From what I saw, these guys were about it:
There's something to be said for the MSM after all. Stunning (not you Shlomo):
ADL posters. Very good:
A great day for Israel and her supporters. I topped off the rally with a satisfying Rami's felafel. The only negative was that there were a couple of heat-related casualties. Ah well, it was a tough day to have a pelt:
Oh, btw, next it's the other side's turn. The Muslim American Society (resident moderate Muslims and prime movers in the Islamic Society of Boston's Mosque Project) will be holding their own rally in a few days time:
WHEN: Friday, July 21, from 12-3PM
WHERE: City Hall Plaza, Govt Center stop on Green Line
WHY: To protest Israel’s recent reoccupation, killing of innocent civilians and destruction of infrastructure as part of a series of demonstrations organized by MAS’ Freedom Foundation including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.
Jumah services will be held at the Protest.
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Rally for Israel -- Brookline, Mass..
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.solomonia.com/cgi-bin/mt4/mt-renamedtb.cgi/6573
Attention Atlas readers in the DC area! Rally for Israel, D.C., Wed., July 19, Noon WHAT: Solidarity With Israel Rally WHEN: Wednesday, July 19, 2006, Noon WHERE: Freedom Plaza in downtown Washington, DC. (Pennsylvania Avenue, between 13th and 14th str... Read More
Very good series of pics. The big "get out of Lebanon" sheet/banner, w/ the rockets, is my fav. The pic of Hezbollah mob-fighters as in the ADL poster is the same one I picked out too for a visual aid, too. Heh.
Thank you for these pictures. It's wonderful to see something positive and constructive coming out of Boston.
Good thing that no one took the Big Dig to get there........... ;-)
lovely pics! the rally in nyc was pretty great too--despite the challenging conditions: everybody squeezed into a sort of narrow tube of concrete on three sides (we were up and down one narrow cross-town street with the speakers' podium at one end), baking in 98 degree heat and noon-day sun). great multi-racial array of speakers: Rev. Michael Faulkner of, I think, the Bronx, gave great speech, said a prayer and tried to get a chant of "no justice, no peace!" going....chants never work with Jews, unfortunately. A leader from NY's Chinese-American community gave heart-rending, beautiful speech. Also amazingness of hearing procession of usually mushy-headed liberal polls (Jerold Nadler, Betsy Gotbaum, Carolyn Maloney) suddenly converted to roaring, red meat, go-for-the-jugular hawks...A lot of fun had by all...Clueless contingent (counter-dem) only about 30 people at max.
More than 2,000 Boston-area Jews and other supporters of Israel held a sometimes solemn, sometimes exuberant demonstration of solidarity with the Jewish state outside Congregation Kehillath Israel last night.
About a dozen critics of Israel, several of whom said they were Jews, raised posters decrying killings of civilians by Israeli forces. But the numbers of those who opposed the solidarity rally were far lower than police had expected. Areas on Harvard Street reserved for counterdemonstrations eventually were filled with people headed home from work, senior citizens, and children fresh from summer camps expressing support for the Israelis.
There was a strong police presence, supplemented by security officers who made little effort to hide that they had multiple weapons under their jackets.
Many acknowledged divisions in their ranks about what should be done in the region.
``We all come from the same place of wanting peace and security for Israel, an end of terrorism and return of the soldiers" kidnapped by the Hezbollah and Hamas extremists, said Beth Wasserman of Somerville, spokeswoman for the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace . But, she added, ``This conflict will never be settled by use of force. For Israel to achieve security and terrorism to end, there needs to be a brokered, lasting cease-fire."
Her group advocates a greatly heightened US role in negotiations. Others say they felt force is exactly what is needed.
``We should do the maximum we can -- phone calls, letters, whatever we can do to express to our government that we want them to let Israel finish the job this time," said Alexander Rosin , an immigrant from the former Soviet Union and an activist in Brighton.
``The Israelis should do the maximum they can do to deprive Hezbollah of the capacity to shoot rockets into Israel," Rosin said.
However, Rosin said, notwithstanding Israel's military power, ``there is danger that if they act too forcefully, the democratic government of Lebanon will fall and the people who come to power will be more radical.
``So I do believe they should try to strike a balance," Rosin added.
Nancy Kaufman -- executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston , which sponsored the rally -- said such considerations meant that the mainstream of the Jewish community would generally support the policies of Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert.
She, like Olmert, rejected the suggestion made by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and supported by some Jewish groups for an immediate cease-fire.
``I think it is time to wipe out the Hezbollah infrastructure," Kaufman said.
Olmert has said that a cease-fire could be negotiated only if kidnapped soldiers were returned and UN Security Council resolution 1559, calling for the disarming of Hezbollah, was enforced.
Efforts were made to keep the rally somber, due both to current events in the Middle East and the three-week period of mourning observed by Jews before the anniversary of the destruction of the Biblical temples in Jerusalem. Two rabbis read psalms.
A moment of silence was observed for all, Jews and Arabs, who have been killed.
But the event was punctuated with cheers, as Peter Meade , a Catholic community activist, led a ``we support Israel" chant, the Rev. Hurmon Hamilton of Roxbury Presbyterian Church made a rousing call for peace free of terror, and other rabbis led the singing of ``Am Yisrael Hai!" -- Hebrew for ``the people of Israel live.
Kaufman said that despite the political differences over the Middle East,``there is solidarity around the pain we are all feeling and seeing every minute."
``There may not be agreement on what the [Israel Defense Forces ] should do today, tonight, tomorrow, but there is a complete identification with what people there are going through," she said. ``There is wall-to-wall unity around that."
Unlike some of Israel's critics, the counter demonstrators here yesterday seemed to recognize Israeli's right to exist and defend itself.
But one, Michael Rainho , 36, of Brookline, said ``it does not have the right to collectively punish the Lebanese people for the acts of one militant segment of their society."
Rainho, became involved in an argument with Israel supporters as the rally ended.
LeMont Calloway contributed to this report.
Israel gets some local backing
2,000 supporters rally in Brookline; opposing group smaller than expected
By Charles A. Radin, Boston Globe Staff | July 19, 2006
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/07/19/israel_gets_some_local_backing?mode=PF
Great job, Sol! -- and a great rally! (Right in my backyard, too... wish I could have been there. But being in Israel right now is something I wouldn't trade.)
It's wonderful to see how many people understand what Israel is going through. The moral support from the United States helps a lot, it really does.
Keep up the good fight, folks! Here in Israel, the troops are doing their level best to bring the war to the enemy, while asking the "home front" to stay calm and lend their support in this difficult time. But in a very real sense, all of Israel is the front line, and you are the home front, supporting Israel with your words and actions. Don't underestimate the importance of that support!
see you soon,
Daniel in Brookline
I got turned on to you by the Great Rush Limbaugh. And from what I've seen and read-I'm happy I did. I truly enoy your blogsite. I find it most informative, opinionated, honest and passionate. This is the first time I've ever written anyone on the blogesphere. I am thrilled as a Christian Conservative, and a Rush Limbaugh listener. And I want to say-keep doing what your doing, because it is getting to alot of people. I would like to see you someday on the Hannity & Colmes show on the FOX news channel. Keep-up the good fight, and God Bless.
Well, much as I would love to get some attention from the great Rush Limnbaugh (and you!), I have a sneaking suspicion your comment has misfired and you meant to leave it at Atlas's blog. She is the one getting the Limbaugh-love.
I'd love to find out that wasn't true, of course, but I think if Rush mentioned this site my hit count would be a lot higher.