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January 16, 2009
Vancouverites react to war
Hundreds gather to make their voices heard on Gaza.
DEENA LEVENSTEIN and RON FRIEDMAN
Approximately 1,300 people attended the Jewish community's solidarity gathering for Israel event at Schara Tzedeck Synagogue in Vancouver last week. The evening was part of a chain of solidarity rallies for Israel organized by Jewish federations across Canada.
People entering the synagogue from the street had to walk through a group of anti-war protesters. As the crowd of Israel's supporters grew, things got more heated, but there were no altercations, despite the protesters chanting repeatedly: "Hey Israel, how many kids did you kill today?"
There was strident security. All bags were checked and some people were frisked for concealed weapons as they entered the shul.
James Lunney, MP (Nanaimo-Alberni) and the chair of the Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Committee, was one of the speakers at the pro-Israel rally. "Sadly," he said, "terrorist organizations have no commitment to truth, and no internal constituency that demands accountability. They're skilled at using the innocent as shields and exploiting all innocent casualty."
Lunney said, "Israel takes every effort to defend its citizens and its territories, while going to extremes to protect the innocent, not only on her side of the conflict, but also on the side of her opponents." The terrorists, he added, do the opposite.
Using the winding roads on Vancouver Island as an example, Lunney explained the importance of the Canadian government not playing the middle of the road. He said that, when a fully loaded logging truck is coming down the hill towards you, "the middle of the road is neither the right place or a safe place."
Amnon Kones, a former resident of Kibbutz Kfar Azza, on the border with Gaza, said, "This has been seven years of terror. This is a bomb falling once a day, twice a week, sometimes there is no bomb, but this is a terror we're dealing with for years and years. You never know if you're going to see your son when he comes back from school."
Kones said that though many of the kibbutz members were "very strong Zionists," they were wondering, "How many more years can we live in these kinds of conditions?"
Rev. Dr. Richard Leggett, associate dean and professor of liturgical studies at the Vancouver School of Theology, who is in a Jewish-Christian dialogue group with Rabbi Philip Bregman of Temple Sholom, said, "While many official Christian voices are critical of the actions of the government of Israel, these same voices are muted or silent regarding the violent actions of Hamas towards Israel and towards those Palestinians who do not share Hamas's ideology."
He continued, "I do not fully comprehend the silence of my Christian sisters and brothers and our failure to denounce clearly and unequivocally the actions of Hamas." He also said he was hopeful that the present conflict would renew efforts in Vancouver "to bring leaders from our three religious communities into deeper conversation about our fears and our hopes."
Igal Reich, a 12th-grader at King David High School, represented the community's youth. He spoke of the Vancouver Jewish community's responsibility to defend Israel and the Jewish people. Reich announced his decision to devote the next two years of his life serving as a combat soldier for the Israel Defence Forces.
"The youth of this generation will determine the future for us all," he said. "Now more than ever, I am calling on the youth of our community to stand up and make a difference for the Jewish homeland."
Michael Elterman of the Canada Israel Committee spoke of the importance of being fully informed and "feeling able and empowered to respond to the critics of Israeli actions." He stated seven points that Israel's enemies use, including the idea that Israel is using disproportionate force: "Proportional force would have been if Israel had sent rockets indiscriminately at the Palestinian population. Use of that proportional force would have been completely unpalatable to all of us."
Megan Emanuel, a public high school student who attended the event, said she found Elterman's speech most useful. "I wasn't aware of most of the facts that he brought up," she said. "I've already been asked questions at school that I couldn't answer and I was trying to pussy-foot around them with the information that I already knew."
University of British Columbia student Corey Lerman, president of the UBC Israel Awareness Club, was pleased with the wide range of speakers, "from MPs to Christian pastors to Jewish leaders."
Rabbi Shalom Meltzer, a teacher at Pacific Torah Institute, said, "It was very heartening to see Jews from all across the Jewish spectrum come together in support of Israel."
Between speakers, the audience was shown video messages from Israel, including words of thanks from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai. Also at the gathering was the launch of the Southern Israel Relief Fund, established by Jewish federations across Canada in order to address the immediate needs faced by Israel's civilian population.
Among those present in the synagogue was a small group of silent protesters. They sat quietly among the crowd and remained seated while the rest of the audience stood up for the singing of the Israeli national anthem and the prayer for the safety of Israel and its soldiers.
On Saturday, a large pro-Palestinian protest was held in Downtown Vancouver. Between 600-800 people attended a rally calling for an end to what they referred to as Israeli aggression and the continuation of Palestinian resistance.
The demonstration, which was endorsed by nearly a dozen local activist movements, ranging from the Indigenous Action Movement and the Vancouver Socialist Forum to the Iranian Centre for Peace Freedom and Social Justice, decried
Israel's military actions and blamed the Canadian and U.S. governments for sanctioning what they referred to as "genocide," taking place in Gaza. The protesters waved Palestinian flags and held banners stating "Stop the massacre of Palestinian people."
Messages of peace were intermingled with those of hatred. One person held up a home-made sign on which one side was printed: "Peace, Shalom, Free Gaza," while the other side showed a Star of David plus the word Zionism being equated to a Nazi swastika. Other signs compared Gaza to Holocaust death camps.
The rally lasted for more than three hours in heavy rain, after which the protesters marched along Robson Street, halting traffic, until reaching the U.S. consulate.
This was the third Saturday in a row that such a rally was held, since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead in Gaza.
To date, there have been no counter demonstrations of similar size, although a few people turned out one weekend to support Israel and challenge the claims being made by the protesters.
Deena Levenstein is a freelance writer from Toronto, Jerusalem and now Vancouver. You can read her blog at www.deenascreations.wordpress.com. She also works at L'Chaim Adult Day Centre.
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