Valley Rally

Nearly a thousand people of all ages gave up “Must See TV” and other comforts of home to attend a rally in support of Israel at the Bernard Milken Jewish Community Campus in West Hills Thursday night. The stunning and wholehearted show of unity came in the wake of a day filled with sadness and terror both on the domestic front with the bombing of the USS Cole off Yemen, reportedly killing six American sailors and leaving 11 missing and presumed dead, and in the Middle East, where two Israeli reservists were lynched by an angry mob in the Palestinian-ruled West Bank city of Ramallah.

The hastily arranged rally at the West Hills site featured moments of passionate discourse by local Jewish leaders such as Rabbi Harold Schulweis of Valley Beth Shalom and uplifting songs led by Cantor Doug Cotler of Congregation Or Ami. At one point, the entire crowd – including Los Angeles City Attorney James Hahn and members of the media – put their arms around each other and sang “Oseh Shalom.” It was a rare moment for a community known more for its diversity than its harmony.

The evening’s program was not entirely without incident, however. Todd Morgan, chairman of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, continued his speech despite frequent interruptions by fringe groups who infiltrated the event to yell epithets about the Palestinians. The majority of the crowd, however, were there for only one reason: to show their complete support and empathy for the Jewish state.

“This is the time when the relationship between Israel and the Diaspora is measured. These are the days when the strength and will of the Jewish people [are] tested, ” said Yuval Rotem, the consul general of Israel stationed in Los Angeles.

In his speech, Rotem held Yasser Arafat responsible for setting off the current wave of violence and especially for using children to manipulate the media and world opinion.

Schulweis also made a plea for peace, saying the worst thing that could come out of the present situation would be for the cynics to have the last word.

“It is, of course, easier to wage war than to wage peace,” he said. “But our history teaches us the greater heroism: Who is strong? He who can make out of his enemy a friend.”(See page 55)

Schulweiss was followed by Ozzie Goren, chair of The Jewish Federation’s Jewish Community Relations Committee, who exhorted the audience to contact elected officials and especially the media to condemn negative portrayals of the Israeli Defense Forces. In an interview later, Goren said the Jewish community must actively fight the distorted images projected by outlets like CNN.

“The people of Israel are desperate to know that American Jews are fully behind them,” Goren said. “We also have to tell our representatives in the federal government that without question, American Jewry backs the peace process and the defense process that [Prime Minister Ehud] Barak has put into place.”

Thursday’s rally was the first in a series planned jointly by The Jewish Federation Valley Alliance and The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, the Board of Rabbis of Southern California and the Anti-Defamation League. Other sponsors were the American Jewish Committee, Hadassah Southern California, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the Orthodox Union, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. During the event, the United Jewish Communities (UJC), which represents 189 Jewish Federations across North America, circulated a petition and collected close to 1,000 signatures in support of Israel and deploring the use of violence by the Palestinian Authority. The petitions will be collected and sent to the organization’s national headquarters in New York and then forwarded to “the appropriate public officials” according to a UJC staffer.

Karmi Monsher attended the rally with her sister’s family, who came out en masse to show their support, even missing an open house at the children’s Jewish day school.

“There are a lot of VCRs on tonight, but this was worth it,” Monsher said.