Pro-Israel community braces for anti-Zionist conference at SFSU

Minds will not be changed. This is not an opportunity for dialogue. So when the S.F.-based Jewish Community Relations Council discovered that Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, will be holding its national convention at San Francisco State, those weren't its top concerns.

Instead, Rabbi Doug Kahn wants to make sure that those who have paid the $45 entry fee to the July 14 to 16 event will be free to attend the conference — even if, by chance, they don't buy into the ethos of the ardently pro-Palestinian organizers.

"If someone wants to attend and learn about the goings-on at the convention, he should be able to do so and participate, providing he comports with the rules of decorum," said Kahn, the JCRC's executive director.

In other words, the pro-Palestinian organizers shouldn't be allowed to randomly toss out or harass pro-Israel supporters with tickets — and Kahn has made calls to SFSU to ensure this will be the case.

Jonathan Bernstein, regional director of the ADL, said it is important that SFSU handle security on its own.

He recalled a recent instance in which the virulently anti-Israel and anti-Semitic Imam Abdul Malik Ali brought his own security force to a San Jose State University speech.

"He brought in his own posse," explained Bernstein.

"The first thing [SFSU police] should do is maintain control and not let outside firms handle security."

Neither Bernstein nor Kahn questioned SFSU's judgment in allowing the event to be held on campus (Bernstein pointed out that the campus' General Union of Palestinian Students is a co-sponsor of the conference). Instead, they wish to publicize the extremism and virulence of Al-Awda and its featured speakers.

The convention's own publicity "says it will focus on two main themes: 'Political and material isolation of the racist state of Israel, and political and material support of the Palestinian refugees,'" said Kahn.

"It goes without saying the Jewish community thinks that Al-Awda's platform is both inflammatory and dangerous."

The Anti-Defamation League, meanwhile, has compiled a backgrounder on the event's keynote speakers, featuring excerpts of their speeches and writings about Israel, and is distributing it throughout the Bay Area.