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Activists put finishing details on massive pro-Israel rally

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Message: If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/16245/full/16245/activists-put-finishing-details-on-massive-pro-israel-rally/ Activists put finishing details on massive pro-Israel rally Friday, August 24, 2001 | by MICHAEL J. JORDAN NEW YORK—Via planes, trains and automobiles, tens of thousands of Jews from across North America are expected to descend upon New York on Sept. 23 for the long-anticipated continental rally in support of Israel, organizers say. Preparations for the rally have begun to gel, with speakers and sponsors spanning the religious and political spectrum, including Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The message will be one of solidarity with Israel, and a reminder to Washington, the United Nations and the rest of the world that Israel and Jews in the diaspora are united. Perhaps even more important, said the rally's honorary chairman, Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel, is for Jews to stand together. "Many of us have the feeling that we don't know where to go," Wiesel said Tuesday in a conference call with American Jewish media. "We need to feel that we are not alone, that we are with other Jews, that we are with friends, that we are with Israel." The federation world, led by the umbrella United Jewish Communities, first discussed the possibility of a large-scale rally back in March amid debate about the most effective way to use communal funds in showing solidarity with Israel. The UJC tentatively planned a demonstration for June 4 at Madison Square Garden in New York, but canceled for what officials said was an inability to guarantee Sharon's presence—or his security. "The situation has changed so dramatically since then, with a series of wake-up calls, that people need an avenue of expression," said Arthur Naparstek, vice president of the UJC's Israel and Overseas Pillar and national director of the Israel Now Solidarity Rally. The UJC settled on Sept. 23—in the middle of the High Holy Days and one day before the U.N. General Assembly opens—as one element of its multi-pronged "Israel Now and Forever" campaign. The rally is being described as the most significant for American Jewry since Dec. 6, 1987, when more than 200,000 American Jews marched on Washington to demand that Soviet Jews be allowed to emigrate. In addition to Sharon, speakers from Israel will include Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg and perhaps Housing Minister Natan Sharansky. American speakers include New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Gov. George Patak, and Sens. Charles Schumer (D-NY), Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn), the former vice presidential candidate. Rally organizers say they chose New York over Washington because it is home to the largest diaspora Jewish community and because the rally is not a protest against the Bush administration. Besides, they said, they'd rather protest against the perceived anti-Israel bias at the United Nations, headquartered in New York. Rally organizers brush off grumbling from those who suggest the event would make a stronger statement in Washington, and wonder whether the cost—an estimated $900,000 to $1.2 million—would be better spent on solidarity trips to Israel. Once word went out that the rally's date was in stone, the community swung into action. Through mail and fliers, e-mails and Web sites, newspaper and radio ads, Hillel is organizing its students, yeshivas are sending their young scholars, and synagogues of the four major streams—Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist—are mobilizing their congregants. Organizers predict that up to 130 of the 189 federations and 100 of the 123 community relations councils nationwide will be represented at the rally. Exactly how many Jews turn out Sept. 23 ultimately may determine whether the rally is deemed a success. As Wiesel acknowledged, with 3 million Jews in New York and 6 million nationwide, a poor turnout would be "a mark of shame" for the community. Moreover, he said, a poor turnout could be used as propaganda against Israel, intended to show that American Jews don't care about the fate of the Jewish state. "I will not be satisfied with 50,000 or even 100,000," Wiesel said. "We must concentrate our efforts to give Israel strength, because Israel gives us hope."

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