Jews of California’s South Bay will be attending an “Israel Action Day” today at the Los Gatos Jewish Community Center. The goals are Security, Peace, and Solidarity. I doubt there will be any flag burning. I’m guessing slogans will sound nothing like Islamic vitriol against Jews, Israel, and Zionism. Albeit disappointing to the media, there will be no convenient sound-bites such as those heard at Islamic rallies: “Jews are our dogs. Jews go home. Death to Israel. Death to America.”
The gathering will be productive, not destructive. People in attendance will write letters to Congress, make friendship bracelets for Israeli children in shelters, listen to speeches and learn. Indeed, the greater American public has something important to learn as well:
If Jewish gatherings are smaller than Muslim gatherings it is because we Jews must weigh our participation in these events against the chance of a terrorist attack on our congregations. As the media drones on about how “the life of Muslim Americans has become increasingly difficult since 9-11,” it fails to note the silent anxiety of Jews attending religious events, participating in community gatherings, and sending their children to Jewish schools.
I don’t recall hearing much follow-up on the murder of Pamela Waechter at the JCC in Seattle last month. Has the media extended its sympathy to Jews whose lives have become increasingly scary this summer? Nay, the life of a Jew has always been risky, and for that perhaps there’s no new news.
To borrow a child’s simple sentiment, I’ll state the obvious: It’s just not fair.
Why should anti-democratic people who espouse the eviction of Jews from Israel, demonstrate without fear while Jews demonstrating peacefully must worry about the wrath of their opponents? That very injustice is why my family and I will attend the JCC’s event this afternoon. I believe American Jews must make a point: We won’t give in to people who embody the antithesis of our values, which are pro-democratic, pro-free speech, and pro-peace.
Americans who don’t understand this would do well to examine their own values.
Many demonstrators for Hezbollah and Islam are exploiting their right to free speech, a right they don’t cherish in a democracy they don’t support. Doesn’t the broader American population feel outraged, at the very least insulted? America, of course, allows for free speech and protects free speech, as it should. Why aren’t we speaking up for ourselves? Speaking up for ourselves means standing up to them, exposing them for who they are, and repudiating the propaganda they’ve successfully fed the ignorant public for years.
America: Hello and wake up. If you want to beat the enemy that wants to beat you, face your fears, take pride in your right to free speech, and speak out.
