anuary 9, 2009/Tevet 13 5769, Volume 61, No. 16
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Standing together with Israel
1,500 gather at solidarity rally in Scottsdale
DEBORAH SUSSMAN SUSSER
Associate Editor
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A Jan. 4 rally in support of Israel at the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus, one of several such rallies held around the country Jan. 4-11, drew 1,500 people to the Scottsdale location.
Photo by Deborah Sussman Susser
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Scottsdale resident Michael Kaplan brought his three young children to the rally to support Israel on Jan. 4 because he wanted to make sure that “the Jewish voice, the Israeli voice, is represented” and because “it s important for the children to see this, and understand they can play a role.”
Sisters Mary Anne, Pinea and Devorah, of the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary, came to the rally at the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus in Scottsdale, because, said Sister Mary Anne, “We love Israel and the Jewish people, and we feel it is our duty of love to stand by the Jewish community in Phoenix.” She explained that the order s mother house is in Germany – it was founded just after World War II – and added, “We have a sad history toward Jewish people, and we need to change.”
Asked what brought her to the campus Sunday, Sister Devorah, who was born in Berlin in 1925, said simply, “My heart.”
The rally drew more than 1,500 people, according to Moises Paz, president and CEO of the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center. The JCC sponsored the event, along with The New Israel Center, the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, the JCC Alliance for Israel, the Board of Rabbis of Greater Phoenix and the Orthodox Rabbinical Council of Greater Phoenix, with additional support from other local Jewish organizations.
Attendees packed the length of the cavernous campus building, with hundreds more on the upper level looking down at the throng dotted with Israeli flags, from pocket-sized to larger than the people carrying them. As several of the speakers at the event pointed out, the audience comprised Jews of every denomination, from secular to Orthodox, as well as non-Jews.
The rally opened with a welcome from 2008 Campaign Chair and 2009 Federation Board Chair Steve Gubin, followed by local musician Todd Herzog and band performing “Hatikvah” and “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Rabbi Arthur Lavinsky, of the Conservative Phoenix synagogue Beth El Congregation, drew cheers from the crowd when he pointed out that Operation Cast Lead, the name of the Israeli offensive, has a link not only to Hanukkah, during which the operation launched, but also to Passover, because finally, after thousands of missiles had been launched against Israel, Israel said “dayenu” – enough.
After Lavinsky came Shahar Azani, the consul for culture, media and public affairs at the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles. The first of two Israeli speakers to address the crowd, he thanked everyone “for standing here today.”
“Bear no shame for supporting Israel,” he said, “for we have the higher moral ground” in what he termed a conflict between reason and madness, and between humanity and brutality.
Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) recounted how Ron Barness, former chair of the local board of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and now AIPAC s national political chair, had recently contacted him to request that Franks call the White House and ask for an unequivocal statement “that the responsibility for this can be laid directly at the feet of Hamas.”
“It must be made clear there is no moral equivalency between what Hamas has done and what Israel is doing now,” Franks said, “and it should be clear in this resolution that America stands with Israel.
“By the grace of God,” he concluded, “we will prevail.”
Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon echoed some of Franks themes, including the idea that “we send our loved ones to war in the hope of keeping democracy. Hamas sends their loved ones, their sons and daughters, to die … to become martyrs by killing innocents.”
Gordon called Hamas attitude “wrong, sick,” by the standards of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. And he urged those who opposed it to speak out. “Make no mistake,” he said, “silence will never lead to peace.”
The second Israeli to speak was the community shlicha from the federation s Israel Center, Sharron Topper-Amitai, in a moving appeal that combined both family memories and compassion.
“It is very difficult for me to be so far away from my family in Israel and my country at this time of war,” Topper-Amitai said. “My thoughts,” she continued, “are with the children of Israel. You don t deserve to suffer. There isn t one child in the world who deserves to suffer, from both sides, from any side.
“I am praying for a better future for our children,” she concluded, “and I am the voice of everybody standing here today.”
Last on the program was Rabbi David Rebibo, spiritual leader of Beth Joseph Congregation and head of the Orthodox Rabbinical Council of Greater Phoenix. He led the crowd in several prayers, including one for the welfare of the IDF forces, which concluded with a rousing “Amen.”
The day of the rally, Jan. 4, marked the first day of a national week of solidarity with Israel, sponsored by United Jewish Communities (UJC) and supported by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) and the Jewish Community Centers Association (JCCA). UJC designated Thursday, Jan. 8, as a National Day of Solidarity with Israel; more than 20 rallies around the country organized by the JCPA, including the one at the campus, took place on or around that day.
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