Well, today I learned that after the NOLAPS protest, my friend and a few other young Jewish Americans from around the country stood up in front of the entire General Assembly and directly addressed Prime Minister Netanyahu. You can see in the image below that she was hastily removed. Not only was her face plastered on the Israeli news, but her statement was quoted in at least a dozen news sources, Israeli and American. Reactions were varied. Well, for one, they were booed out of the conference, and the JPost article was followed by scathing comments labeling her a traitor and an Arab sympathizer. But high-profile, pro-peace sites like Mondoweiss and RabbiBrant and their supporters celebrated the protest. Another incident after which I don't know whether to feel encouraged or discouraged. Impressed and inspired will have to suffice.
At the very bottom is a link to a new website sponsored by Jewish Voice for Peace. It's beautiful. Check it out.
And check out my friend, Heckler #1.
Protesters Interrupt New Orleans Speech
Young Jews Raise the Roof at the Jewish Federation GA!
Five Young Jews Disrupt Netanyahu Speech With Call for New Jewish Identity
"The loyalty oath de-legitimatizes Israel," a woman holding a placard yelled while standing on her chair, interrupting Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's speech at the Jewish Federations of North America's General Assembly in New Orleans on Monday."
Jerusalem Post
The first heckler began just moments into Netanyahu's 30-minute speech and was ejected while shouting, "The loyalty oath delegitimizes Israel." The premier responded, "I was going to talk about delegitimizing Israel but they really have the wrong address."
Haaretz: Hecklers disrupt PM's Speech at Conference
"Five hecklers created a brief disruption during the prime minister's speech. Manning [Jewish Federation rep] said this was "indicative of an atmosphere of disruption rather than dialogue that is unfortunately all too common today."
Herald Online
"The young Jews faced a violent backlash from some audience members. Some audience members attempted to hit and gag Rae Abileah, a young Jewish protester who grew up in Half Moon Bay and now lives in San Francisco. Three of the young Jews, Matan Cohen, Matthew Taylor and Emily Ratner, were temporarily detained, but not before they interrupted Netanyahu's speech five times with chants, and forced him to address them directly."
The Berkeley Daily Planet
“The Jewish establishment thinks that all we want are free trips to Israel and feel-good service projects. That is in insult to our intelligence and to the Jewish values we were brought up on. What we want is for the American Jewish community to stand up and say that Israel’s ongoing violations of Palestinian human rights are wrong and that we will not continue to support it with our dollars, our political strength and our moral abilities. We are the next generation of American Jews, proud of our heritage, strongly committed to Jewish life. We live our Jewish values in opposing Israel’s human rights violations and we invite – no, implore –all Jews to join in this urgent struggle.” Hanna King, Swarthmore College, Philadelphia
YoungJewishProud website-Read this declaration...
