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by shergald
The degree of polarization achieved within the American Jewish community by the topic of Israel was witnessed last weekend in San Francisco, when organizations of differing perspectives, peace activists from the Bay Area Women in Black and Jewish Voice for Peace, confronted members of StandWithUs/SF Voice for Israel. The peace activists were holding a silent vigil outside the main entrance to the San Francisco Jewish Community Federation while it was celebrating an annual event, "Israel in the Gardens." The StandWithUs group lined the street.
Here is a video of the confrontation:
Just in case the comments from the StandWithUs group cannot be read off the video, here is a sample:
Information about recent encounters with StandWithUs can be read at Muzzlewatch, a subsidiary of Jewish Voice for Peace, which also covered the weekend confrontation. Watching these two groups interact, it is evident that the peace activists are parading quietly and reserved, apparently not responding to the jeers, while the pro-Israel StandWithUs group are highly aroused, hostile, and even threatening, at least verbally. Watching these two groups, I wondered: what makes a Jewish person join one side as opposed to the other? Immediately the thought came, one side, the peace activists, must be Judaic, while the other, the pro-Israel group, must be Zionist. Other contrasts I thought of were the usual political ones, liberal-conservative, Democrat-Republican, but how can one know? A search for studies of personality trait differences among Jews that might affect their feelings toward Israel came up empty. A 2007 study claimed a generational factor, that attachment to Israel was declining among younger Jews, but that finding was contradicted the next year by another study that found no such decline. Besides, a look at the participants in the SF confrontation video clearly showed persons of all ages on both sides. So what's the deal? I returned to Muzzlewatch report on the SF confrontation and found this, written by Cecile Sarasky:
So it was a mainstream versus fringe confrontation. Simple enough. |
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Jews Confront Jews in San Francisco | 30 comments (30 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
Jews Confront Jews in San Francisco | 30 comments (30 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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