Dear Friends of Israel:
We look forward to seeing you on Sunday, when tens of thousands of supporters of Israel will gather for our community's annual celebration of Israel in the Gardens.
We will be in booth #6 on the western side of the Gardens; please stop by to say hi, and to pick up some of our new materials. We also expect to have 5 of the panels of the new StandWithUs "Israel Matters" display
Of course, this being the Bay Area, no Israel event can go without protest from the PWHI (People Who Hate Israel). And in case there was any doubt about what they stand for, the attached screenshot should make it very clear: they call on people to "Protest Jewish Community Celebration" and refer to "64 years of exploitation....". These are not people who simply call for ending Israel's presence in the West Bank; they call for ending Israel's presence in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem as well.
While there will be a dignified counterprotest to the dozen or so haters when they arrive at 12 noon, we ask everyone not to interact directly with the members of these hate groups. Remember that WE are the ones standing for peace; these people even oppose proposals for peace between the Jewish state of Israel and a proposed Arab state of Palestine!
We also want people to be very careful not to give the other side any "YouTube moments".
As always, if you wish to participate please feel free to make your own signs (note that signs are not permitted inside the Gardens themselves) but please no signs or graphics offensive to any racial or ethnic group-- including but not limited to Arabs, Islam, or Palestinians. Signs in violation of our policies will not be allowed.
3 comments:
Just so you know, the usual haters are going to try and disrupt the festival by going through the Howard street entrance and projecting anti-Israel propaganda on the walls.
What a joke. 2 dozen circling protesters carrying signs of varying degrees of offensivenness, and thousands of lovers and supporters of Israel crowding the gardens. The part that puzzled so many of us was that after spending an hour protesting, many of the protesters removed their kaffiyahs and entered the park. Were they trying to disrupt? Nah. They just wanted to have some Israeli food, do some shopping, and listen to the music.
The odious Assistant Editor of Mondoweiss Allison Deger even made an appearance at the Festival. Was she shopping for quality Israeli crafts? Was she there to listen to the global rhythm of Balkan beat Box? Or was she simply trolling for Mondoweiss? I'm sure we'll find out soon.
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