San Francisco Friends of the IDF raises $900,000 for Israel

Way to go, San Francisco!

Over 300 people attended Sunday nights Friends of the IDF fund raiser, and nearly $900,000 was donated to support the brave young men and women who keep our people safe. Not too shabby coming from one of the hubs of anti-Israel organizing in the world, but we've got a long way to go to match So Cal.


 From Yeshiva World 

Over $20 million was raised at the annual Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) Western Region Gala yesterday, Tuesday, October 22, 2013. More than 1,000 FIDF supporters and dignitaries from the United States and Israel gathered to express their support for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). FIDF National Board Member and major supporter, Haim Saban, and his wife, Cheryl, served as chairs of the star-studded FIDF Gala that took place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA.

Notable donations made at the event included $4.5 million from Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, Founder and President of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, $3.5 million from Vicki and Ron Simms of Simms Commercial Development, $2.3 million from Cheryl and Haim Saban, $2 million from Younes Nazarian, Co-Founder of Qualcomm, and his wife Soraya, and $1 million from Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle. Simon Cowell of American Idol and X-Factor also attended the event and announced a donation of $150,000 to benefit the IDF soldiers. The funds raised at the Gala will go towards wellbeing and educational programs for IDF soldiers

There are other appreciable differences between  Northern and Southern California.  Is it an exclusively Northern California phenomenon that the so called peace groups advocate and practice violence?

The Northern California J Weekly reports

Police arrested and booked three people who protested outside of a Friends of the IDF fundraiser held Oct. 20 at the InterContinental Hotel in San Francisco. Fewer than 10 protesters were at the event, according to officials. Julia Pereira, 19, of San Francisco and Powell DeGange, 28, of Berkeley were arrested for trespassing and resisting arrest when they entered the hotel after being told to leave, said Albie Esparza, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Police Department.

A few minutes later, Nancy Mansour Leigh of New York was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and disturbing the peace, police said, after she attacked a hotel guest with a bullhorn. She and a few other protesters had entered the hotel shouting anti-Israel slogans and “engaging in verbal altercation with hotel patrons that became a physical assault,” Esparza said. All three have been released but will later face charges in court.

Nancy Mansour Leigh, also known as Harrabic Tubman, is a co-founder of a group "Existence is Resistance".  The group sells shirts emblazoned with the picture of notorious  PLFP hijacker Leila Khaled, captioned  "Resistance is not terrorism" .

From the Resistance is existence website 

She was described by Ramsey Clark's International Action center as a spokesperson for the Hamas linked Viva Palestina delegation to Gaza.   Precisely the sort that might conflate assault with a bullhorn with "non-violent resistance".

Incidentally, although Students for Justice in Palestine and Women in Black both promoted this protest, they have been silent in condemning the violence.

UPDATE:
An anonymous commentor on this blog has indicated that Nancy Mansour Leigh was eventually acquitted of the changes