Israeli President Shimon Peres speaks before thousands in San Francisco

Israeli President Shimon Peres delivered a historic speech Tuesday night in San Francisco before a capacity crowd at Temple Emanu'el in San Francisco. This is the first time an incumbent Israeli president has visited the area. Governor Jerry Brown was among the 2,000 people who gathered to hear President Peres. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee presented Peres with a key to the city.

Tight security thwarted efforts by anti-Israel activists to disrupt the event. Security checkpoints were set up around the perimeter of the synagogue, and people were required to show a photo id and pass through metal detectors.



Photo from the Mercury news(Karl Mondon/Staff)

President Peres will spend the rest of his visit visiting innovative high tech businesses in the area to explore the use of social media as a tool to advance the peace process. In particular, he has expressed a desire to connect with young Arabs to help advance chances for peace in the Middle East. Peres will be in the Bay Area through Thursday.

Not sure what qualified this young woman to speak for Jews and Americans:



This evening proved her wrong, as 2,000 Jews and allies at Temple Emanu'el rose as one to recite the prayer for the State of Israel. Led by Congegation Beth Jacob's beloved Rabbi Judah Dardik, they prayed:

Our Father in Heaven, Rock and Redeemer of the people Israel; Bless the State of Israel, with its promise of redemption. Shield it with Your love; spread over it the shelter of Your peace. Guide its leaders and advisors with Your light and Your truth. Help them with Your good counsel. Strengthen the hands of those who defend our Holy Land. Deliver them; crown their efforts with triumph. Bless the land with peace, and its inhabitants with lasting joy. And let us say: Amen.

Arab resource organizing Center Protesting Peace

In 1994 the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Yasir Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin, for their efforts to create a lasting peace in the Middle East.

From their press release:

"For several decades, the conflict between Israel and its neighbour states, and between Israelis and Palestinians, has been among the most irreconcilable and menacing in international politics. The parties have caused each other great suffering.

By concluding the Oslo Accords, and subsequently following them up, Arafat, Peres and Rabin have made substantial contributions to a historic process through which peace and cooperation can replace war and hate.

In his 1895 will, Alfred Nobel wrote that the Peace Prize could be awarded to the person who, in the preceding year, "shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations". The award of the Nobel Peace Prize for 1994 to Arafat, Peres and Rabin is intended by the Norwegian Nobel Committee to honour a political act which called for great courage on both sides, and which has opened up opportunities for a new development towards fraternity in the Middle East. It is the Committee's hope that the award will serve as an encouragement to all the Israelis and Palestinians who are endeavouring to establish lasting peace in the region."

In 1996, Peres founded the Peres Center for Peace, in an effort to build a framework for his vision of peaceful coexistence.

From their Facebook page:

"The Peres Center for Peace is Israel’s leading non-profit organization promoting peacebuilding between Israel and its Arab neighbors, and in particular between Israelis and Palestinians. Founded in 1996 by the President of Israel and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shimon Peres, the Peres Center conducts dozens of projects, involving thousands of Israelis and Palestinians, fostering socio-economic cooperation and people-to-people interaction in a wide range of fields, such as medicine, sports, agriculture, the environment, business, education, youth, technology, the arts, and more.

The Peres Center believes that working towards peace should not just be left to governments, but rather that Israeli and Palestinian civil society should be actively engaged in peacebuilding activities. Through bringing together Israelis and Palestinians and focusing on common Arab and Israeli social, economic, developmental, cultural and educational interests, the Peres Center enables real people-to-people relationships to be formed, paving the way to a real and lasting peace between peoples. "

On Tuesday March 7, Israel President Shimon Peres will be coming to San Francisco, to speak at the venerable Temple Emanu-El.

The Arab Resource Organizing Center plans to protest the Nobel laureate that has devoted his life to encouraging peaceful co-existence between Israelis and their neighbors. Blinded by their raw hatred of anything associated with Israel, they sent out an announcement urging people to disrupt the aging dignitary.

Their announcement follows:

Peres is a war criminal - apartheid is not a vision for a just future.
We must stand together to oppose Israeli Apartheid and the colonization of Palestine.
Let's show Peres what OUR vision of tomorrow would look like by greeting him with a mass protest at 5pm.
Bring signs, banners, chants, and your friends! Also bring flashlights and noisemakers to shine light onto Israeli apartheid and drown out Peres' lies!

Rejecting Peace. Rejecting Co-existence. Protesting a Nobel Laureate who devoted his life to justice, equality and opportunity for all. Can there be any more convincing evidence of the hatred and intolerance of the Arab Resource Organizing Center?