Anti-Israel activists still attempting to pick up Loose Change at Occupy Oakland

The Reut Institute considers the Bay Area one of the hubs of the delegitimization of Israel, but increasingly it appears that those attempting to marginalize Israel have become, well....marginalized.  A widely promoted anti-Israel rally in front of the Israel Consulate in San Francisco last week attracted only a handful of people. Attempts to bolster attendance at Bay Area anti-Israel events are beginning to reek of desperation.

This email is making the rounds.

 On WED MARCH 13 at 5:30 PM we will be marching to PARATRANSIT headquarters in Downtown Oakland from Oscar Grant Plaza.
  The contract for Paratransit in Oakland is held by a company called Veolia, who also holds the contract for segregated, settler only bus lines that run inside the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We will march to Paratransit not with the intention of shutting them down or disrupting services for the day, but more to air their dirty laundry and pressure them to pull out of the West Bank.
    This march is part of a larger day of happenings beginning at 4pm and going till about 9 that we are calling "A Feast to the Global Resistance" where we will gather at Oscar Grant Plaza for food, films, community, etc. The day marks the 4th anniversary of the shooting of Oakland activist TRISTAN ANDERSON by Israeli Border Police. Tristan survived (he was shot in the head with a tear gas grenade during a protest in Palestine in 2009) and will be leading the march from his wheelchair.

    **We hope that others from the disability community will support the day's events and join Tristan in the march on the anniversary of his shooting.**

    This march is being called by Justice 4 Tristan, a small loose group of friends of Tristan, who are also folks from Occupy Oakland. We do not expect any kind of confrontation or problems. Our intentions are towards a positive, community gathering type of vibe for the day. Also, we are definitely activists who don't take out permits and don't march on the sidewalk.

    Wed March 13
    4:00- Feast and Gather [at Oscar Grant Plaza]
    5:30- March
    6:30- 9:00- Film Clips and Skype Calls
    from Resistance Movements around the World [back at Oscar Grant Plaza]

The anti-Israel movement has been attempting and failing to gather the loose change from the tattered remains of the Occupy movement for sometime.    Attempting to lure participants with the offer of  a free "feast" is a new touch, however.

UPDATE: Emerging clips from tonights rally and march in Oakland once again point to the increasingly irrelevancy of the local anti-Israel movement.    About an hour into the event, the plaza was still quite empty: Several young pro-Israel peace activists showed up, and were viciously assaulted by the rally organizers.  Their crime- writing "Am Yisroel Chai"- the Jewish people live- on the sidewalk  This  clip has been updated to include a brief interview with Hannah, the young woman repeatedly assaulted by the purported "peace activist" Update An anonymous contributer has tentatively  identified the assailant as Gabby (Gabrille) Silverman.  Where have we seen her before?  Perhaps from her mug shot which appeared in the online edition of the San Francisco Chronicle Gabrille Silverman was among 20 people arrested Saturday. San Francisco police officers arrested 11 men and nine women Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012 when the group marched through the city's Financial District in black clothing and tossed projectiles at police officers.   Photo: San Francisco Police Dept. Final Update We'll let Gabby have the last word, because, well, Zionists are like that. From the Facebook page she created for the event ,  A feast to the global resistance: Gabby Silverman.  Stay classy, girl.

Greta Berlin and Friends Berkeley hate fest part 2

Guest post by Emunah

“Once in a while you can get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right’

An hour and a half of just listening to accusations of organ theft, of not being “real Semites”, of rich and powerful Jews controlling information and government was personally exhausting.  This  glimpse into the dark soul of anti-Israel activism revealed, as suspected, a core of  festering anti-Semitism.

It wasn't a surprise.  It wasn't just Greta Berlin’s now infamous tweet, or the cover-up that changed day to day. It wasn’t her step daughter Ava’s admission about the depth of Greta’s hatred .  For me, years of observing the seething anti-Semitism on the streets- and the silence of those who stood by exposed the “peace” movement for what it really was.

Illumination came to the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists in the unexpected form of a young Occupy activist, “Beth”.  Beth had been invited to the Fellowship by Janet Kobren, a flotilla participant, currently active in Occupy. Beth was invited with the expectation that she  “might learn something”.

Beth  spoke during the Question and Answer  period.

 “Hi. I appreciate all the work that is being done on behest  of the Palestinians. But I came here on the behest of Janet. She thought that I might learn things that I didn't know. I didn't learn anything that I didn't already know.  And I support the Palestinians. I support BDS. I support the flotilla. But recently there was an incident where someone in this room wrote on our non-violent list serve, that all Jews are immoral and that all Jews are secret Zionists... “

( At this point, Joseph Anderson, an audience member began screaming   "Not true, not true” )

She continued

 “... there is a danger of the mainstream  media goes totally to the right and defends Israel to no end, and won't point out any of the issues, but there is a problem on the left of going so far that anyone one who is even - when you talk about a 1 state solution, I have not heard of the particulars of how two groups, who are in this conflict and hate each other for 60 years are going to live side by side. And I've heard also there are many states that have divided into ethnic countries. Now I'm accused of being a Zionist, of being a Zionist, for saying that I believe a 2 state solution, is a better solution. So, what I'm saying is if you want the Jews to support the Palestinians,  you can't deny the history of the anti-Semitism, that started when Jesus was labeled as killed by the Jews. “

Joseph’s response ?  A variation on the theme of “all my best friends are Jews” , He then accused the young woman of being a plant and an agent provocateur .

Full disclosure:  Joseph Anderson (posting as JA on the various Indymedia sites) was alleged to have written a rant, justifying the collective punishment of the Jewish people worldwide:

“Personally, I *EXULT* everytime I see an Israeli Jew bite the dust. And the same goes for their American cousins! EVERY SINGLE JEW EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD is a just and appropriate target for anti-colonialist liberation! We need to start targeting *EVERY* synagogue, *EVERY* Jew community center, school and everywhere else that you racist devils preach and propogate your agenda.
BOUT  TO MEET YO MAKER, JEWBOY? HA, HA HA!!!!!!!!!!”

There are people on all sides of the political spectrum that question his mental stability

He began:

 “.. First of all, I come from a people that also suffered for centuries at the hands of Christians and often Jews. And no amount of suffering entitles anyone to go take, dispossess or be given  the land of another people.... Second of all, let me say I've had anti-Zionist, Jewish roommates and friends for at least 20 years. My first roommate was an anti-Zionist Jew. I've been friends with a majority of Jews in this room, for quite some time. So, for you to say, that I called all Jews immoral, is patently ridiculous. So, for my question, you know Malcom X said about the false accusation of anti-Semitism is that' that stick don't hurt me' and that's how I've conducted myself. And ironically I've been very rarely called an anti-Semite because, if Zionists tried to do something, I don't care. The other thing we have to realize with regard to the enforcement arm of the Lobby, if I were in charge of that, I would send people out on the left, to work on the left.”

 Beth attempted to have her voice  heard. Again.  She was under the impression that this was meant to be a discussion of anti-Semitism and Zionism

“This is supposed to be on anti-Semitism and Zionism… you are not allowing… to speak…You've had 3 speakers for an hour on 1 perspective and the one person who has a different… you wouldn't let speak for more than a minute.”

Alison dismissed her . “This happens frequently. There will be one person that thinks that they are entitled. That they are more important than everybody else in the whole room.”

Soon the audience joined in the attacks- threatening to call the police on her.

One patronizingly demanded, “Will you be quiet miss?”

“No. I will not,” she answered.  “Because this has been stacked with the Palestinian perspective.”

Greta Berlin, Alison Weir and Jeff Blankfort at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian  Universalists Oct 18, 2012.  Where Beth, a sensitive and involved Occupy activist learns that “groupthink” is alive and well on the fringe left, and that for them, "justice" means  "Just us".