Jewish Voice for Peace. Creating a Wedge

NGO Monitor may have said it best:

Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) is a U.S.-based organization, which views itself as the “Jewish wing” of the Palestinian solidarity movement.  Though JVP regards the organized Jewish community as its “enemy” and “opponent,” it nonetheless demands a seat at the communal table.  The strategy, as stated by JVP’s executive director Rebecca Vilkomerson, is to create “a wedge” within the American Jewish community to generate the impression of polarization over Israel.  The tactic is to dilute support for Israel in the Jewish community, toward the goal of reducing or eliminating the United States government’s economic, military, and political support for Israel.

How do you create the illusion of polarization on Israel when the vast majority of Jews worldwide and in America  feel differently?

After all, according to a recent Pew Research Center poll,

Jewish Americans feel a strong emotional connection with the Jewish state: A solid majority say they are either “very” or “somewhat” attached to Israel and that caring about Israel is either “essential” or “important” to what being Jewish means to them.

The Israel-haters at Jewish Voice for Peace have a strategy. Their current obsession is squashing any potential legislature that acknowledges and counters rising anti-Semitism. There is only one group of righteous victims to JVP, and its not the Jews.

How many members of "Jewish" Voice for Peace are Jewish?

Jewish Voice for Peace has launched a pressure campaign directed against the Jewish Federations of North America asking them to withdraw their support for the "Anti-Semitism Awareness Act", which has been unanimously approved by the US Senate.

This call to action was publicized on the Students for Justice in Palestine Facebook Page.

Call me a cynic, but I strongly doubt that members of JVP or SJP are contributors to the Jewish Federations of North America, which pledges to "work tirelessly to deepen connections between the Jewish State and the global Jewish community."  Groups and individuals operating in direct opposition to the mission of the Federation should not get a say in formulating group policy. The scripted calls by sock puppet accounts should be soundly ignored.

Are you ready for IsrAction Day, December 18, 2016?

Please consider participating in this great initiative- truly a triple mitzvah- from StandwithUs:

JOIN US for IsrAction Day, December 18, 2016!

StandWithUs is partnering with North West Friends of Israel and Sussex Friends of Israel for the 3rd annual IsrAction Day 2016 in an effort to fight BDS and win BIG (Buy Israeli Goods).

Launching this year on December 18, IsrAction Day is an International grassroots campaign where people buy Israeli goods in local supermarkets and donate the purchases to the needy in their community. It accomplishes its three major goals: people are able to stand up for Israel, fight BDS and support local communities.

Purchases can be dropped off at local collection centers or to directly to the selected charity. Photos and videos can be uploaded to the IsrAction Day 2016 FaceBook group and website.

IsrAction Days in Northern California will be December 18th and 19th!

StandWithUs Northern California drop off locations for your donations:

Temple Beth Abraham, Oakland: Dec 19 10a-4p
Congregation Kol Shofar, Tiburon: Dec 18 8:30a-noon and Dec 19 10a-4p
Congregation Beth Ami, Santa Rosa: Dec 19 10a-4p
Congregation Sinai of San Jose California has joined us as well as a drop off location! Dec 18th from 9a-6pm and Dec 19th from noon-4pm!

You can find non-perishable Israeli food at Trader Joes. (Harvest grains and Israeli couscous), at Safeway and Luckys in the kosher aisle. Mollie Stones in Greenbrae and in Palo Alto has a great variety of Israeli foods.  Many of the small Arab grocers also proudly carry Israeli food, and have faced harassment and vandalism because of it.  The Berkeley Bowl (both stores) also carries Israeli products.

Lets us know where you buy Israeli products, and be sure to photograph your haul and post it here

Helping Israel. Helping our community. Whats not to love?

Anti-Semitism Awareness Act of 2016 passes the Senate

S. 10, the “Anti-Semitism Awareness Act of 2016”, a bipartisan bill to increase awareness of anti-Semitism has unanimously passed the Senate. The bill was cosponsored by Sen. Robert  Casey, Jr [D-PA], Sen. Ron Wyden [D-OR], Sen. Lindsay Graham, and Sen. Michael Bennet. [D-CO]

The goal of the bill was to propose definition of anti-Semitism for the enforcement of Federal anti discrimination laws concerning education programs or activities.

Full text is available here

The Anti-Semitism Awareness Act was supported by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Federations of North America, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Senator Scott Speaks on Senate Floor about Anti-Semitism Awareness Act




For more information:

With Attacks On The Rise, Sens. Casey and Scott Introduce Bipartisan Anti-Semitism Awareness Act

LDB Commends Scott and Casey’s “Game-Changing” Bipartisan Anti-Semitism Awareness Act

Self righteous virtue signaling hypocrites and Airbnb

Airbnb is the company everyone loves to hate, until they are looking for the perfect charming low-cost vacation rental with a view of the surf.  Because they refuse to discriminate against Jews who list their homes in Judea and Samaria,  Airbnb  has been in the Israel's hater cross-hairs for some time now.

Jewish Voice for Peace and friends launched the Stolen Homes campaign, which follows the JVP formulaic and entirely predictable modus operandi.  A petition!   A hashtag!  Aging hippies holding signs!  

No doubt the 30 billion dollar company was left quaking  in its shoes. No! Not hippies holding signs!

Earlier this year the hard left National Lawyers Guild passed a  resolution by a vote of 67% to 33%  to boycott Airbnb, declaring: 

Whereas: Airbnb, the biggest listing service for short term and vacation rental housing, recently began listing rentals in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and thus both the websites and their users glean profit from stolen land. These settlements are in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits an occupying power from moving its civilian population onto the land it is occupying. There are over 650,000 Jewish settlers living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and settlement growth is rapidly increasing. Israeli settlements serve an exclusionary, Jewish-only population, are a clear form of state segregation. Settlers confiscate Palestinian land, homes, and resources, severely restrict Palestinian freedom of movement, and prevent any possibility of a contiguous Palestinian State. By listing homes in Israeli settlements, and earning a 9 to 15 percent fee from hosts and guests, Airbnb directly profits from and promotes Israeli apartheid and land theft. 

Airbnb has steadfastly ignored the Israel haters, even hosting a wedding at the Airbnb Headquarters  at 888 Brannan St, San Francisco for a couple who met through its listings in Israel. After a  initial Airbnb-related misunderstanding,  Ben from San Francisco enjoyed a blossoming romance with Tel Aviv's Noa.

From SF Gate:

"We wanted a private marriage ceremony but in a place that would be meaningful to us, [and] the Airbnb office seemed like a cool idea since we had met through Airbnb two years ago," the couple tells SFGATE. "We loved the Airbnb atrium and headquarters. We had great help from the staff and one of the founders, Joe [Gebbia]."

Airbnb has cancelled the listings of those that discriminate against Israelis.  During the recent fires in Israel, Airbnb took the compassionate step of waiving its service fees for those who opened their listings to victims of the fire. 

Airbnb set up "disaster response" page to help match hosts with guests and waived all posting and service fees. Those hosting for free were still be covered by standard Airbnb insurance policies. 

The Israel-haters don’t seem to be hurting Airbnb at all.

In July 2015, Airbnb raised $1.6 billion at a $25.6 billion valuation, according to Equidate. With the $850 million disclosed in last week’s filing, Airbnb has raised about $3.2 billion in equity.

Why has the campaign against Airbnb turned into yet another BDS fail? Could it be as simple as good old fashioned hypocrisy?

Rachel Lederman is the president of the San Francisco Chapter of National Lawyers Guild. Her Airbnb profile is available online. Perhaps she didn't get the Guild memo. Perhaps she was one of the 33% of the Guild members who voted against the boycott. Or perhaps she is one of those virtual signaling   “Do as I say, not as I do” activists.

Andy Griggs and Emma Rosenthal are members of  Labor for Palestine, the  Los Angeles Palestine Labor Solidarity Committee and the Cafe Intifada, and have been involved in many social media campaigns designed to demonize the only democracy in the Middle east.  No one doubts their commitment to quashing the state of the Jewish people,  unless of course, their personal livelihood is involved. That would be different.

Andy and Emma list rooms at their Dragonfly Hill Urban farm on Airbnb, and choose to ignore the “call from Palestinian civil society” ostensibly because it might interfere with their bottom line.  They’ll endlessly harangue community organizations to divest "from companies doing business in Israel", but they can not be bothered to do so themselves.

Makes me wonder. Could self righteous virtue signalling hypocrites be at the core of the failure of the BDS movement  in America?

Sister Act. Thank you, Mayor Ed Lee

San Francisco's Mayor Ed Lee wants to help its sister city Haifa get back on her feet following the devastating fires. He just tweeted

" #SF is proud to be Haifa's Sister City & we encourage you to support the recovery efforts from the fires. Donate now at sfgivesback.org"

The donations are channeled through the venerable Jewish National Fund (JNF)
The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) has more info:

Tens of thousands of residents of the Israeli port city of Haifa, a San Francisco Sister City, were forced to evacuate last week when high winds pushed fires into residential areas. More than 700 homes were damaged or destroyed, and residents are only now returning. While among many serious fires in Israel, Haifa's were some of the worst. In response, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee has launched a new website at http://sfgivesback.org/ to help bring attention to the situation and drive donations.

“On behalf of the residents of San Francisco, my thoughts and prayers go out to the families affected by the fires that have struck our Sister City Haifa, Israel. San Francisco stands ready to support and assist...," he said in a statement.

This is an impressive action by the mayor and we have sent him our thanks. We encourage anyone who feels grateful to reach out to him at: Mayor Edwin M. Lee City Hall, Room 200 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place San Francisco, CA 94102 Telephone: (415) 554-6141, Fax: (415) 554-6160 Email: mayoredwinlee@sfgov.org  Facebook: Mayor Edwin M. Lee Twitter: @mayoredlee

Debunking the "pine libel"

Anti-Israel sites are anxious to pass responsibility for the current rash of fires in Israel back to the Jews. What better way to reclaim the mantle of eternal victimhood  than blaming the  Jewish National fund for planting pine trees during Israel's formative years, instead of, oh, lets say, this guy:

Read the truth about the "Pine libel" from the Elder of Ziyon

The pine tree that the JNF has been planting for so many years is the Aleppo pine, pinus halepensis (known in Israel as the Jerusalem pine.)  It is found throughout the Mediterranean, from Morocco to Syria. The JNF did not choose the tree to make Israel look like Europe, a lie repeated by Mondoweiss.  Native Aleppo pine forests exist in the Carmel and Galilee regions.

Moreover, pine trees were observed in Palestine by travelers in the 19th century. From The Popular Cyclopædia of Biblical Literature, 1856:

 The tall cypress only exists in Palestine, as cultivated by man in gardens, and in cemeteries, and other open places of towns. But as the spontaneous growth of the country, we find upon the heights and swelling hills, the walnut-tree, the strawberry-tree, the laurel-tree, &c.; while on the formerly wooded heights, various kinds of pine-trees, large and small, still maintain their ground.

As far as Mount Carmel is concerned specifically,  the Jewish Encyclopedia of 1907 says it is "covered with helm-oaks and pine trees."

Carved Pine cones, Palmyra, Syria.

UPDATE:
Mazin Qumsiyeh writing on behalf of the  Palestine Museum of Natural History and the Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability continues the "pine libel" stating:

The choice of European pine trees was because a) they grow fast, b) they give a European look to the otherwise “Arab” landscape, c) their leaves on the ground make  acidic preventing growth or regrowth of endogenous trees.

In total KKL boasts that it planted 240 million pine trees. Resinous pine is like petrol and burns with a ferocity. 

Read about the local pines mentioned in the Bible here

Three pines are frequently encountered in the Middle East. One, Pinus pinea, the stone pine or umbrella pine (in allusion to its umbrella-like appearance when mature), was once grown on a large scale for its seeds which are an important ingredient in Middle East foods. Today, most of these seeds are imported from China and may be produced by trees other than the stone pine. All pines have edible seeds, most, however, are too small to harvest.

The two native pines are Aleppo pine, P. halepensis, and P. brutia which has no widely acceptable common name. Pinus brutia is widespread in Syria and Turkey. There are remnant forests of Aleppo pine in Israel and Jordan. Both pines are fire maintained in nature.

In Nehemiah 8:15 and Isaiah 41:19 the Aleppo pine brutia pine is probably meant. In each of these three references the beauty of the trees is emphasized. This is applicable as the pine is evergreen, fragrant, but also produces good wood for construction and furniture.

In Hosea 14:8 reference is made to a pine tree which apparently produces an edible fruit perhaps the stone pine. It is often difficult to say with certainty which pine is intended in the scriptures as the same word can be used for other evergreen trees such as the cypress and the fir.

Read more about the "pine libel" here:

Anti-Israel Activists: Israel Should Have Planted More Arson-Resistant Trees

Pine Libel

Arabs fiddle while Israel burns

Heavy winds and dry conditions are driving wildfires across Israel. Some of them are suspected to be the result of arson. Israel is struggling to save property and save lives, and is planning on asking for firefighting assistance from Greece, Croatia, Cyprus.

In the meanwhile, trending first in the world under the Arabic hashtag is  اسراييل_تحترق  (Israel burns).

Its celebratory.
For a land they claim is holy to their people, the Arabs of the world are thrilled to see the devastation. There isn't a moments thought about the million Arabs living in Israel, or to the potential ecological devastation to the region. 
Hate lit the match, and hate continues to fan the flames.

Anti-Israel Activist Cheryl Davila wins a seat on the Berkeley City council

Don't ever think your vote doesn't count.

Thanks to the algorithms of ranked choice voting, Cheryl Davila has won a seat on the Berkeley City Council by 34 votes.

Cheryl's been a regular at local anti-Israel functions in the Bay area.

She recruits her campaign volunteers directly from UC Berkeley Students for Justice in Palestine

Her contributors read like a who's who of anti-Israel activists. Hatem Bazian. Hassan and Margaret Fouda. JVP's Andrew Gutierrez,  Cindy Shamban and Glen Hauer. Barbara Lubin of the Middle East Children's Alliance. Donald Wagner from Fiends of Sabeel.  The entire Ezzeddine family.  The Zayour family. Anti-Israel activists from as far away as Texas and New York have contributed to her campaign.

Cheryl Davila knows this support didn't come cheap.Faced with the sky-rocketing cost of housing, homelessness, and parking shortages, the last thing Berkeley should need to worry about is establishing its own foreign policy.  Nevertheless, expect her to introduce a Berkeley Divestment from Israel resolution into the City Council next year.

UPDATE:

As of November 14 the votes have not yet been certified, but Davila remains in the lead.

California and Israel: working together to defeat climate change

The memorandum of understanding signed in 2014 by Benjamin Netanyahu and California Governor Jerry Brown has led to some ground breaking collaborations.

Over the summer, a delegation of 18 California policymakers traveled to Israel  to explore issues related to climate change, water use and smart agriculture.  Their  travels included a tour of a water management facility in Jerusalem, plant breeding company Kaiima Ltdin Moshav Sharon (listed by MIT as one of its top-50 smartest companies.) a visit to a nursery near Gaza,  a trip to Netafim, an Israeli Ag technology company in the Negev Desert, and a visit to the  Ben Gurion University Desert Research Institute. They meet with agricultural innovation, climate change and water use experts across Israel

Karen Ross at the California Department of Food and Agriculture blog, Planting Seeds wrote of her trip "The sense of history here leaves me in a state of awe"

Read her reports at Planting Seeds

Climate Smart Israel – California delegation set to learn about conservation strategies in a semi-arid land

Climate Smart Israel – a report from Secretary Ross

Climate Smart Israel – a delegation update from Secretary Ross

Climate Smart Israel – the Negev Desert

Climate Smart Israel – to Jerusalem and the Sea of Galilee

Climate Smart Israel – a visit to the ‘Financial Innovations Lab’

This week November 9, 2016 • 8:30 – 10:30 a.m. PDT AM PDT (California) • 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. IDT (Israel) experts from California and Israel will be sharing their experiences and expertise in a webinar

Webinar: The Extent, Development and Potential of Recycled Water Use for Specialty Crop Production.

Steven Moore, State Water Resources Control Board
Dr. Anat Levingart, Israeli Ministry of Agriculture
Alvar Escriva Bou, Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC)
Mr. Aryeh Bosak, South Judaea Growers Association
Mr. Asher Eizenkot, Israeli Extension Service
Dr. Pinchas Fine, Volcani Center
William Wong, City of Modesto

Secretary Ross with members of the delegation for the California Climate-Smart Agriculture Policy Mission

Can California learn to quench its thirst and feed its hungry from a tiny nation in the Middle East? Its happening already.

Rest in Power. A hero of Zion: Sylvia Siegel z'l

Written by Phyllis Chesler, regarding local Bay area activist Sylvia (Thyme) Siegel. Originally published in Arutz Sheva

And now, it is time to praise a hero of Zion: Sylvia Siegel z'l, otherwise known as Thyme (Zipporah) Siegel. She died and was buried yesterday. Thyme was once a feminist separatist leftist "living on the land" (think of this as a misguided feminist kibbutz experiment) in Oregon when one fine day, she visited Israel. Everything changed for her.

She also flew from far-off California to meet with me. Her questions were simple.

"Phyllis, where am I? What's happening? What must I do? All my friends have, overnight, become my enemies. All my political comrades spit on me. Literally. And they are so wrong yet they think they alone have the truth."

"Welcome to the Resistance," I told her and sent her on her Mission.

Thyme did not fail me or the moment. Thyme would stand at Berkeley's Sproul Plaza,  (!) holding an Israeli flag, just waiting for anyone to mess with her. And mess with her they did. She kept holding that flag. Thyme also became one of the best undercover journalists, working with bylined journalists. She would go into the BDS or Israel Apartheid Week planning meeting, blend in, take notes, reveal what took place to distinguished journalists, who would publish what was said and planned.

When I was asked to be part of a "Feminism and Anti-Semitism" panel by Jennifer Roskies--it took place at Yale at the very best conference on anti-Semitism in the 21st century, under the aegis of Dr. Charles Small--I immediately suggested that Thyme join us. And so she did, together with Nora Gold, whose novel, Field of Exile, memorialized the various "intifadas" on Canadian campuses.

One of Israel's counter-terrorism experts came to shake all our hands.

"I had no idea the war was this hot over here, among women, among academics, among progressives."

It sure is.

May Thyme Zipporah Siegel rest in peace and may we all be comforted. The death of heroes is always the hardest for me to bear.

Dana Bergen of Jewish Voice for Peace: A personal vendetta against the truth.

Via Emunah:

On October 26, San Francisco for Democracy  sponsored a debate on BDS.  Dana Bergen, a board member of Jewish Voice for Peace advocated in favor of boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel. Community educator, Dr. Michael Harris argued against it.

The debate was filmed, and clips will be released shortly.

Unfortunately, the format of the debate allowed a shocking free flow of abject lies from Dana Berger to go unchecked.  

Until now.

During the debate, Dana Bergen stated

"About Gaza. Gaza has been under siege for many years now. Israeli is strangling Gaza. Gaza is not occupying Gaza in the sense that they are inside Gaza but they are controlling the perimeter of Gaza. They decide how much food goes into Gaza. Gaza has been obliterated  by massive bombardment twice in recent years. They don't allow building supplies back in Gaza so there is just rubble. They have calculated how many calories they should allow into Gaza so that people are hungry but don't die because they are trying to torment the population. that is what they are trying to do."

Lies. Complete lies.

Dana Bergen's Claim: "Gaza is not occupying Gaza in the sense that they are inside Gaza but they are controlling the perimeter of Gaza."

Truth: Gaza also shares a border with Egypt

Dana Bergen's Claim: "They decide how much food goes into Gaza."

Truth:  There are no restrictions on anything other than weapons .

On average, 800 trucks enter Gaza each day, carrying over 20,000 tons of food, fuel, and supplies

Dana Bergen's Claim:  "Gaza has been obliterated  by massive bombardment twice in recent years." 

Truth.   Pin point surgical strikes by the IDF took out terror targets in Gaza.  Real time tweets from Gaza expose Dana's lies, as well. Obliterated, Dana? Really? 

Dana Bergen's Claim: "They don't allow building supplies back in Gaza so there is just rubble."

Truth:  From a  2016 UN report on rebuilding Gaza.  Millions of tons of construction material have come into Gaza since the war.

Two brand new state of the art hospitals have been built in Gaza, since the war.

Indonesian hospital, Gaza

Turkish hospital in Gaza

The Gaza "Blue Beach", an acclaimed  luxury resort with 2 swimming pools and a Jacuzzi has opened.

New restaurants, gourmet shops, community centers and amusement parks have also opened in Gaza in the last two years

Dana Bergen's Claim: "They have calculated how many calories they should allow into Gaza so that people are hungry but don't die"

Truth:  People in Gaza suffer from Western levels of obesity

"Obesity and overweight rates in urban area, refugee camp, and rural area were found to be 57.0%, 66.8%, and 67.5%, respectively. Moreover, BMI increased with age, adjusted b = 0.39; 95% CI (0.31, 0.48); p = < 0.001, whereas BMI was lower in low-income subjects, adjusted b = -1.59, 95% CI (-2.74,-0.44), p = 0.007. Housewives were more susceptible to obesity than employed woman, adjusted b = -2.76, 95% CI (-5.33,-0.19), p = 0.036. However, the study found no association among BMI level and household size, geographical location, educational level, and family assistance."

Quote from:
El Kishawi, Rima Rafiq, et al. "Obesity and overweight: prevalence and associated socio demographic factors among mothers in three different areas in the Gaza Strip-Palestine: a cross-sectional study." BMC obesity 1.1 (2014): 1.

Well, Dana, it may be time for you to heed the words of Winston Churchill:  "The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is."

Palestinian mob terrorize Israeli speakers event in London

Ironic.

While Hatem Bazian stood in  UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza,  claiming  Palestinian voices on campus were “silenced”,  half a world away, Palestinian activists violently disrupted an event with Hen Mazzig,  an Israeli peace activist.  Mazzig was at the University College London  to discuss his humanitarian work in the West Bank.

 After failing to have the talk cancelled by the university,  demonstrators took matters into their own hands. Some forced a window open, in order to break into the venue.  An angry mob screamed insults and pounded on the door, trying desperately to silence the Israeli human rights activist, in what they claimed was a “non-violent” protest.

Four police cars and 20  officers  quickly arrived at the scene in an effort to prevent further escalation.

From Jewish News.

UCL students described the terrifying scene which caused some, including event organiser and Friends of Israel Society co-president Liora Cadranel, to flee in tears. Another student, Devora Khafi, suffered a panic attack following an alleged assault by a pro-Palestinian activist.

Attendees were forced to lock themselves into a room to protect themselves against a 100-strong rabble gathered outside, demonstrating against the arrival of Israeli peace activist Hen Mazzig.

Liora said: “I thought Hen Mazzig would be a brilliant speaker to engage with students on all sides of the political spectrum. His lack of bias makes him ideal to speak on a controversial issue.”

Palestinian activists have become the fascist brown shirts of our times, with raging mobs violently "enforcing" the cultural and academic boycott of Israel. Its yet another example of the ugliness that BDS brings to a campus

Read more about this incident here:

University College London: Police called as Jewish students 'trapped in room' by pro-Palestine protesters

Pro-Palestinian protesters trap attendees of Israel event in London university hall

Police Called to London University After Protesters Trap Attendees of Israel Event in Room

Day of Action for Palestine at UC Berkeley. A photo essay

Via Emunah:

Today was the  Day of Action for Palestine at UC Berkeley.  And by "action", apparently, they meant screaming angry words into a microphone.

Anti-Israel activists from on campus and off gathered in Sproul Plaza.

Marina Gutierrez and the map that lies

Hassan Fouda is a professional Israel hater. Rusty Bates sells bumper stickers on Telegraph Ave. They both took time off from their busy schedules to protest the only democracy in the Middle East

The SJP fundraising booth stood empty.  No one was buying what they were selling.

Photo from Tikvah- Students for Israel

Tikvah, Bears for Israel, and even representatives from J street countered the event with a silent protest , steadfastly ignoring provocations from the other side.

From the Algemeiner

Josh Woznica, president of Bears for Israel, said that his group and fellow pro-Israel organization Tikvah are “coming together for the first time to present a strong, united front” against Thursday’s “International Day of Action for Palestine” demonstration. In previous years, he said, students at these rallies have gone so far as to openly call for terrorism against the Jewish state.

Woznica said that the counter-protest, which he expects will be attended by over 100 people, is not aimed at anti-Israel students, but rather at the “70 percent who pass by and don’t know anything about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Our intent is to have a silent protest opposing the anti-Israel messaging of the ‘Day of Action,’ highlighting the importance of academic freedom and ending the double standard applied to Israel. We are not trying to convince the other side. We want the students to see there is another perspective. Anti-Israel groups scream and chant really catchy slogans, such as, ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ and present a false picture of what is happening in Israel. Our goal is to expose this.”

The people united will never be defeated.  It was particularly gratifying to see all the pro-Israel students working together to counter intolerance at UC Berkeley.

UPDATE:
From Campus Watch:

Israel Bashing Profs Abdulhadi and Bazian Play the Victim at Berkeley