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Monday, November 12, 2012

What is "pro-Palestinian" about a protest outside a synagogue during services? (UPDATE)

From the Boulder Daily Camera, in a letter to the editor by someone called Michael Rabb:
Ask Jews and all Americans to renounce their support for Israel: stand vigil in front of Congregation Bonai Shalom, 1527 Cherryvale Road in Boulder, Saturday, Nov. 17, 9:30 a.m.
Bonai Shalom is a Conservative synagogue that, from a glance at its website, does not seem to be particularly Zionist - no apparent Zionist youth groups or organized Israel trips, no Israeli flags on its website. It's pretty much just a synagogue that, like many Conservative temples, is implicitly pro-Israel.

So when someone who claims to be "pro-Palestinian" wants to hold a protest, why would he choose a synagogue during Saturday morning services?

Unless the goal is to target, you know, Jews.

In fact, it looks like Rabb holds these synagogue protests regularly. Here he is on Yom Kippur, outside a different congregation, where he claims that some people took his literature and even appreciated his presence. His trustworthiness is a bit suspect.

Even so, it sounds like the synagogues in Boulder need to beef up their Zionist education programs. A lot.

UPDATE: I covered a similar weekly protest in Ann Arbor back in 2007.

In that case, though, the synagogue decided to do something positive about it and raise money for Magen David Adom based on the number of protesters that show up every week. This gives the members of the synagogue a sense of purpose and community in the face of the haters.

So far they have raised an astonishing $173,000!

(h/t Elemental)