Counter rally stands tall in Buffalo

This article was printed in the Buffalo Jewish Review
June 15 2007 issue (page 3)

Buffalo is definitely not known for its high profile political struggles. This was left to cities such as Montreal, with Universities like Concordia and McGill starring on the news every once in a while due to an over heated struggle on campus. During last Sunday nevertheless, Buffalo came a little bit closer to being a much more politically charged city.

Different organizations organized a big protest marking ’40 years of occupation’ in Washington DC on June 10, that included Women in Black, International Solidarity Movement and many more. A forlorn picture arises when some of the leaders of the organizations supporting the protest are either Jewish or Israeli.

Here in Buffalo, the Western New York Peace Center decided to organize a local Anti-Israel, Anti-Occupation protest of its own.

Daphne Zilber, the Western New York Campus Coordinator for StandWithUs (an advocacy organization that promotes education and understanding that will bring a secure future for Israel and her neighbors) organized a counter rally for the same day, coinciding with the one held in DC on Sunday. The purpose of the counter rally was to show support for Israel and promote a true peace in the Middle East, the kind that will guarantee security in Israel for generations to come.

The moment the Pro-Israel demonstrators approached the sidewalk on Elmwood Avenue, along side the Anti-Israel protestors they got a ‘warm’ welcome in the shape of angry calls for them to leave. They were yelled at by one of the protestors that for them to be there is “an act of aggression”. The yelling was also accompanied by plenty of lovely swearwords and attempts to create a violent incident; “try to punch me, let’s see you punch me…” said an angry-peaceful protestor to a guy holding an Israeli flag with pride.

Despite the constant attempts to incite, the Pro-Israel demonstrators kept their calm and held Israeli flags and signs stating “Israel is on the map to stay”, “Hamas, change your racist Charter” etc. There were a few heated discussions here and there, but nothing too drastic occurred. About 15 Western New York Peace Center protestors attended the protest, versus over 40 Pro-Israel protestors.

Bystanders and drivers honked their horns to show support for the Pro-Israel demonstrators, including one mysterious car that drove by a few times while waving an Israeli flag out the window and a card board figure of President Bush.

Says Zilber, “Professor James Holston from the English Department at UB was holding a sign that stated ‘Israel Out Now’. Such a sign clearly says to people that Israel should be out of the Middle East, not just out of the disputed territories. This act of hatred and Anti-Semitism offends me very much as an eighth generation Israeli. It is like claiming that all of the problems in the Middle East will disappear as soon as Israel withdraws to the 67’ lines. All we need to do is to take a quick look at what’s going on in the Palestinian Authority these days in order to realize that this is not the case.”

Zilber was happy with the turn out of the counter rally. “It is important for people to realize that we will not be silent while there are organizations who are openly calling out for the destruction of the state of Israel.

But here in Buffalo last Sunday, StandWithUs stood up to say, “Yes, we’re standing with you”.