The group Young Jewish and Proud that launched a counter-protest at the 2010 Jewish Federation General Assembly in New Orleans has just released their video after staying up til the wee hours editing. For background on this group and their protest please read Soysauce's excellent diary from yesterday appropriately titled Young, Jewish and Proud.
Hold onto your hats!
<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/16650770" width="400" height="327" frameborder="0"></iframe>
Young Jews Disrupt Netanyahu at Jewish General Assembly from stefanie fox on Vimeo.
This is getting wide coverage. Yesterday within hours it was reported on
Haaretz's homepage, Jerusalem Post and Maan News. Today here in the US it's breaking bigtime. Here's one report from AP/Seattle Times (my bold):
NEW ORLEANS —
Hecklers interrupted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to a prominent American Jewish group on Monday, the same day his government said it would move ahead with hundreds of new housing units in disputed east Jerusalem.
Some added background on the General Assembly of Jewish Federation's agenda this year is spelled out in an email from spokesperson Adam Muhlendorf regarding the Israel Action Network whose focus seems directed towards what they describe as "Israel’s Delegitimizers".
Important General Assembly Information re: Israel Action Network
A growing wave of individuals and groups across the United States are using radical rhetoric labeling Israel as an apartheid state, calling for boycotts, divestments and sanctions to wreck havoc and severly weaken Israel’s economy, and generally working to achieve what terrorist groups have been seeking for decades – turn Israel into a pariah.
The North American Jewish community has had enough and they are stepping up their efforts to confront Israel’s antagonist head on. And it begins at the GA... One of the major themes of this year’s General Assembly includes discussions on the North American Jewish community’s new efforts to proactively lead the conversation about the legitimacy of the State of Israel and to collectively counter those who challenge Israel’s existence.
One of their workshops is "Confronting Israel’s Delegitimizers: The Jewish Community Responds". The theme of Young, Jewish and Proud is Israel delegitimizing itself thru the occupation, the loyalty oath, the settlements, the siege of Gaza and silencing dissent. A theme arose in AP's byline, a theme I bolded earlier. Here it is again:
Israel's Interior Ministry sought to play down the significance of the new Jerusalem housing, saying actual construction could be years away. But the announcement cast a shadow over Netanyahu's visit, during which he is conferring with U.S. officials over how to revive peace talks.
.....
Rae Abileah, a 28-year-old protester from San Francisco, shouted "the settlements betray Jewish values" as she was grabbed by Orleans Parish sheriff's deputies and pulled out of the hall. She said a man sitting in front of her tried to stuff a seat cover into her mouth to silence her. Audience members pushed a male protester and cursed at him after he interrupted the prime minister's speech.
At a time when Israel seems focused on fighting back against this delegitimization might I suggest their Action Network zero in on ways in which their own actions might backfire at a time when others might perceive them as flaunting their expansion?