Detroit Area Solidarity Rally for Israel
The rally was held yesterday, July 19 at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield. The crowd was estimated at around 4000 people. Too me, and as you can see from the photo, this was probably bigger than their biggest Yom Kippur attendance.
Their parking lot, as large as it is, could not accomodate this large an audience.
There was a mix of every Jewish affiliation and every age. I'm guessing there were even some non-Jews in the crowd. There was a mix of speakers, leaders from the Jewish community, members of the Teen Mission who had an early return from Israel just the previous day, and a pastor from a local African-American church who gave a rousing speech on the alliance between Jews and Black Christians. He also made some points on the division in the Black community between Christians, who stand with Israel, and Black Muslims on the other side, an ideological split between the followers of Martin Luther King and the followers of Elijah Mohammed, Louis Farrakhan, etc.
Out by the street, there was a guy selling t-shirts supporting Israel, and designed to piss off the Israel haters. Slogans in Hewbrew and/or Arabic proclaimed "The Land of Israel Lives", and "There is no such country as Palestine", and simply, "Infidel". I bought a "The Land of Israel Lives". I'm sad because I did not get his picture.
It's a custom for the groom at a Jewish wedding to break a wine glass as a reminder of the destruction of the temple and that even in the midst of happiness, there is still sorrow. At Passover, when we celebrate the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt, we are also reminded that in every generation there is a tyrant who will rise up and try to destroy the Jews. Across the street, and watched by a couple Southfield police officers, was physical manifestation of the breaking wine glass and the warning of this generation's tyrant.
Yep, there they are in their hate-filled egotism. As you can see, they are the typical bunch of terror-supporting, Jew-hating, moral retards. In my euphoria over the rally, I did flash my new t-shirt at them, for which I probably owe the officers on duty an apology. It was too much like flashing a banana at a monkey in a cage.
According to the sympathetic Detroit News reporter, Detroit News,
The rally enraged some. A group of more than 15 (actually only 10 as you can see in the photo, even though the Detroit Free Press gave the number as 20. I hope other reporters have better math skills -H) protested outside the temple, braving obscenities and honking from drivers to decry Israel's presence in Lebanon.(portion of post removed -H) Susan Bazzi has previously expressed her opinion (change here -H) in public in the Detroit News.
Protest leader (according to the News, but denied by Ms. Bazzi -H) Susan Bazzi, a Lebanese-American from Dearborn Heights, urged officials to "stop the holocaust" and killing in that country.
Following the revolting experience of reading Nolan Finley's extremely racist piece of garbage, several thoughts came to mind. First, I wondered how many Israeli shekels it took to purchase The News. The News has become an ambassador of hate by regurgitating the lies bigots have historically used to dehumanize and terrorize the Palestinian people.another portion removed at the request of a reader who found it insulting. In the interest of lashon haraI removed the portions that were objected to. -H
It was none other than your employer, Ariel Sharon, and his Zionist predecessors who defined terrorism in the region and unleashed countless campaigns of brutality and unrelenting terror upon the innocent.
Susan Bazzi
Dearborn
It still was a great night though. And I continue to support Israel and pray that that the Israelis continue to use "disproportionate force" in order to end the terrorist threats from Hezbollah and Hamas so that everyone in the Middle East can finally live in peace.
Labels: Rally for Israel, Susan Bazzi
posted by Harry @ 3:55 PM
CHALLAH AKBAR
8 Comments:
Harry, I just wanted to clarify several points in your article that referred to me. I do not hate Jews; I hate war, destruction, and loss of life. My presence at that rally was to protest the excessive use of force against those Israel claims it has no issue with, the Lebanese people. To date, hundreds have perished, thousand have been injured, and hundreds of thousand displaced. I am against that. Obviously you and I disagree on whether this loss of life matters or not. But simply because I protest against the large scale of loss of human life does not make me a "Jew-hater". Secondly, with regard to "head hate-monkey": I was not the "protest leader" at the rally nor did I know any of the people that were there that night. That point was Detroit News's inaccurate journalism. I arrived alone and had my own message: stop the destruction. Thirdly, the Detroit News article had nothing to do with "Jew hatred". It was in response to an overtly racist piece by Nolan Finley and it was directed at the newspaper itself and not Jews. You obviously hate, and apparently that is allowed. That is fine for you but do not label me what I am not. I do not hate people no matter who they are, I hate the wars, destruction, and pain they inflict. Since you were casting light on pieces I wrote in the News, I thought I might throw one in that you overlooked. Have a nice day.
Weblog: JD Andary
Re: JD Andary I certainly hope that whom ever you were wishing ill upon in Dearborn is alright. It is always so difficult to try to reason with those that find the death of many to be so commonplace. Zionists are evil. Muslim fundamentalists are evil. Anyone that supports, encourages, and tolerates hatred and violence against a people is an evil human being. Not all Jews are Zionists, and not all Muslims are fundamentalists. This whole atrocity that is occuring is taking the lives of hundreds of innocent men, women, and children most of whom are Lebanese. That MUST stop! Killing innocent civilians both Arab and Jew is WRONG! Justifying and dismissing their deaths is wrong. No Israeli government and no Hizballah soldier is without blame! One can believe that Zionism, which calls for the extermination of the Arab population to be evil and wrong, but still support the right of Jews to exist. Also, one can despise Islamic fundalmentalism and all that it teaches and still support the right of life of those muslims who are not fundamentalists. I believe your writings do not make that differentiation. Those that are being killed in the hundreds are not Muslim extremists or Zionists, they are just people, innocent people. This collective bombardment on both sides MUST stop because the only one's being killed are innocent! How many Zionists have been killed? How many Islamic Hizballah fundalmentalists have died? I venture to say almost none compared to the hundreds of thousands who have either been killed, injured, or left homeless. You have alot of power with your column there, why not support innocent people's right to life ON BOTH SIDES, because when you no longer do that than you are just as evil as those you write about.
Susan Bazzi, Dearborn MI,
First of all I apologize for any innacuracies in this post due to the News' sloppy reporting. Beyond that the letter you wrote to the News and the signs at your protest are rife with Jew-hatred.
Your letter to the News does not argue your point based on merit or logical argument. After you call Nolan Finley a racist for stating a point you disagree with, you accuse the News of being owned by Ariel Sharon. This is straight "Jews own the media" slander.
And then there are the signs and images used by some in your protest group, especially a swastika replacing the Jewish star in the Israeli flag. The Jew=Nazi comparison is foul, disgusting, hateful, and is based on lies. And it's not an argument, it's name calling. It's lazy. I never see anything to compare to it in any pro-Israel rally.
I'm not sure of the point of the piece you quote. I'm assuming you did not write it. But to answer a couple of those points, Zionism is not evil and it absolutely does not call for the extermination of anyone. This another demonstration of the arguments against Israel being based on lies.
Even the complaint that Israel is using excessive force is wrong. The unfortunate fact is that Israel is defending itself against Hezbollah, a proxy of Iran. The aim of Hezbollah is the destruction of Israel, something they have stated. Hezbollah is cynically using the population of Lebanon as expendable pawns and human shields. Not only don't they care about the lives of the Lebanese, they want more civilians to be killed, because every dead civilian is a propaganda victory for them.
When Israel is finally allowed to uproot and remove Hezbollah, then there is a chance for real peace between Israel and Lebanon.
Harry,
I have attempted to make it clear that your characterization of me is wrong. The disturbing labels you have associated with me is not only inaccurate but personally disturbing. The unsettling beliefs you have accused me of harboring are precisely those you are condoning and supporting in this venue. I have attempted to clarify my position to you for no other reason but to ensure that you come to realize that my focus is on the human destruction and nothing more. Obviously that is not acceptable to you because it would not serve the purpose you need for the libelous article you wrote about me. If the truth is what you claim what you seek to expose than you have failed with the labels you placed on me in the article. Simply put Harry, it is not only wrong but hurtful. It seeks to further the very things I stand against, intolerance and hate. I ask you, Harry to retract your article and remove the libelous, negative and inaccurate associations you have placed with my name.
Susan
I did not mean to libel you and I don't hate you. The problem I'm having is that you claim you don't hate anyone, but you've written a letter to the Detroit News containing a hateful anti-Jewish stereotype. You claim you were insulting the News but the insult you hurled was a gratuitous slander against Jews.
You are associated with a group that finds it acceptable to to equate Zionism with Nazism and then shove that equivalence in the faces of thousands of Jews - including Jewish children. For some reason, you and your group found it unacceptable for a group of Jews to rally for Israel? Do you truly not grasp how offensive and hateful that is? Were there any Jews protesting the rally in Dearborn?
I try not to write out of hate. It is hard not to get angry though, when confronted with that kind of intolerance. Lately I've been taking it personally.
I guess I need to understand how to reconcile what you say here, with what you've shown in public. If you truly do not see what you've done as hateful, you need to learn more about Judaism and Zionism.
Susan,
I just reread what I wrote about you. It is pretty crude. Is it accurate? You claim it isn't. I can only go by the two instances I sited. Please answer the questions I asked in the previous comment, and then I'll have a better idea of the accuracy of my portrayal of you.
Harry,
The bottom is this. I do not know you nor do you know me. Your protrayal of me in the vast configuration of things in the end has no impact on my life. Nor do I suspect my impression of you to affect your existance. If I am anti-Jewish, or a "head hate-monkey" I would certainly not take exception to your highlighting me as such. In fact I should think I would welcome it and utilize it as a venue to further expose my beliefs. You associate me with a "group" in your last blog and quite frankly I am unclear as to which "group" you refer to. I do not recall ever linking myself to a specific organization. I do not know know if there were any Pro-Israel supporters at the Dearborn rally. I cannot believe that none showed up. In fact I would have no opinion or feelings either way had there been Israeli supporters or not. They would have had as much right to be there as anyone. After all, isn't that the democratic way? Harry, I make no apologies to you or anyone for being fervently against Israeli's offensive in Lebanon. Surely I do not see you apologizing for the message you are driving in your website. You claim you have a problem with what you percieve is my hatred and intolerance but yet your website screams those very things. Wars kill and devastate and in the end the only ones adversely affected are the innocent-on both sides! My message at the Dearborn rally was the same one I carried to the pro-Israel rally: Ceasefire! In fact Harry, at the Dearborn rally, I was walking alongside two Muslim clerics, two Priests, and believe it or not: two Rabbi's. I cannot help if you equate being anti-Israeli policy to being anti-Jewish. That leap is one you feel necessary to make than so be it, I cannot help that. I cannot help that you are a supporter of "disproportionate force" whose consequence is the mass destruction of a country and thousands of people who you claim are not who you are after. I have to wonder how willing you would be to apologize to the supporters of a government that attacked Israel and killed hundreds, maybe thousands; injured thousands' and displaced over a million Jews from their homes. The where-abouts of my aunt and several cousins, who had no ties to any political faction in Lebanon, are missing in Southern Lebanon. Ironically, my aunt regularily went to Haifa to visit her two be friends, who horror of horrors, are Jewish. So that when someone writes an article in the Detroit News or blogs comments about unequivically, blindly supporting a government that may have possibly dropped bombs and killed my relations, I respond. I wonder what Harry would do in that instance. My intolerance hatred and is not toward Jews, it is directed at anyone who finds it acceptable for thousands of innocent people to die no matter who they are. It wasn't acceptable in the second world war and nor should it be now. I had previously asked you to remove those inaccurate and hurtful associations you have placed in your article about me. Harry, I am again requesting that.
Susan,
I removed the negative portrayals of you. I did this out of "lashon hara", a Jewish concept which simply states that one should not speak ill of others. I still don't buy your arguments, including the part about associating with Jews. Big deal. I'm not sure you understand why what you said is cruel and hateful or if you are willing to understand.
If you really want to protest evil, protest against Hezbollah who started this whole mess and is now cynically using the civilian population of Lebanon as human shields. They are the ones who are causing the deaths of innocent civilians on both sides. They demanded war, and they cannot be reasoned with. The sooner the IDF can rid Lebanon of Hezbollah, the sooner real peace, not a temporary cease fire, will be possible.
I truly hope your family in Lebanon is safe.
Harry,
It appears as though you and I most likely will never see eye to eye on this whole issue. My arguments against Israeli aggression in Lebanon and my deep objection to those who support it seem to mirror those you make. I make no apologies for having my beliefs and neither do you. Both obviously are deep rooted and arguably legitimate. At the end of the day, if peace and security are ever going to prevail, we have to agree to perhaps stop allowing the actions of the past dictate our destiny. I venture to say that you and I can debate indefinitely the facts, history, right and wrong, and accomplish nothing more than reinforce the legitimacy of eachothers initial beliefs. Regardless of what you say, there is enough blame to go around. War and devastation beget war and devastation, nothing more. I believe that. I hope you choose to someday re-evaluate your position, for the sake of peace. I am grateful that you have chosen to retract your "crude" comments and i appreciate those you made about my family. I continue to pray for them and all those on both sides of the "line" who continue to be pawns in this viscious game of numbers. Salaam.....
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