Leah posts on Accidentally Jewish:
“Excuse me,” one friend with a very large Israeli flag said to a cop, “do you have enough water.” Yep. Jews keeping Jews and Cops hydrated. Seriously, “water, you want you should have heat stroke?”
The Official JUF recap is here
“Braving temperatures in the upper nineties, a crowd numbering at least 5,000, according to police estimates, jammed a blistering Federal Plaza in downtown Chicago to show solidarity with the State of Israel at a time of war. “
The Aristocrat has a nice summary with pictures and audio.
“…slated to appear on stage were congress member mark kirk, democrat illinois attorney general lisa madigan and republican candidate for governor, judy baar topinka. having been in the same spot for the march and may pro-amnesty rallies, i noted the absence of durban, obama and daley as conspicuous.”
I believe both Dick Durbin and Barak Obama have a solid pro-Israel track records. With shared security concerns and one of his principal deputies being a Sabra, Hizzoner took a much publicized recent trip to Israel.
Andrew Marcus, who took the photo above, also posted photos here
Our pal Cara has some thoughts from earlier in the week, having only recently returned from Israel, and now feeling guilt pangs for having left in the hour of need. We’re hoping Remily and Samayach will check in and share their thoughs from J’lem. In realted news, IllinoisPundit asks Sen. LaHood, “How Many Dead Jews does it take, Sentator?”
***UPDATE***
Apparently a counter-protrester was arrested for threatening someone with a *crutch.* Just goes to show you that the arguements of those who oppose Israel don’t have a “leg to stand on…” Occidentally talks a bit about it here.
Tobie speaks up on her feelings on the rally, and she’s making aliya next month, btw. Finally, the Trib. has rally coverage here, and I’m not surprised that they give an anti-Israel protester the last word…
Nice recap.
Thanks for the link.
Still haven’t been able to find out more about the little old lady with the crutch.
I am appalled at the lack of sympathy for ALL the victims of war demonstrated by anyone “Standing With Israel” as her war crime army (IDF) literally destroys an entire country as well as any hope for co-existence with her neighbors. Please, my fellow Jews, do not lock step with the Bush administration’s plans to make blood money from cultural, environmental, and infrastructural destruction.
Until seeing this unconscious and abjectly devolved support for war, I found the Jewish Fringe interesting. Does the value of education and questioning everything, so dear to our heritage, end when the fighting starts? If so, I fear we will lose everything we ever valued and, in the end, we will be stripped of the land, the state, the freedom to express our faith and, if we are not yet, we Jews will be synonymous with killing innocents and beginning WWIII.
Please help raise awareness by encouraging people to seek independent and alternative media sources for information. Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now is an excellent daily program that can be accessed online: http://www.democracynow.org MosaicTV is an interesting collection of different news networks in the Middle East: http://www.worldlinktv.org
Israeli Filmmakers statement from The ARAB FILM BIENNIAL in Paris:
{Ed.: I edited this comment for space reasons, linking to the statement instead of including it in ints entirety here.}
Aaron,
I’m confident that most people will disagree with you virulently. Most Isrealis and Jews have decried the losses among Lebanese civilians due to the hostility of the Hizballah demi-state that holds them captive. The concensus seems to be that the whole Labeanese nation is held hostage by Hizballah (and its Iranian sponsors) and to a reduced degree since the Hariri Assasination, Syria. Israel would love to have a peaceful border on the north with a stable government in full control of its territory.
But let me counter- why is our blood so cheap, so easy to spill? It is unfortunate that Hizbollah places their weapons fortications among the innocent Lebanese population and with cowardice, launches rockets at equally innocent Israelis from those positions. Its deadly calculus, knowing full well that the response taken to prevent further launches will result in the death of innocents which can then be hailed as Shaheeds, martyrs for the cause.
The Lebanese would be wise to do as the IDF does and follow our teaching:
“You shall not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor” Leviticus 19:16
“Do not watch without doing something while your neighbor’s blood is shed.” Midrash
They should do so by acting swiftly to rid themselves of the Hizballah terrorists in their midst. Read carefully to what’s being said on http://lebanesebloggers.blogspot.com/ by actual Lebanese people. Very interesting and often surprising stuff.