This is what disrupting a public meeting looks like

US Ambassador to Israel, Michael Oren is booed, heckled, and disrupted repeatedly as he attempts to give a speech at UC Irvine in Southern California on February 8, 2010. --video courtesy Stand With Us

by Becky Johnson
February 18, 2010

Santa Cruz, Ca. -- This is what disrupting a public meeting looks like. I ought to know a thing or two about disrupting a public meeting having been the photographer who captured Robert Norse's "disruption" of a Santa Cruz City Council meeting when he made a fleeting hand gesture, a "Nazi" Salute when he objected to the Mayor's shutting off of oral communications without allowing the last speaker to speak.

On February 8th, The Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, was the invited speaker at an event held at UC Irvine. A large group of people who appeared to be the Muslim Student Union, attended the event. At various intervals, one person from their group would stand up and start yelling at Ambassador Oren. The MSA members would loudly cheer and clap when they did this. No sooner had one disrupter been escorted from the auditorium, another would stand up and yell.

These people and this group INTENDED to disrupt the event, and the message Ambassador Oren came to say. Their interference made it impossible to proceed in a normal fashion. It was impossible to conduct ordinary business with the disruption ongoing. The disruption was sustained. And this tactic of disruption and intimidation of political opponents and Jews is reminiscent of the Brownshirts in Germany which gave Hitler his rise to power.

The heart of democracy is persuasion. We are a diverse nation, which in turn, is connected and interwined with other nationalities. To remain a democracy, and to accomodate diverse voices, bullying tactics like those used by the MSU at UC Irvine must not be tolerated!

SF Jewish Film Festival EXPOSED!

NOTE TO READER: KGO talk-show host, John Rothman, who is both Jewish and a San Franciscan, narrates this piece about this summer's controversy at the San Francisco Film Festival for playing the American premier of a film about Rachel Corrie of the ISM, and invited her mother, Cindy Corrie, who actively promotes anti-Israelism to the event. In two parts, Rothman shows both the ire and vehemence of the anti-Israel forces, and explains why such efforts on the part of supposedly Jewish organizations, such as Jewish Voice for Peace and "peace" organizations such as the American Friends Service Committee are spreading hate, mis-information, and demonization of Israel. Please view both parts, and if moved to action, read the bottom of this post for suggested responses. --- Becky Johnson, editor











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Natan Nestel has sent this message in direct response to John Rothman's
piece on the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival hosting two anti-semitic films and
inviting anti-Israel speaker, Cindy Corrie to speak:

Why This Issue Is Urgent and Ongoing

By virtue of its ongoing support of the Film Festival, the Jewish Federation continues to lend legitimacy to the extreme anti-Israel groups that co-presented the Corrie event - Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), and the Rachel Corrie Foundation (RCF) - as well as the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), which is glamorized in the movie.

The damage caused by the Jewish Federation's granting of respectability to these extreme organizations can only be undone when the Federation unambiguously states that it will not support organizations or events that demonize Israel or that collaborate with those who call for divestment, boycotts, sanctions against Israel or banning aid to Israel.

Please Take Action!

We all have the responsibility to speak up when we realize that our donations to the Jewish Federation are being misallocated. The Jewish Federation is an important institution in our community and it is vital that the Federation remains true to its mission.

Contact:

* The San Francisco Jewish Community Federation:

Jim Koshland, President - jimk@sfjcf.org
Jennifer Gorovitz, Acting CEO - Jenniferg@sfjcf.org
Rabbi Doug Kahn, Exec Dir JCRC - dkahn@jcrc.org

The East Bay Jewish Federation: Rabbi James Brandt CEO - James@jfed.org

Tell them:

• The Federation that you fund should never support events or organizations that advocate boycotts, divestment, sanctions against Israel or banning aid to Israel, and it shouldn't collaborate with those who do.

• (and any other such events or organizations that defame and demonize Israel or Jews).
  
  _____________________________

* Please send a blind copy (bcc) of your letter to: reformjff@gmail.com