Beth Israel responds with donations
A local group of Jews is responding to demonstrators at Beth Israel Congregation by raising money for the Israeli Red Cross.
Members and friends of Synagogue Protest Unacceptable Respond Now (SPURN) donate to the Israeli Red Cross in proportion to the number of Jewish Witnesses for Peace who turn up at Beth Israel Sabbath services. Typically, seven to 10 members of Jewish Witnesses for Peace hold signs urging Israel to withdraw from Palestinian areas.
So far, SPURN's effort has raised $22,600.
And while Jewish Witnesses leader Henry Herskovitz praised the fundraising, he said his group will continue demonstrating because Israeli occupation of Palestinian land continues.
"We're convinced Jews and Palestinians can live together as equals, but never when one ethnic group claims superiority and lords it over another," Herskovitz said.
He also said his group might extend its demonstrations, which members call vigils, to area churches. "Peace is the church's business," he said.
The moves come as hopes brighten for peace in the Middle East. Mahmoud Abbas, who recently succeeded Yasser Arafat as leader of the Palestinian Authority, met Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon - the first time high-level talks had been held in the four years since the second Palestinian uprising, or intifada, began.
Herskovitz and his group have been demonstrating outside Beth Israel for more than a year. The group asked for regular access to Beth Israel meetings, hoping to engage congregants on Israeli occupation of Palestine, but has been denied. Jewish Witnesses chose Beth Israel, Herskovitz said, because support of Israel is an integral part of conservative Judaism.
The group also was picketing Hiller's Market, the grocery store at Arborland, but stopped at the end of January, saying the Southfield company no longer advertises that it sends profits from Israeli-made goods back to Israel.
SPURN's efforts began in late July, as Beth Israel members sought peaceful responses to the demonstrators, said congregation member Barry Gross.
"If this had happened two, three or four times, that would be one thing, but it's been 18 months and feels like a siege," said Gross, a radiologist at the University of Michigan Hospitals.
"It doesn't feel good to cross a picket line," he said. "What we've been going through has been very unpleasant."
SPURN now includes 199 donors, 164 of whom are members of Beth Israel, Gross said. And it has its own Web site: www.aaspurn.org. A written statement from SPURN says it chose Magen David Adom, Israel's Red Cross, because it serves all victims of violence regardless of religion or ethnicity.
Catherine O'Donnell can be reached at codonnell@annarbornews.com or (734) 994-6831.